A-1 Driving School 86 Winthrop Street, Augusta, ME 04330

"He was very strict when i would drive with him, and only would let me ride 1 hour 1 day a week. All the other kids passed 1-2 weeks in, and every time i would be scheduled for a lesson with him he'd be 15-20 minutes late, and would end the lesson before the scheduled time. I was juggling work and depression durring this, so it was extreemly frusturating having to either walk 2 miles to class, or having to juggle finances to make sure i got there in time via cab. Before everyone was able to drive we had to pass a written test. As a celebration, i made and brought in pizza for everyone from work. In front of the entire class, he made fun of me, saying "is this seriously the best you could do? Sams club pizza? Youve gotta be kidding me" Its taken me years to finaly feel comfortable enough to come back out here and look into drivers ed again because of this man. He was not a good person. I dont wish this treatment on anyone. Im honestly glad that covid 19 made it so i didnt have to deal with the stress this man brought to me anymore"

"Definitely would not recommend this driving school...Very unprofessional. When my son couldn't get his driving hours in because they over booked on classes and we went elsewhere we were guilted for asking for our money back ."

"Do not give these people your money !!! They are scam artist ,. We gave them 400 cash up front 1year ago they said we be in the next class . They will not pay the money back or get my girlfriend throw there class ,. So for your sake please go through another school these people have no feelings"

"My daughter took his class a few years ago, she had no issues passing his class and thought he did a great job preparing her for the real world. Sure he does not sugar coat his communication to students or give the white glove treatment if kids think this is stressful you better hold on the real world and adulthood is going to be one heck of a ride. Society in general these days needs to stop being so easily bothered by every thing, it is not the situation but your reaction to the situation that creates stress. Kids need to take driving very seriously they are operating a potentially deadly weapon and need to be aware of their surroundings at ALL times I feel he helped my daughter become a safe alert motor vehicle operator."

"Mr.Soucie has truly been one of the worst teachers and gave me and my peers, who have had him an awful and stressful learning experience. This class has been the worst learning experience of my life. Mr. Soucie has shown a pattern of disrespect and insensitivity to many students, and everyone I’ve talked to has confirmed his abrasive personality. At many of my lessons, I have had panic attacks in the car because of the stressful environment he creates. I have also cried before and after lessons because of the harsh criticism he gave. He even said once that I needed to redeem myself before my next drive. This stressed me out because there was nothing I could do between then and my next drive to improve, since I couldn’t drive on my own. This is also a flaw in his grading system, because we do all our learning with him. He also only focuses on the negative parts of your driving, never complimenting or recognizing anything that you do correctly. While I do understand that criticism is a great way to learn, it can be extremely discouraging if that is all that you hear. Another overwhelming part of Mr. Soucie’s teaching style is the running commentary he makes you say. He makes you say every sign that you see, that you’re checking your mirrors every five to eight seconds, where and what you’re looking at, what snipers and chargers are there (other cars), and more. This is extremely distracting when you’re trying to focus on a new and scary thing. He made me feel bad for not saying everything, while I was already so overwhelmed. His other teaching methods, such as snapping at the turning and recovery points of a turn is also very distracting and intimidating to his students. Mr. Soucie also never taught me how to park. I feel that I was not given the necessary tools and information I need to drive safely. I would never recommend A-1 Driving school to anyone who asks my opinion on where they should go to drivers ed."