Longtime New Canaan Driving School Puts Emphasis On Family

NEW CANAAN, CT — When retired New Canaan police officer Chester R. Lewis, Jr. opened a driving school in town in 1970, he put an emphasis on two things he loved: family and the local community. Nearly half a century later, the Lewis School of Driving continues to operate as a local family-owned school where teens, adults and seniors from near and far can learn the fundamentals of driving.

In 1990, Lewis sold the school to his stepdaughter, Marie Trant, though he remained "very involved" with the school until he passed away in 2006. With a staff of nearly a dozen dedicated and immensely experienced instructors in her employment, Trant has continued to uphold the core values Lewis set for the company.

"Chet was born in New Canaan, and this was his pride and joy," Trant said. "He loved New Canaan. When you went on a driving lesson, the stories and histories he would tell you about the whole town would just seep into you. I have an allegiance to him and his love for New Canaan."

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At the Lewis School of Driving, located at 28 Cross Street, students gain experience and knowledge both through classroom-set lessons and on the road driving hours with instructors. Most students spend a total of 30 hours in the classroom, with each class lasting two hours, and take eight hours of driving lessons, which are an hour long each. Students can then take their driving test with a Department of Motor Vehicles employee at the school in the very same cars they take lessons in.

Each driving class focuses on a different skill and acts as a building block on the previous lesson. For instance, students will master lane changing before learning to drive on the highway.

"For fundamental skills, there’s an acronym we use: SIPDE, which stands for scan, identify, predict, decide and execute," Trant said. "That’s our core teaching mantra. It’s easy to teach teens how to drive a car, but it’s not so easy to teach them how to share the road with other drivers and what to do in certain situations, because not everybody plays by the rules and you have to be on the defense all the time."

The classroom is just as important, as it is where students can go more in-depth on a particular aspect of driving and learn how to deal with situations they might not encounter during a lesson on the road.

"Behind the wheel, we are only going to create whatever situations are happening around us," Trant said. "In the classroom, we have the ability to further expand on that stuff with conversations, videos and lesson plans."

While the school has operated under this model for many years, a number of things have changed on the road since the school first opened.

"There is definitely more traffic to deal with," Trant said. "More teens have vehicles in town, so obviously there are more teens sharing the road. Cars are bigger too, like SUV-type vehicles, so the road seems smaller."

Technology in the car has also been a big change over the last decade, as many vehicles now have tools such as backup cameras and blind spot monitors. According to Trant, the school teaches students not to rely solely on the technology in the car and to always check their rear and blind spots, although they do support the use of these tools that help people drive safely.

Driving instructors take students out on the road in Toyota Corollas, and will even pick students up at their home or school for lessons in New Canaan, Darien, Norwalk, Stamford and Wilton. These instructors are what Trant believes sets the Lewis School of Driving apart from other schools in the area.

"We have an extremely experienced, knowledgeable and trained staff," Trant said. "The average experience between our instructors is 15 years of experience. I myself have 29 years of experience...that’s a lot of experience, with a lot information and knowledge. That’s why people trust us to keep their kids safe."

When hiring driving instructors, Trant looks for someone who is both a great driver and a great teacher.

"You can be a great driver but not be able to teach someone to drive very well," Trant said. "That’s very important that they have the ability to pass information along on how to drive."

Robert Wern has worked at the Lewis School of Driving as an instructor for 16 years, and he finds the school's emphasis on creating an individualized experience for students is the key to the school's longevity in New Canaan.

"We have a very experienced crew with a lot of time behind the wheel," Wern said. "We try to do whatever one particular person needs; we don’t have one approach, so we try to make it like a personal experience. We try to make it enjoyable, fun and safe."

According to Wern, instructors will often find themselves "working their way through families" in town, teaching the oldest down to the youngest members of some families who send their children to the school.

"We feel like we’re part of the community. We’re not just a school or another store in town; we’re something a little bit different," Wern said. "It’s a family business. We’ve kept it small and local for a reason, so we can address the concerns of the different students that come through."

The family-owned atmosphere extends into the office, where there is always a person present to answer a call or welcome anyone looking to sign up in person. Trant's son, James, also works at the school in keeping with the vision of the school's founder.

"We are a family. We all have worked together here for at least 10 or 15 years and we have a strong family network here. We rely on each other and support each other a lot," Trant said. "The town has changed so much in the last almost 50 years...but it’s still a small town where everybody looks out for each other and takes care of each other and knows the community is supportive. I really value that. I’m proud that we’ve been able to stay in New Canaan. I think Chet would be proud that we’ve kept the business small and local."

Lewis actually taught Trant how to drive when she was 23. Among many things, he taught her a cue for when to start turning the wheel while parking. She still uses that lesson to this day, proving lessons learned at the Lewis School of Driving are never forgotten.

For more information on the Lewis School of Driving, visit their website.