LINDSAY - Lindsay Ward Councillor Pat Dunn won council support for a review of how out-of-town driving schools are operating in Lindsay.
In a memo to council on Tuesday (Oct. 13), Coun. Dunn said, “Over the past several years I have received numerous complaints of driving schools from outside the City of Kawartha Lakes providing instructions to clients in Lindsay.
“My research has shown that many of these schools use the predetermined MTO examination routes as the locations for their students to practice for testing.”
Coun. Dunn later explained council reviewed the issue in 2007,“but we have no rules.”
He said the driver test routes are determined by the Ministry and must be provided upon request. Some of the complaints he has received, he added have come from testers at the Lindsay Driver Examination Centre, located in the Lindsay Square Mall.
Instructor cautions new drivers to beware of phony driving schools
Coun. Dunn said the driving school instructors take their clients to practise on the route where they will be tested, resulting in traffic congestion and numerous complaints from residents.
Because there is a waiting list for testing in Toronto, many clients come from the GTA to Lindsay.
“The learning should be spread out (around town); they shouldn’t just be driving where they are being tested,” he added.
Coun. Dunn said another factor is that “the vast majority of driving schools operating in Lindsay are from Toronto. “They’re a business and should be licensed to operate in the City, even if they’re from out of town,” he said.
He noted, because no rules are in place, they pay no fees to the City to operate, and he wants bylaw staff to investigate.
Staff will now review the regulation of driving schools and make recommendations to council for any action by the end of the first quarter of 2016.
In a memo to council on Tuesday (Oct. 13), Coun. Dunn said, “Over the past several years I have received numerous complaints of driving schools from outside the City of Kawartha Lakes providing instructions to clients in Lindsay.
“My research has shown that many of these schools use the predetermined MTO examination routes as the locations for their students to practice for testing.”
Coun. Dunn later explained council reviewed the issue in 2007,“but we have no rules.”
He said the driver test routes are determined by the Ministry and must be provided upon request. Some of the complaints he has received, he added have come from testers at the Lindsay Driver Examination Centre, located in the Lindsay Square Mall.
Instructor cautions new drivers to beware of phony driving schools
Coun. Dunn said the driving school instructors take their clients to practise on the route where they will be tested, resulting in traffic congestion and numerous complaints from residents.
Because there is a waiting list for testing in Toronto, many clients come from the GTA to Lindsay.
“The learning should be spread out (around town); they shouldn’t just be driving where they are being tested,” he added.
Coun. Dunn said another factor is that “the vast majority of driving schools operating in Lindsay are from Toronto. “They’re a business and should be licensed to operate in the City, even if they’re from out of town,” he said.
He noted, because no rules are in place, they pay no fees to the City to operate, and he wants bylaw staff to investigate.
Staff will now review the regulation of driving schools and make recommendations to council for any action by the end of the first quarter of 2016.
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