How does the Behind-the-Wheel program work?

Students get their Temps first; they can get Temps and start driving before their Classroom program is finished. Ries Driving School has arranged Classroom instruction to help students qualify for Temps about halfway through the program.

Students with Temps call the Ries office, or someone calls for them, to arrange Behind-the-Wheel lessons. Students may take a maximum of two lessons in an instruction car in any week. Ries office staff begin booking lessons for the NEXT week at the beginning of THIS week; calling early in the week offers students the best selection of lesson times.

Typically, lessons last two hours. A student will drive for one hour, with other students observing, and then observe someone else driving for the other hour. Ries Driving School prides itself on service to its students. They can be picked up at any of several Fond du Lac locations (home, school, work or Ries) and dropped off at Fond du Lac location afterwards. Students in outlying areas have designated pick-up and drop-off points.

Except for taking one lesson during the first 60 days of their Temps, students can schedule Behind-the-Wheel lessons to suit their needs. Many students spread their lessons out, so they have plenty of time to practice their skills in their family vehicles and they have their last lesson near the time of their Road Test. For a fee, Ries offers a Road Test Lesson: on the day of the test, a Ries instructor picks a student up in a Ries car one-half hour before the Road Test appointment; the student has the opportunity to calm down and warm up driving to the Department of Motor Vehicles for the test. The instructor waits while the student completes the Road Test in the Ries car, then accompanies the student to drop-off once the testing and licensing process is complete.