With 25 years of patient and learner-centred teaching, it’s only natural that Bestway Driver Training is a Driving Instructor Training Facility as well.

In the past 15 years, Bestway has trained many driving instructor who now work for various school around BC and throughout Canada. If working in a field where you can make a real difference to others appeals to you, then driver training may be a good career choice for you.

Course Contents:

The course has both in-class theory and in-car practical modules for a total of 80 hours of training. You must complete the required number of hours as well as be successful with the assessment portions of the course.

Assessments are done on four different aspects of your training. The first three are a written knowledge test, a presentation practicum on traffic signs, lights and road markings, and on-road practical teaching demonstrations.

The fourth assessment however, is done much earlier in the course to ensure that you are learning the correct habits right from the start of your training. The on-road driving assessment is a highly critical evaluation of an instructor trainee's abilities to drive. It summarizes the student's areas of weakness and allows the student an unbiased review of driving errors.

Although a student may be a good driver under normal conditions, during testing most people display errors in the areas where their skills are somewhat deficient. This assessment will give the student the opportunity to improve upon these skills and to better understand what they, as future driving instructors will be expected to observe in their own students when teaching and evaluating them. Practice or further training will be recommended to a student dependent upon the severity of the deficit in a particular area.

When you have completed the 40 minute evaluation you will be given a private debriefing with recommendations and suggestions from the assessment officer. You will also receive a photocopy of your results. It is important that you maintain excellent defensive habits if you are going to impart these same habits to your students in the car. Take the evaluation as an opportunity to improve your personal driving skills. You are encouraged to analyze the results with an open mind and be prepared to change some well entrenched bad habits if necessary.

Defensive Driving Theory:

You will learn about the various methods that professional driver instructors teach their students. We will cover The Five Keys of the Smith System, SIPDE, (Scan, Identify, Predict, Determine, Execute), See-Think-Do, Proactive VS Reactive Driving, etc. By Graduation Day you will be very comfortable and well versed in the concepts that make up Defensive Driving. This part of the course is perhaps the most important part of your training. By being comfortable with it yourself, you will be able to pass on the concepts of safe driving to your students with ease. You will be encouraged to practice the techniques that you will learn each time you get into a vehicle.

Instructor Course Pre-Requisites:

1. Requirements for the Driving Instructor License Course involves pre-approval from ICBC's Driver Training & Assessment Standards Unit in Victoria. Contact them at 1-866-339-0363 to order your information package.

2. Clean Driving Record with minimum of 3 years driving experience.

3. A current Driver's Abstract with no more than a specified number of points during the previous two years.

4. You must have a Medical evaluation done and have the appropriate forms filled out by your family doctor and then these must be forwarded to ICBC. These forms are available by calling the ICBC DT & ASS at the number listed above.

5. You must have a Criminal Record Check completed by your local community police and an original copy provided to ICBC DT & ASS. There are some restrictions in this area. Forms will be sent to you by ICBC.

6. Once you have received pre-approval from ICBC you may secure with us a $500.00 deposit and register to reserve a space in one of our upcoming programs.

Coaching and Instructional Skills:

Teaching using positive re-enforcement & feedback as well as a learner centered instructional style will set you apart from others in the driver training field. Methods of determining individual learning styles or how a person learns best will be outlined for you. The course explores the concepts of subconscious driving and habitual learning. You will also become fluent with the general terminology and jargon of the driver training industry.

Course Completion:

We can offer some assistance and advice on finding a job as an instructor. We have many contacts within our industry and see many Bestway Instructor Training Graduates working in other schools in the driver training field here in BC.

Upon completion of the course, all trainees will be issued a ‘Driver Training Instructor Course Completion Certificate,' to be submitted to ICBC. Assuming all other information is in order and correct, ICBC will issue a ‘Driver Training Instructor's License' in the name of the applicant.