Michael Mercadante, founder of Modern Driver Institute and currently its sole instructor, is a professional defensive driving instructor licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. A subject matter expert with an academic background in educational psychology and years of teaching experience, he teaches defensive driving skills from a cognitive/behavioral perspective, and specializes in working with individuals with autism, anxiety, AD/HD, panic attacks, bipolar disorder and various other conditions which require additional expertise and attention.
Mike holds a Master’s degree in Psychology, with a specialization in Educational Psychology. He is currently working on his Ph.D in Psychology. He is writing a book about driving on the spectrum.
In addition to teaching hundreds of people behind the wheel and classroom driver education since 2011, Mike’s other teaching experience includes time as an adjunct college professor, a teen programs coordinator, summer camp counselor and a kindergarten teacher. He is a regular volunteer at his youngest daughter’s elementary school.
Prior to becoming a driving instructor, Mike spent nearly eight years working in traffic safety research on projects for a variety of private and government clients such as NHTSA, AAA Foundation For Traffic Safety, FMCSA, and PennDOT (including revising and updating the Pennsylvania Driver’s Manual). He specialized in developing educational materials and utilizing driving simulators to train teens and seniors to be better, safer drivers.
In addition to his teaching and content expertise, Mike is a professional historian and genealogist, as well as a multimedia artist and writer. He has created content such as podcasts, comic books, magazine articles, television shows, documentaries and theatrical short films. He has also flown hot air balloons, participated in several automotive racing competitions and provided precision driving for Hollywood films.
He is also a full-time father of three children, including two teens getting ready to drive.