Just like anything else—English, history, medicine, hard knocks—you learn best by going to school. With driving, it’s the same story. Your Uncle Sparky may think he’s the best parallel parker this side of the Ohio River, but you should trust the professionals.

If you haven’t been enrolled in a high school driver’s education course, seek qualified instruction from a state licensed driving school. They know what’s up. Instructors at these schools are required to maintain rigorous standards and must pass a test themselves every few years. Feel free to ask to see their identification card—it’ll give you some good practice for your future career as a bouncer.

Aside from the official driving classes, if you’ve never had a license before, you can practice driving a non-commercial vehicle on New Hampshire roadways provided that you are AT LEAST 15 ½ (with proper ID) and have a parent, legal guardian, or other licensed driver of at least 25 years of age in the front seat of the car.

If you’re under the age of 18, you’re required to complete 40 hours of supervised practice driving, logged and supervised by that parent, guardian, or old person—yeah, 25 is old—IN ADDITION to the 10 hours of required driver education driving. If you think that’s rough, it gets even more specific: at least 10 of the 40 practice hours must occur during the time period from ½ hour after sunset to ½ hour before sunrise (we here at Shmoop like to use the technical term: nighttime).