How SafeWay Driving Plans to Revolutionize the Way Teenagers Learn to Drive

Most great ideas emerge after realizing an unmet need. For football coach Gene Walker, that moment came when he noticed that teenagers lacked the kind of sophisticated driving training they needed—and deserved—before getting behind the wheel.

While working closely with students at his local high school, he observed that they were often limited to either learning from mom and pop driver’s schools in a beat up car, or asking their parents to teach them in their spare time. Most schools didn’t even offer training courses. Concerned for the safety of his students, Coach Walker founded SafeWay Driving in 1973 to fill that void.

Renowned for its “Commentary Driving” training techniques (where a student calls out what they see and how they plan to react), which serve as the cornerstone in the namesake “Safeway Driving System,” over the years, Coach Walker successfully built a well-respected and sought-after brand. He grew the organization for 42 years prior to selling to a private equity group of his former students, including then professional NASCAR driver Brad Coleman and his family who had been friends and fellow educators with Coach Walker for over 40 years.

“Learning to drive is not a rite of passage. It’s not an online game or something that can be learned through an online game or cool app. Driving is an acquired skill-set that can only be learned with hands-on training,” said Brad Coleman, who, today, is SafeWay Driving’s Chief Driving Officer. “Drivers today are in an environment that’s much different what it was just a few decades ago—the roadways are challenging and filled with distractions. For that reason, Safeway realized a real need to shift the way drivers are trained. It’s our goal to give them lifelong kills that will keep them safe on the road.”

Instead of teaching drivers how to drive in physical classrooms, SafeWay Driving provides a unique online course that drivers can access on their computers or tablets. The online courses go beyond a typical classroom lecture—they’re more engaging through quizzes and games, allowing the company to tailor its driving lessons to each individual driver so that they can learn at their own pace and on their own schedules.

After drivers complete their virtual courses, they take what they learned online and hop behind the wheel of a SafeWay Driving car to put it into practice. Each SafeWay Driving location develops a series of tracks specific to their community that are completed over the course of seven in-car driving lessons led by a professional instructor. Over time, the lessons build on one another and increase in difficulty. For example, drivers start out in a parking lot and then progress to driving in neighborhoods, on busy streets and eventually, the freeway.

“We respect how busy people are these days, but we also know everyone wants what’s best for their family without sacrificing the quality of their driver training. SafeWay Driving is the only local driver training service that offers the convenience of an engaging, disciplined online driving course integrated with the very best professional in-car training in Texas,” Coleman said.

Over the years, as demand for SafeWay Driving’s revolutionary training grew, the brand’s team of education, finance, technology, training and business pros worked on modernizing system delivery and creating a business model around serving people in their respected communities. This ultimately led the organization to select franchising as the best method of distributing the renowned SafeWay Driving System to communities across Texas and beyond.

“The reason I chose to become a franchisee with Safeway was to give back to the community. I wanted to do something that would impact people, and be a benefit to the community,” said Taylor Bixby, a SafeWay Driving franchisee based in Austin. “Safe driving is something that gets taken for granted until a mistake is made and a lot of the consequences can be life-changing. We wanted to change the culture in Austin, and bring serious driver training to the community.”

SafeWay Driving offers a low initial investment ranging from $57,000 to $159,800, which includes the cost of outfitting driver training vehicles. Franchise territories and the number of cars each unit is assigned are both determined by the size of the school zone. All fees are managed by the corporate office with no royalties, allowing franchisees to focus on marketing their territories and promoting the program within their school zone.

The brand is seeking franchise owners with a passion for teaching and giving back to their communities across Texas, specifically in San Antonio, Dallas and Austin. With 1,200 school districts and more than 4,000 high schools in Texas, there are numerous opportunities for growth.

“At the end of the day, keeping drivers safe is our top priority. We’ve trained 275,000 drivers so far, and that number is only going to climb,” said Ann Littman, SafeWay Driving’s CEO. “At SafeWay Driving, myself and the whole team are driven to Prevent ‘The Phone Call’ Nobody Wants. It’s crucial for new drivers to receive engaging in-car training with a professional instructor. At SafeWay Driving, we make sure that our drivers are receiving the best possible instruction every step of the way.”