Safe place to practice driving near me

One of the trickiest parts of learning how to drive is figuring out how to practice driving. It’s not as easy as just hopping behind the wheel and getting started. One of the key pieces is determining where to practice driving, so the new driver can feel comfortable learning how to operate the car.

There are certainly people out there who might encourage a new driver to just get on the road and learn by doing. But, that method can be quite unsafe and could actually cause the new driver to be more nervous than necessary in the early stages. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some good places to learn to drive and a good process for doing it.

How to Practice Driving When You’re Just Starting

Obviously, getting behind the wheel of a car is a huge first step to take when learning to drive. But, it shouldn’t be your first step. One of the first things you should do is take a look at one of the great one Driver’s Education programs.

There are several programs out there including great ones from Aceable, I Drive Safely, and DriversEd.com. All three are great and you should take the course and keep the lessons in mind while you’re practicing driving. This’ll help you start practicing the right way and will reduce the chance of developing any bad driving habits.

Best Places to Learn to Drive

The exact place you are practicing will depend on what level of experience you have with driving. In the beginning, you’ll want to start somewhere that is a little more open and less nerve-wracking. Then, you can move to something a little more challenging, but still safe and relatively free of other drivers. Then, you can progress to normal streets and even highways.

A Parking Lot is the First on the List for Where to Practice Driving

Nothing beats an empty parking lot for learning the feel of the car. Some of the best ones could be a mall or shopping plaza lot early in the morning before it opens. These are big enough to give you plenty of room and also should be relatively empty during off hours.

These are great places to learn to drive you can learn the proper feel for accelerating and turning without concerns of people around you. You can also practice parking in the empty spots, so you can get comfortable for busier lots.

Next is Crowded Lots and the Open Road

Once you get more comfortable in your empty lot, you can come back to the same lot when it is slightly busier. This’ll give you the opportunity to practice driving in a busier place that you’re already comfortable with. From there, you can move towards quiet side streets, then onto main streets, and finally onto the highway. You can move at the pace you’re comfortable with, but remember everyone had to learn once, so it can’t be too hard!

A time comes when you start looking for places to practice driving. Driving lessons have both theoretical and practical lessons. The theory part comes first, and the road test follows after.

You can opt to do the theoretical lessons in class or online from your place of comfort.

But practical driving lessons have to be done physically, and your chances of passing the practical test are higher with more practice on your own.

Several conducive places to practice driving will provide a serene environment to learn driving. But below, I will help you know about a few physical locations in New York City where you can opt to practice driving.

1. Mosholu Parkway

Mosholu Parkway is one of the good places to learn to drive comfortably.

The parkway connects Van Cortlandt and Bronx parks. It starts from Van Cortlandt running through the Mosholu golf course with interchanges at Henry Hudson and Major Deegan.

The Mosholu Parkway is designed as per the purpose. Commercial and local vehicles are routed at parallel side roads, whereas the center road is specifically for private traffic only. 

This division of the parkway ensures very few vehicles are only private on the center roadway, making the parkway a suitable place for practicing driving in New York City.

 2. White Plains Road

The road is situated in the Bronx in the Soundview section. The road is wide, giving you a good allowance for practicing various skills to enhance your driving expertise.

It will be appropriate for you to use the White Plains road at night because that is when it is less crowdy with minimal to no interruptions available.

 3. Starrett City

Starrett city in Brooklyn is another good area for practicing driving in New York City.

Besides a few apartment blocks and Gateway shopping mall, there is not much going on around the place, making it conducive to practicing your driving skills.

The place has access to many empty parking areas that are good for practicing various parking techniques.

4. Coney Island

Coney Island is an entertainment neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York City. The Island consists of Brighton beach, Coney Island proper, and Manhattan beach. Other than being one of the best road test sites in NY, it’s also a perfect place to practice how to drive.

The Island has several amusement parks and big parking areas that can serve as a good place to learn how to drive, more so before 10 am when there is not too much traffic.

5. Jones Beach

Jones Beach is a state park situated in Nassau County. It is 6.5 miles long and houses several recreational facilities.

The place has large parking yards that make it conducive to practice driving. Also, it has a double-lane highway with minimal cars, and this can be a good stretch for testing your speeding skills and steering control.

6. Hunts Point Avenue

Hunts Point Avenue is the main road through Hunts Point. The avenue is located in the south of Bronx in a low-income area of Hunts Point.

The Road used in that neighborhood can be a great place to learn to drive, especially after business hours.

The vast parking areas are also good avenues for learning to drive and park and reverse scenarios.

7. Flushing Meadows Park

Flushing Meadows Park is a public park located in Queens, New York City. The park is a utility of various amusements, including sports arenas, events, and recreational facilities.

The park has a vast parking lot that is often used by car freaks as their raceway and drifting, a serene and big enough space for you to horn your skills in driving.

It also has a road adjacent to the Meadow Lake that you can use to gain your confidence in driving at higher speeds and overtaking skills.

8. Orchard Beach

Orchard Beach is an artificial beach that spans a length of 6000 ft and is located in the Bronx.

The beach has a vast parking lot that makes it an ideal space for practicing driving. On top of that, the several access roads it has, make it an ideal spot to practice how to drive in NYC.

It is often very busy but very conducive with minimal crowds during off-seasons.

9. Far Rockaway

Far Rockaway is a suburban neighborhood situated in Queens, New York City. It runs from Nassau county to Beach 32nd Street East.

The neighborhood has curvy roads, which is a different model of road that may serve as a good challenge for you to practice various aspects of driving. They may include how to approach a sharp corner and the proper angle of taking the corner.

There are also speed limits on the streets of the neighborhood, which is a good practice as it will give you some know-how on how to regulate speed as per speed limits on major roads.

10. Fieldston Road

Fieldston road is a wealthy neighborhood privately located in Riverdale in the Bronx NY.

The neighborhood is very organized and classy. Its roads and streets are marked, making it a good environment to practice driving. 

It also has parking lots where you can practice and hone your parallel parking skills.

Wrap Up

Bottom-line is to ensure safety first when practicing to drive. You should be very cautious, especially if you practice on busy roads or parkways. Some drivers can be aggressive and bullish and may make you panic and make unnecessary blunders.

Most parkways and beach parking areas are busy during the day or business hours. So you should be flexible and time the off-peak hours when the activities there are on a go slow. 

Also, winter is a very convenient time to practice driving in some of the above parks and beaches’ parking lots. Because during this period, most people shy away from going to public places for recreation and opt to stay indoors because of the unfriendly weather.

It is prudent to start practicing with empty parking lots or roads that are not busy to master some skills and gradually elevate to busy roads with heavy traffic.

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