It’s been 25 years since Stop and Go Driving School first put an advertisement in the local yellow pages for its new driver’s education services.
With now five locations throughout the Valley, owners Jan and Joe Zahara officially opened Stop and Go’s Fountain Hills location last spring, offering a dedicated classroom location for local students to learn the rules of the Arizona roads.
Despite only recently opening in Fountain Hills, Stop and Go has long had a presence here on school campus.
In the late ‘90s, Joe was a special education teacher at FHUSD who also taught driver's education to students after school and on the weekends. He was later a science teacher at the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and Jan taught kindergarten and first grade at the former Fountain Hills Charter School.
For years, Fountain Hills drivers have been making the trek to Stop and Go’s Valley locations for driver’s education services, so Joe and Jan finally decided to open a classroom location in their hometown.
“We wanted to offer our services to Fountain Hills residents because we live here, and it’s our community,” Jan said. “It’s a smaller class size but we still want to serve our community.”
Stop and Go offers driver’s education classes for new drivers, traffic survival school for red light runners and DUIs and defensive driving school for those seeking ticket dismissal.
The new location attracts residents from Scottsdale to Sunflower.
A one-stop-shop
Since its inception, Stop and Go has serviced Maricopa County with driver’s education, amassing a fleet of 40 vehicles.
Stop and Go offers its four-hour defensive driving class for $49, offering Arizona residents the opportunity to learn or relearn the rules of the road.
From understanding roundabouts to navigating through temporary school zones, Jan says anyone can benefit from a refresher, particularly those who are from out of state and unfamiliar with Arizona road rules.
Stop and Go also offers a monthly course called Alive at 25, empowering young people ages 15 to 25 with information about distracted driving.
Stop and Go also provides Arizona Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) test waivers to students who put in at least 10 hours of driving with Stop and Go Driving School.
“We like to say we’re the one-stop-shop because technically a parent would never have to step foot in a motor vehicle department if they went through us,” Joe said.
Joe’s teaching certification and degree in traffic safety were required in the state of Washington where he taught for three years before moving to Fountain Hills. The degree is not a requirement in Arizona but gives Stop and Go a leg up when it comes to knowing and teaching the rules of the road.
By the time the two educators moved to Fountain Hills in 1996, they were in hot pursuit of any opportunity to keep them busy during the teaching off-season.
“We were like, ‘Well, we can start our own school,’” Jan said. “We were just young and dumb enough to think that was a good idea.”
The following year, the two opened their driving school in Mesa.
“We’re the only school in Arizona as far as I know with teachers owning the school,” Jan said.
Nearing three decades in business, Stop and Go Driving School offers a unique opportunity for those who want to log hours behind the wheel, pursue a defensive driving class or simply want to learn more about driving in Arizona.
“There’s a lot of fly-by-night companies out there so you want to look for somebody with a high reputation, who’s been around for a long time and believes strongly in education first and foremost,” Jan said. “Thankfully, we fit those categories.”
Located at 16742 E. Parkview Ave., Suite 1, Stop and Go in Fountain Hills can be reached by calling 480-837-9606. For more information, visit stopandgo1.com.
We invite our readers to submit their civil comments on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Cyrus Guccione can be reached at cguccione@iniusa.org.
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