Our Mission
- To redefine the national qualifications for educating and training drivers.
- To empower parents with tools and techniques to reduce their fears and anxiety during supervised driving sessions and improve their in-car coaching abilities.
- To educate parents and teenage drivers in crash prevention, proactive driving and car-control principles so they understand what enables them to safely control an automobile in any driving environment or circumstances.
- To train drivers in how to become the ULTIMATE CONTROL SYSTEM of their vehicle.
- To save lives, reduce risk, prevent crashes, and protect the family unit from an incomprehensible loss.
Our Vision
To Forever Remove Driving as the Leading Cause of Death for Teenagers in America
Teen Driving Solutions School was founded to prove the merits of the research for the purpose of creating a national solution to the current teenage vehicle fatality epidemic. It was never intended to operate merely as a local “program”. The unprecedented success of our “GRIP on Life” education and training program has proven the research is sound and our methodology for creating and delivering the curriculum confirms a solution now exists that can bring an end to the epidemic for our teenage drivers, saving thousands of lives.
What Sets Us Apart
Teen Driving Solutions School, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit is the only advanced driving school in the U.S. that offers a full 2-day education and training program for teenage drivers and requires parent participation. This program operates exclusively at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, VA. While it was founded to primarily serve families in North Carolina and Virginia, it has served families from 28 different states since operations began in 2010.
Our objective is to unite parents and teenagers in the pursuit of developing a new mindset and skillset that mentally and physically connects them to the vehicles they drive and the environments in which driving occurs. This is crucial to every teenage driver’s safety as current driver education and licensing qualifications no longer teach crash prevention techniques or car control skills.
Any driver who does not fully comprehend what enables them to safely control an automobile in any type of driving environment or circumstances will never know how control can be lost and they will NOT possess the ability to regain control once it is lost.
Our methodology for helping teenage drivers develop a crash prevention mindset and car control skillset is based upon the best global practices for training novice drivers and includes advanced training used in tactical and law enforcement instruction. Our instructors are all volunteers who genuinely care about the safety of our students, and many have professional backgrounds in law enforcement, military training and high-performance driver instruction. We do not teach drivers “how to drive”. We teach parents how to instruct their teenagers, and we teach teenagers how to Arrive Alive Every Time They Drive! ™
Our Story
Teen Driving Solutions School, founded by Daniel Wagner, was born from a tragic incident in 1970 that took the life of an 18-year-old friend. This fully preventable crash not only made a lasting impact on Dan, but it was also the catalyst for shaping his driving education and training around crash prevention techniques and development of car control skills. TDSS is his way of ensuring no families or friends ever have to experience the feeling of loss by preventable crash again.
For over 50 years, Dan has maintained an incident free record while traveling nearly 2 million miles in four different countries in virtually every type of vehicle with rubber tires. Dan has engaged in off-road activities, driven in every imaginable driving environment or condition on public roads and highways. He has also driven and instructed in high-performance driving events at drag racing facilities and road course racetracks.
Dan lost numerous classmates in high school due to preventable crashes and over the years, he’s been on the scene of numerous serious crashes involving young drivers. He’s assisted the injured and helped remove a teen who was crushed beneath his car and killed after being ejected during the crash. The stark contrast between these tragedies and his own driving achievements prompted Dan to begin researching teenage vehicle fatalities on a mission to find and assemble solutions to this ever-increasing issue in the United States of America.
Initially, he began writing a book to address the problem but soon realized he wasn’t writing a book anyone would read, he was creating a training manual to help save lives. In 2009, he met with Chuck Hawks (CEO) and together, they developed a plan to turn this training manual into a functioning program for teen drivers. In 2010, Teen Driving Solutions began operating at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, VA and the rest, as they say, is history.
Today, Teen Driving Solutions School continues to make an annual difference in the lives of approximately 250 teens, their parents, and the communities they live in, by providing the education and training current driver education doesn’t offer teenage drivers. Since inception, over 98% of the teens who graduate from T.D.S.S. and their GRIP on Life program remain incident free for years after completing the training.
Every life is divinely created with a purpose, and we exist to help ensure these irreplaceable lives aren’t lost in a preventable car crash but rather live out the fullness of their purpose.
Our Staff
Dan Wagner
Dan Buckle
John Michaels
Chris Retz
Alan deOlloqui
Brian Wright
Blake Fraiser
Brynn Shreiner
David Stone
Grey Retz
Jan zurLippe
Merrill Quintrell
Pau Bommer
Robert Klampfer
Jim Hansen
Ken Frederick
Lance Pittman
Wade Brown
Dave Coughlin
Joe Holzer
Kris Hudson
Roy Taylor
John Cole