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SOUTH BRUNSWICK: Driving her passion

Local woman living a dream

By Charles W. Kim, Managing Editor
    When Carolyn Dardani saw her then 16-year-old daughter return from a driving lesson in 2009, she knew what she wanted to do. She became a driving instructor and bought her own school.
    “I looked at my daughter and said ‘I want to do that someday,’” Ms. Dardani said. “I love teenagers and I love teaching.”
    Driving instruction also provides her with another love, a love of vehicles.
    “I thought it would be a fun job to do,” she said.
    Ms. Dardani went through the process of becoming a certified instructor. She said she started by researching the requirements and then worked through the process.
    She was hired by a driving school, went through written and driving tests, background checks and got her license to teach driving.
    Ms. Dardani said that she eventually bought Dennis Duttry’s Windsor Driving School in Cranbury in May 2011and added Brunswick to the title.
    “I wanted to expand (north), but still have Windsor in the title,” Ms. Dardani said.
    After running the school out of the garage of her New Road home, Ms. Dardani recently opened a new office in a building on Route 1 south.
    Her business serves 50-60 clients each month, and each one gets a customized approach.
    Ms. Dardani said the instruction plan depends on the needs and circumstances of the students.
    Some are young and new to driving, others are older and had not learned for various reasons, and still others that just want a “refresher” course.
    Ms. Dardani said that her goal, and that of her company, Windsor-Brunswick Driving Academy, is to provide the best learning experience for the students and making them safe.
    “The point of a driving school is not just to pass a test,” Ms. Dardani said. “It is to make (the students) safe on the road.”
    The company employs 10 people including herself, with nine licensed instructors and an authorized agent in the office to process the paperwork and permitting.
    Her organization strives for professionalism in instructing the students, and is very mindful of local traffic when deciding where to teach best.
    “We stay off Route 27, it’s a dangerous road. There are lots of rear-end collisions,” Ms. Dardani said.
    While there are some roadways and times of day that are avoided, she said you will likely see her dual-control training vehicles “everywhere.”
    Although the office is in South Brunswick, Ms. Dardani said she has many students throughout the region.
    “I aim to be one of the top schools,” Ms. Dardani said. “I had a vision and I went for it.”
    For more information on the school, visit wbdriving.com or call either 732-821-4911 or 609-448-5014.