Back in the day.

It's all about saving lives.

SafeWay Driving Centers was founded in 1973 by educators Gene and Jeanne Walker to fuel their passion for developing well prepared young drivers in the Greater Houston Area. Originally named Spring Branch Driving Schools, their relentless dedication to young men and women in our communities produced responsible drivers and satisfied customers for nearly four decades.

Better known as “Coach Walker,” Fowler Eugene Walker is a respected authority in the driving school industry. Renowned for his “Commentary Driving” teaching techniques and “Collision Free Driving” programs, Coach and his wife grew the company from one location and one car in the Spring Branch area to eight locations and 28 cars serving the Memorial, Woodlands, Kingwood, Bellaire, Spring and Klein communities today.

From one family to another.

Fellow educators for over 40 years, the Coleman family were friends of the Walkers and had all of their children take driver education from SafeWay in the 1990's.

One of the Coleman kids, Brad, was the youngest professionally licensed race car driver in U.S. history when he took driver ed from Coach Walker and SafeWay at just 15 years of age. Brad went on to set a world racing record at 16 years-old and ultimately became a professional race car driver for Joe Gibbs Racing in NASCAR.

As Brad traveled the NASCAR circuit, he would speak to high school students about the dangers of texting and driving or drinking and driving. His passion for helping people become better drivers grew until late in 2009, when he flew home to Houston from the racing circuit to visit family and friends for the holidays.

Upon a passing notion to visit the old SafeWay Driving Center where he got his license, the Coleman’s and the Walker’s engaged in a discussion about the future. Brad’s passion for helping young people become better drivers and his favorite driving school owner’s need for a retirement plan collided at a fortunate time for both parties.

The Coleman’s acquired SafeWay Driving Centers from the Walkers in early 2010 to drive their passion for improving the skills of all drivers. The company now trains more than 5000 drivers a year with plans to expand the concept into the future. And Coach Walker, he continues to be actively involved in the recruiting and training of great instructors for the SafeWay Driving program.