Driving school licensing system now in effect

By Dave Flaherty/The Oshawa Express

A new licensing system for driving school and driving instructors has been introduced in the City of Oshawa, more than a year after the idea first emerged.

The system in question will require all driving schools who use Oshawa streets to be registered, including all their instructors. The system requires all cars to have mechanical safety certificates, display a city identification plate on the bumper and creates a basic operating standards for these companies.

A restricted area for these driving schools has also been established.

The area has a north boundary of Adelaide Avenue East/West, a southern boundary of Bloor Street East/West, an eastern boundary at Ritson Road and the western boundary at Thornton Road.

“Building on the success of similar programs in other municipalities, it is expected that the introduction of a licensing system and restricted area standards in Oshawa will contribute to creating a safer and less congested driver education environment,” city officials stated in a press release.

The move for licensing system comes after a series of complaints that have been ongoing for years.

In June 2017, one Warren Avenue resident said his street was “inundated” with driving school cars, many of them coming from Pickering, Markham and Toronto.

Mary Ashton is an owner of Provincial Driving School in Oshawa. The driving school has operated for 30 years in the city.

She says they are accepting of the licensing system.

“We have to pay $200 each year. But we know we’ve been fortunate, licenses have been implement in Toronto years ago,” she says.

The complaints from residents are completely legitimate in her eyes as well.

“There are a lot of driving schools that are not responsible,” she says.

But Ashton says they are unhappy with the restricted area.

“We don’t know how they’ve come up with the boundaries. The area they’ve mapped out is ridiculous,” she says.

According to Ashton, there are already some driving schools who are trying to circumvent the boundaries.

“They take the sign off the cars. We see them,” she says. “We haven’t known anybody to get a ticket.”