Driver Training

British Columbia has over 620,000 km of resource roads that have been built to access natural resources by industry. They are also used by the general public to take part in recreational activities. They are not maintained to the same standard as public highways, if they are maintained at all. Four wheel drive or ATV type recreational vehicles may be required to use them.

The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure has announced that Mandatory Entry Level Training (MELT) will be required of applicants for a class 1 driver's licence commencing on October 18. 2021. B.C.’s program will exceed the minimum requirements set by the National Safety Code Standard for entry-level training of Class 1 drivers and will take at least 140 hours to complete.

A new vehicle sold today is equipped with a backup camera to help insure that the driver has as complete a view to the rear as possible to insure safety while backing up. An IIHS study compared the crash rates of cars with and cars without backup cameras. Overall, cars with cameras were 17% less likely to be involved in a police-reported backup crash. Why was the reduction so small?

Hazard perception commentary is a very useful tool for teaching a new driver. It requires them to narrate their observations, interpretations and intentions about the traffic situation as they drive. This commentary is expected to take place before the fact and gives the instructor or examiner insight into what the driver is seeing (or not seeing) and how they intend to proceed.

I volunteer for Big Brothers / Big Sisters of Canada and have had a little brother from the time he was 5 until now when he recently celebrated 16th birthday and got his L for driving. His Mom being a single parent that works a couple jobs doesn’t have a lot of extra money for driving lessons. I thought I’d help out teaching him to drive.

I've always been interested in driving and technology, so when I had the opportunity to combine the two, I jumped at it. eDriving provided access to their Mentor app for me to test. How would I measure up?

I installed the Mentor app on my tablet as I don't own a personal cell phone. The app is meant to be used on a cell phone but appeared to work properly on the tablet. It was just a bit awkward to put in my truck because of the size.

The Motorcycle Safety Foundation is the internationally recognized developer of the comprehensive, research-based, Rider Education and Training System (RETS). RETS curricula promotes lifelong-learning for motorcyclists and continuous professional development for certified RiderCoaches(SM) and other trainers.

One of our local newspapers has a Beefs and Bouquets section that I often find entertaining. Many of the beefs concern drivers who don’t follow the rules but occasionally I scratch my head and wonder if the “beefer” could pass a driving knowledge test.

Here are two videos on how to shoulder check featuring Rick from Smart Drive Test. He tends to wave his arms a lot, but the messages that he delivers are clear and concise. If you find them useful, there are currently 86 videos on the YouTube Smart Drive Test channel.

Every once in a while a visitor to DriveSmartBC will pose a question that makes me go “hmm...” This week brought one of those moments with the query “Does a driver supervisor have to be sane?” Without thinking, my response was that of course a supervisor would have to be sane, but after I thought about it, the only thing that a supervisor requires is a minimum age and a valid driver's licence.