Drivers Ed.

[soFlaNative]

At some point during the early 70's my Dad gave a bunch of us neighborhood kids their first try at driving in a 65 whale of a four door Polara with the 383. Usually we'd be coming back from somewhere and within a few blocks of home he would stop the car, turn to some kid and say take us home. I think it was the wide eyed look of surprise, joy and fear on the kids face that kept him doing it for years.

 

[H Richard]

Took drivers ed in a 57 ford, we had two, an automatic and a stick on the column. No big deal. Then when I was in the USAF and got to Great Briton I took my drivers test in a 2 1/2 ton canvas covered bed truck with a ?4 or 5 speed floor shift, and had to back it down a path using just the outside mirrors. When I got the license it was stamped "Qualified Flying Field Operator" and listed aircraft tugs, cherry picker crane, etc. that I was qualified to operate.

 

[BigBoy99]

My parents insisted that I take the drive eds course because they would get a reduce in the insurance rate. When I took the course, I had had my drivers license for almost two years. The very first day I was out on the highway cruising 60 mph much to the chagrin of the two girls in the back seat!

 

[brigeton]

I took drivers training in about 67. I don't remember what kind of car. It was a one week class in the summer. The only thing I remember was when another kid was driving on a busy 3 lane highway for the first time he panicked and started jerking the wheel back and forth at 70mph like a kid on a ride at the fair. The instructor reached over and grabbed the wheel to keep us all from dying.

 

[steelslaver]

I learned with a Chevy 2 ton truck. First you loaded it with bales of hay, then grandpa drove it slowly to the feed pasture, then when grandpa would put it in compound then had me idle around jolted by the frozen cow pies while he tossed the hay off the back. Once I mastered that I got to drive it to and from the hay stacks! If you turn to fast hay would fall off and then you had to reload it, so that lesson was easy to remember.

Eventually I had to take drivers ed to get a license at 15. Gore movies, 60's Chevy, Shop teacher who was a very calm guy. Small town with no traffic, 65-70 on highways that had NO SPEED LIMIT. Most of the guys had drove before, just a formality. Mr Banks the shop teacher was a good guy. Unfortunately he and his wife were killed in a head on collision on a 2 lane highway. It was not his fault.
Montana in those days was a dangerous place to drive. All 2 lane highways, no speed limit, lots of narrow bridges, curves, drunk drivers and even a few drunk HPs. Oh, yea, then there is the winter weather.

 

[erics]

No formal drivers ed but got a learners permit at age 14 so I could drive motorcycle, my Honda sport 65. Took drivers exam and passed on my 16th birthday. After third year university got a summer job as a driver examiner for the province of Manitoba along with 5 other guys. We would slide the eye test machines back on the counters when attractive females came in for testing. As well we had a Rambler Ambassador as a driver ed test vehicle. It was loaded with air conditioning. We would crank up to max and point all vents at driver. Test candidates were always too nervous to take a hand off the wheel to make adjustments.

 

[7shooter]

Got my North Dakota drivers license when I was 12 .You could get a license 6 weeks before your 13th birthday if you had a reason. Mine was that my grandfather wanted me to drive the panel truck to the warehouses for his store.

I was so little I had to sit on two pillows to just be able to see through the steering wheel. It had a manual transmission . The passenger " seat " was a metal milk crate that would slide around during starts and stops.

Never had an accident.

 

[Skeet 028]

Being around farms etc all the time I drove most stuff pretty well. When I was 12 went to Baltimore with my father in his 54 Chevy wagon.. He had a few hundred pounds of fish he needed to sell(he was a Chesapeake bay waterman) and there was no market. We went to every gin mill in south Baltimore and he sold fish. But he also had a drink or so at every place. By the time he got all the fish sold... he was about blitzed. So I had to drive home. Across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge where I had to pay a toll. You shoulda seen the toll lady. She looked at me and asked if I was old enough to drive. I told he oh yes ma'am..been driving for a long time. I was 12 at the time. When we got home..60 miles later...my father was kinda waking up a bit. First time I ever saw my mother that umm upset... bad choice of words... at my father. First time I ever saw my father ripped. 2nd and last time we were fishing and caught 6 ton of Rockfish(striped bass). I had to drive the boat that time too. But I ran boats all the time anyway. Drivers Ed was kinda anti climatic once I got to take it. Ah but I do remember Mr Pope

 

[30-30remchester]

What PILGRIM said. By the time I got my drivers license I as well had driven for years. My problem was that all my driving was in the remote areas. Many many miles of backroads chasing jackrabbits with "borrowed" cars. When I got my license it was in Denver of all places. Mom just walked off and I was on my own. Now driving in a city was FAR different from country backroads. All I can say is, there were some fine drivers in Denver that avoided me the first few days.

 

[carpriver]

I learned to drive a tractor then the pickup, the the 21/2 ton stock truck. got a farmer permit at 12. when to took drivers ed in 1964 the school used 1964 dodge Valiants with the dual controls 3 on the tree. I took it as a summer school class. saw all the movies and did the road test and passed the class. nothing out of the ordinary.

 

[wundudnee]

When I was about ten my Dad had a 1947 International half ton. It had wooden stock racks on it and he would stop every night at the horse track and load it with horse manure. When he got home it was my job to take the truck to the pasture and spread the manure. He didn't know, but when you got out of sight of the house you could spin the wheels on the truck.

When I was fourteen I bought and made fourteen dollar a month payments on a two ton truck. I hauled hay and grain and all my high school dates in that truck. I finally took drivers ed in high school and got to drive about one hundred feet when the instructor said you pass.

Here's a picture of that speedy old truck.

 

[Rustyt1953]

Upon getting my license, this, my dad's '68 hot-water slant six Valient Signet was my conveyance.

What a chick magnet.