Michigan alleges Dearborn driving school had thousands of violations
By LUKE LASTER
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DETROIT (WWJ) — The Michigan Department of State alleges 6,643 violations were discovered during an investigation into a Dearborn driver’s education provider.
Epic Driving Education LLC, owned by Ameer Abusalah and located at five Berwick Lane in Dearborn, has been suspended, effective Nov. 1, 2023.
The state says some of the violations included:
Failure to provide training records, contracts, and knowledge tests Failing to verify that students enrolled in a course meet the physical and mental requirements for licensure Failing to ensure students successfully passed a knowledge test prior to issuing a Certificate of Completion Misrepresenting the quantity and quality of instruction provided for a driver’s education certificate and/or driver’s license The violations date from 2021 to 2023, a period when hundreds of driver education students attended Abusalah’s “Epic Driving School” in Dearborn.
“One of the highlights of your teenage life is getting a driver’s license,” says Martin O’Neill, who has been co-owner of Elite Driving School in St. Clair Shores for 34 years.
He says for many of the drivers he believes fell victim to a scam, it’s back to square one.
“There are unscrupulous people out there. It looks like to me someone showed up, and they came together, and they said, ‘OK, this is what’s going to happen in driver’s training,'” says O’Neill.
O’Neill added that this is a huge safety violation for not only those drivers but the others on the road too.
Parents who had children who attended Epic Driving are encouraged to contact the Michigan Department of State to file a complaint.
MDOS states those impacted can also pursue a refund for the course, or even legal action.
The actions have left driving instructors like O’neill with more questions than answers. One of them being, why did it take so long for someone to speak up?
“You have to know as a parent, and when you’re driving around with a 15-year-old, you want to make sure that they can drive and be as best as they can. There’s a lot of kids that got certificates, that no one stepped forward. And why did it take two years for someone to step forward, is disappointing,” O’Neill says.
The state has suspended the owner’s authorization to operate as an instructor and is working towards revoking it altogether.
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