5 Smith System Resources for Driver Trainers

As a certified trainer who teaches driving safety to other drivers in your company, you already have the best resource you can get: a Smith System certification and a strong working knowledge of how to deliver classroom and behind-the-wheel training.

Smith System has many different educational tools and resources designed specifically to support The Smith5Keys® and assist you in teaching your drivers how to be safer behind the wheel.

Here’s a look at five valuable resources that you can use to support your training sessions:

1. Driver Study Guide

The Driver Study Guide is the foundation of the entire training experience. This guide is designed to enhance everything you teach your drivers in the classroom, and it also will reinforce their behind-the-wheel training.

Divided into two sections, the study guide focuses first on forward motion, then on backing and parking. Each section ends with a quiz that aids in learner retention, allows you to measure student comprehension of the materials and correct any gaps in knowledge.

A Vehicle Backing/Parking Evaluation Form is also included for use in the behind-the-wheel portion of the training to assess their parking choices and to help reinforce the parking and backing instruction that you deliver in the classroom.

A Driver Evaluation Form included in the study guide can be used to evaluate each driver’s on-road ability and includes numbered behind-the-wheel drills. The Driver Study Guide also includes:

• An On-Road Quiz, which you can use to test each driver’s understanding of how the 5Keys are used in real-time on the road
• A 5Keys Static Sticker that the driver can place in the corner of the windshield as a reminder to drive The Smith5Keys every day
• A detachable, personalized certificate that you can present to the driver when the course has successfully been complete.

The Driver Study Guide is available for trucks, small vehicles, and bus and transit. In addition to English, the small vehicle Driver Study Guide is available in French and Spanish, and the truck version is offered in Arabic.

2. Driver Refresher Guide

Drivers who have previously completed Smith System training but need to brush up on their driving safety will benefit significantly from the Driver Refresher Guide.

Reviewing all the essential components of The Smith5Keys training, this guide includes a 5 Key Refresher Quiz that lets you evaluate how much information each student has retained from their initial training and identify which areas need the most improvement. A thorough Driving Techniques Quiz is also included to test each driver’s understanding of the principles delivered in their previous behind-the-wheel training.

Other forms that help you evaluate individual skills and comprehension include a Vehicle Backing/Parking Evaluation Form, an Observation Drive Form to help assess each driver’s abilities before the training begins, a Driver Evaluation Form to gauge and document each driver’s performance behind the wheel and a Driver Assessment Form that can be used by non-driving students to evaluate their peers as they take their turn behind the wheel.

There’s also a Certificate of Completion for each driver who successfully completes the training and two static windshield stickers designed to provide drivers with a daily reminder of The Smith5Keys principles.

3. Driving The 5 Keys Video

Learning The Smith5Keys is fundamental to your driver safety training, and the Driving the Smith5Keys video is an effective way to teach this proven technique. The video, which comes in versions for small vehicles, trucks and utility trucks, offers drivers insight into some of the most common driver errors and provides solutions for successfully avoiding these situations.

The video also looks at how new vehicle collision prevention technology can be used as a tool to help avoid crashes and to enhance each driver’s own existing skill sets.

4. The 5 Keys to Backing Safely Video

Once you’ve been through the Smith System training, you know how dangerous backing situations can be. Now you can help drive that point home by including The 5Keys to Backing Safely video as part of your training presentations.

This 31-minute video teaches why backing is so dangerous, what situations drivers need to watch out for (and be aware of) and provides simple, easy-to-remember tips for avoiding backing collisions.

5. DriverTrainer Starter Kits

The DriverTrainer Starter Kit is an excellent way to get all of the essential Smith System training materials you need for classroom and on-road training for up to 50 drivers. This kit is available in two versions — small- and mid-size vehicles and trucks and large-size vehicles — to suit your individual learning environment.

Included in the DriverTrainer Starter Kit are 50 Driver Study Guides and two DVDs (Driving The 5 Keys and The 5 Keys to Backing Safely in the Small and Mid-Size Vehicle and Truck and Large Vehicle version and Driving The 5 Keys: Bus & Transit and Driving Drowsy in the Bus & Transit version), as well as six clipboards and 50 pens.

The Starter Kit also includes a Smith System briefcase for storing and carrying your training materials. Although it is not required to teach your driving team, it’s a good value and can make sure that you have all of the essentials you need.

All of these resources are designed to help you deliver the best possible driving training experience to your team. Visit the Smith System store to find out more about what certified driver trainer resources are available.