Driver Training Tips

Learning to drive is lifelong learning

Having a few driver training tips under your belt can help you through the teenage driving years. As a parent, you are your child’s first driving teacher. It’s important to demonstrate safe driving behaviours right from your child’s first ride in a car. Following, are some practical driver training tips for parents of teenage drivers.

Driver education and training

There are a number of driver education and training options for your teenager:

learning entirely from you or another “co-pilot”'
learning entirely with a professional driving instructor
a combination of the above

You and your young driver will want to consider the advantages and disadvantages of the various driver education and training options before making a decision. Why take driver training? Review this resource to help you make the best decision for your family.

Resources for learning to drive

Your involvement in your young driver’s learning is important, whether you and your young driver decide on professional training or not. There are a number of resources for families who have teenagers who are learning to drive:

You Be the Judge and Test Each Other — These two online resources are excellent for keeping the lines of communication open. They’re also great ways to learn from each another.
BC’s driving manuals — Tuning Up for Drivers is a great resource for parents or “co-pilots” to use together with their young drivers. Road Sense for Drivers covers the rules of the road as well as personal and emergency driving strategies. Both can be downloaded from the above link or are available at any licensing office.
Online practice knowledge test — Recommend that your young driver take the practice knowledge test. The questions are different each time you take the test — so it can be done over and over. You can even issue a friendly challenge and see who gets the most correct answers.
Online safety tips from driver examiners — These online tips use video footage and interactive illustrations to provide safety tips about common diving situations. Watch the safety tips together — they are helpful learning tools for new drivers and those wishing to brush up on their own skills.

Choose a driving training school

All driver training schools must be licensed by ICBC in order to operate in BC. Among other things, this means they use qualified driving instructors. However, not all driver education courses are approved by ICBC. Do your research before selecting a driver training school. There are a number of advantages of taking an ICBC-approved driver education course.

Find an up-to-date list of ICBC-approved driver education courses.