women drivers.

Published in The Post-Star (D1)

10/3/05

Lynn Fuchs talks about cars the way evangelists talk about God.

Learning to drive, she declares, can change your life. It expands your social network, your shopping options, and even your job prospects.

Who wouldn’t want to get behind the wheel?

Some people, however, are afraid to convert from passengers to drivers. They might have grown up in a city where a subway pass was as good as gasoline, or grown used to relying on a spouse who hogged the steering wheel. Perhaps they’re jittery from a car crash.

Fear not, says Fuchs, owner of A Woman’s Way Driving School. She promises to teach them to drive her way — "a woman’s way" (even if they’re men) — by combining traditional instruction with phobia counseling.

"Self-confidence is the biggest issue for many of my students," Fuchs said. "They want to learn so badly, but they don’t think they can handle it."

She teaches them to take things one step at a time, training their eyes before their hands and feet.

Fuchs, 53, sports a Long Island accent, an enormous smile, and the aura of a friendly aunt. The answering machine at her driving school promises callers that, "We really care about you here at our school."

She compares her relationship with students to a doctor’s with her patients, and advertises on her Web site as "the specialist who makes house calls." For her, driver’s education is a calling. She has always loved driving, Fuchs said, and owns seven cars, including an antique Volvo that she uses for lessons.

She started down the driving school career path in her mid-20s, when she was involved in a car crash that started her thinking about defensive driving. She took a job as an instructor at a driving school in 1978, and discovered a passion for individualized teaching that she felt "wasn’t appreciated there."

In 1981, she founded A Woman’s Way in her hometown of Valley Stream, on Long Island. She opened the second location in Glens Falls about five years ago.

One of her goals, she said, is to help students avoid accidents by learning to think ahead. Drivers should "look early and deep" into side streets when approaching an intersection, she said, and watch the tires of oncoming vehicles for clues about their speed and direction. Pedestrians and bikers should, she said, be "wheel watchers," too.

"People don’t always realize that 3,000 pounds takes a lot of time to stop, so they may not be braking in time to stop at a light," Fuchs said. "If you notice that their wheels aren’t rotating more slowly as they approach the intersection, be careful."

She has given this technique a name — The Fuchs’ Formula — which she has copyrighted. The formula is detailed, with credit given to Fuchs, in Chapter 8 — Defensive Driving — of the New York driver’s manual.

In 2003, Fuchs received a certificate in counseling from St. Joseph’s College, although not all her students need phobia counseling. She also conducts prelicensing classes and elder driver evaluations for the Motor Vehicles Department, and teaches basic automobile safety.

Her students range from 16 to 85, and she estimated she’s taught about 25,000 of them. It’s a number she hopes will keep accelerating.

"I’m truly proud of what I do," she said. She would like eventually to establish a foundation for people who can’t afford to pay for a car or driving lessons.

"Driving changes your life, and if I can share that with someone else, I’ve done a good job." #