LA Driving School Leaves 40 Students Stranded With No Refunds

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Do you remember the anxiety that surrounded the getting your driver's license? I can recall it like it was yesterday.  I might have slacked off in history, but I was paying attention in driver's ed.  Gaining the ability to drive was nothing short of a miracle at the age of 16 - sadly, that miracle has reportedly been taken from dozens of hopeful Louisiana drivers.

According to a report from WBRZ, the Metro City Driving Academy in Baton Rouge owes refunds to at least 40 prospective drivers after they failed to hold up their end of the bargain.  At least 40 students of the driving school are reporting that they paid the $500 cost for the program, did the work, but didn't receive the credits they needed to acquire their license.

Officially, residents of Louisiana between the ages of 15 and 16-years-old can obtain a driver's permit if they complete a 38-hour driver's education course like the one supposedly offered by Metro City Driving Academy.  The problem is, when students reported to the DMV to start the process of getting their license - they were told that no paperwork denoting the credits necessary to complete the process has been filed by Metro.

The rabbit hole gets even deeper: Metro City Driving Academy is officially out of business.  That means that the more than 40 students (and the parents that likely paid for the academy's instruction) are having a very difficult time finding a responsible party in order to get their refunds.  Why is the school closed?  They were shut down by the state for operating without insurance.  They had reportedly conducted driving tests in 4 uninsured vehicles, prompting the Office of Motor Vehicles to raid the office and shut the business down.

The OMV is now in looking for and working with customers of Metro City Driving Academy who believe they are owed refunds and who didn't receive the credits they earned.