Hi Daniel
Thank you so much for your assistance in helping me achieve one of my goals today! I'm so glad that today I
finally got my driver's license! I was starting to think that most people 24 years old, like me, already have a
license, so I started to put more pressure on myself to try to get that license. Before I go on to thank you more,
please let me explain about my bad past experiences with driving and instructors before I found you.
When I was attending Waiakea High School located in Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii, I decided to finally
take Driver's Education in my Senior year of high school. I think there were only a few seniors in my Driver's Ed
class. I felt a bit shame about that, and especially the fact that I was almost graduating and didn't have my license
yet.
Anyway, I attended all of my classroom lessons. They were helpful in showing videos about drunk driving,
helping me to know all of the answers for the written test to get my permit, etc. We had to obtain our permit before we
could go on to the driving lesson. Luckily, I easily got my permit. Then came the day of our driving lessons. I had two
other girls with me in my car, so it was no private lesson, and that sucked because then the instructor can't
concentrate on you! I had one girl in my group who was a worse driver than me and, the other girl was better than me.
I think we went driving for about 3 hours, with one girl having one hour each, while the others observe
from the back seat. Driver's Ed in high school can be embarrassing because the others in your group can see how a
horrible driver you are! You just can't beat private instruction!
My instructor (Warren Miyasaki) of Driver's Ed was very horrible! There was this one lesson when we went
out onto the highway and because I wasn't entering fast enough, he stepped hard on my foot!! Luckily, I was wearing
shoes, but he could have hurt me. He truly had no right to do what he did! I felt that Driver's Ed in high school
wasn't the best deal, even though it only cost a grand total of $10 and we got that $10 returned to us at the end of
the course by receiving gas coupons. Still, I felt that 6 hours behind the wheel wasn't enough, even if I watched other
students drive for 12 hours.
I hardly got any practice after Driver's Ed was done because my family was so hesitant for me to drive
their car. This was so because they said I wasn't covered under their insurance. So I lost mostly all of the skills I
learned in Driver's Ed.
Then I had a boyfriend from Japan who came to visit me in Hawaii. He rented a car and since in Japan they
drive on the opposite side of the road than we do in Hawaii, he was trying to drive on the left side of the road! Since
that irritated me and it was very dangerous, I told him I would drive, even though I had no permit since I had let my
permit expire due to the fact that I figured my family would never give me a chance to drive again!
So I was driving that rent a car which was new to me since I never drove that type of a car before. I ended
up getting into an accident and when the cops asked for my license or permit, I said I had none, so they sent me to
court. At court, I only had to pay a fee and was let go. When I told my mother I was in an accident, she cried.
Therefore, I gave up driving for about 3 years while I was in college.
Then I moved to Honolulu after I received my college diploma. I was so hesitant to drive in the big and
busy city Honolulu is compared to the small, laid-back and quiet town of Hilo. When I finally got the nerves to drive
again, it was with my future husband. I tried driving his car, and I didn't do well. My future husband also didn't have
the patience to teach me, so his father suggested I take private instruction here since his wife did.
I looked in the phone book and decided to call James Onishi of About Driving. Boy, was that a big mistake!
I didn't realize it until later that he was horrible, though, now I'll explain why he is so horrible! When I first
started instruction with him, I thought he was all right, but not a really great person. He would talk story with me
while I was driving, but I felt he didn't praise me enough. Also, for parallel parking, what he showed me was just
"pull over to the side and park." He never thought me the correct way of backing into it instead of just
driving straight into it! Since driving is not his full-time job, he was hardly available to teach me.
I think a few weekends went by without instruction since he was away on a trip.
Still yet, I decided to take my first road test ever (No, I never took a road test in Hilo due to my lack
of practice there) with his car. While waiting at Kapolei for the examiner to come out, I was worried about my parking.
I kept thinking about which way to turn the wheel when reversing and that is because it proves he wasn't a good enough
instructor if I had to worry about such a thing!
So what happened is when my examiner told me to leave the parking lot, what I did is instead of backing
straight out of my stall, I was turning the wheel right while reversing, so I hit the other car! Due to that accident,
I didn't even leave the parking lot and immediately failed my road test.
When my instructor found out about the very small dent in his car and the fact that I easily failed the
road test, he was super furious! He would not look me in the eyes or even talk to me! Still yet, for some stupid
reason, I decided to give him another try as my instructor.
Now I do regret giving him another shot, though! He did show me only one route of the Kapolei road test,
and that didn't help me much. I noticed that after I had that accident and he was my instructor again, he had a totally
different attitude towards me! He would be mad if I was late coming downstairs to his car. He never ever told me
"thank you" when I paid him, he wouldn't say "bye," etc. There was this one time I was driving and
I guess I must have made a big mistake because he yelled at me! I didn't think he was supposed to do that because as
everyone told me, I could get that free from my family or husband! Also, James Onishi would end my lesson a few minutes
short, even if I had like 10 more minutes left to drive.
When I went to take my second road test with him again, I had a very good examiner but due to the fact that
my instructor didn't show me all of Kapolei and only showed me one route, I failed the test. That is because since I'm
from Hilo, I don't know all of Oahu well and the roads on Oahu are so different from Hilo.
When I came back from my road test, my instructor was nowhere to be found. He had told me to look for him
upstairs if he wasn't downstairs. I probably spent a good 20 minutes looking for him and he was nowhere to be found. I
tried to use the pay phone at the Kapolei DMV, but for some reason, it didn't work. So I went to security and asked
them to use the phone to call my instructor. They allowed me to use the phone.
While I was trying to call my instructor, he finally walks up to the security desk. I felt so mad because I
wasted 20 minutes looking for him, and also he charged me for that and lied to me because I looked everywhere (except
the bathrooms) and couldn't find him! I told my husband all this and he said I should have switched instructors the
first time!
Due to all that James Onishi did, I decided to get rid of him and stop wasting money on him, as my husband
said.
I looked once again in the yellow pages and found Shima's Driving School. Since they seemed like they had a
lot of years experience, I called them. I had Michael Shima as my instructor. I think I only had 3 lessons with him.
This is because he would never correct my parking and also all he wanted to do was take me to church with him. Even if
he was cheaper ($35), he wasn't worth it. Also, he didn't want me to take the road test with him in Kapolei because he
said it's too far. He insisted on me taking it in Dillingham and I said "no way!" to myself, so I got rid of
him!
(I highly recommend that students stay away from the two horrible instructors I just mentioned.)
Then, I looked yet once again in the yellow pages and searched some web pages some people had listed in the
yellow pages. I found some instructors, but they were either too expensive or not willing to pick me up at home and
take me to Kapolei because they said that would take away more than half my driving time.
Then finally I came up A One Driving School. I read all the testimonials there and was so happy! I was
reading about how they pass the road test on the first try and I felt like even if it would be my third road test, I
could pass the road test on the first try with this new instructor, Daniel Kaimi.
He picked me up one Saturday and seemed like he had so much energy and enthusiasm! He would always try to
compliment me about my driving whenever possible, and that really made me feel good since I never got that from my
other instructors.
I feel you need to be complimented to do well in driving. He would never yell at me, and he would always
correct me when I made a mistake. Daniel's car is so easy to drive, we always had a lot to talk about, etc.
He would keep on making me do my parallel parking until I got it right. He showed me all over Kapolei,
which helped me so much so I would know the roads in Kapolei well.
On the day of my third road test, I used Daniel's car. He picked me up early so I could have a lot of
practice time, which I feel made all the difference! I was a little nervous during my road test, but luckily, I had a
nice examiner who kept on talking story with me during the road test. That really made me calm down so much! Therefore,
I passed my road test! When I came back to the DMV, Daniel was there waiting for me and I had a big smile on my face,
so he knew I passed!
I just appreciate the fact that he was actually waiting there for me, unlike my first instructor who was
nowhere to be found! Also, Daniel still had that enthusiasm as he congratulated me. That was one of the happiest days
of my life!
I'm so glad I finally got my driver's license! At 24 years old, I was really feeling I needed my license so
bad because I had a hard time during the bus strike. My husband had to take me to work every day during the bus strike,
so it was a burden for us. I got my license for our future children and so I can actually drive myself and my husband
places, take my husband to work, etc.
Without Daniel's professional driving help, I feel I would have never gotten my license. When our future
children are old enough to drive, I definitely want them to take driving lessons from Daniel.
Thank you so much, Daniel, for all your assistance with my driving and parking and making me do stuff over
and over until I got them right. I feel with time, I will become an even better driver.
I highly recommend Daniel Kaimi to everyone who needs to learn how to drive. Please be careful because
there are some bad instructors out there, but Daniel's the best one ever! Thanks again for helping me get my license. I
will call on you later on to take our future children's pictures and maybe even buy a car! This guy is very talented!!
With so much appreciation,
Christina
Sorry, I had forgotten to include in my letter the fact that James Onishi fell asleep while I was driving.
Thanks,
Christina