#DrivingHistory #Before1920s #LearnToDrive #HistoricalDrivingMethods
Hey there! ๐ Curious about how people learned to drive before the 1920s? Let’s take a journey back in time and explore the fascinating world of early driving education.
Driving Education Before the 1920s
Before the widespread use of cars in the 1920s, learning to drive was a completely different experience compared to today’s structured driving schools. Here are some ways people learned to drive in the pre-1920s era:
1. Trial and Error
Some aspiring drivers simply hopped behind the wheel and learned through trial and error. This can be a risky method, but it was common when cars were a new invention.
2. Riding Along
Another way people learned to drive was by observing and riding along with experienced drivers. This hands-on approach allowed beginners to pick up on driving skills by watching and practicing.
3. Mechanical Workshops
Back in the day, some individuals learned to drive through mechanical workshops or even from blacksmiths who had knowledge of early automobile mechanics.
Driving Safety Concerns
Driving education pre-1920s had its fair share of challenges with safety being a significant concern. Without standard practices and regulations, accidents were more common due to the lack of formal training.
Conclusion
Although learning to drive before the 1920s lacked the structured programs we have today, individuals found creative ways to navigate the roads and master the art of driving. The history of early driving education is a testament to human ingenuity and adaptability in the face of new technologies.
Now that you know more about how people learned to drive before the 1920s, isn’t it fascinating to see how far we’ve come in the world of driving education? Keep exploring and learning about the rich history of automobiles! ๐
Remember to drive safe and enjoy the journey ahead! ๐ฃ๏ธ #StayCurious #DriveSafely
Same way you do now. Just go out and do it.
I think itโs important to note that cars made during that period were a lot slower and safety regulations during this period were a lot less strict
The salesman would show you how to operate the controls
Around 1930 my grandmotherโs family got a car for the first time. Her uncle visited and taught everyone how to drive.
I know a man who got his licence in the late 1940s. It was issued by the UK army with no practicing or testing.
I can imagine it was even more lax in the 1920s.
rich person went to buy a car, some engineer showed them the controls and off they went
Made me laugh just now when I discovered driving tests in U.K. introduced in 1903 but not made compulsory until 1933?
They came with very detailed owner’s manuals (including how to repair them). And people actually read them. With very little traffic laws besides don’t hit things, that was enough…
Except it wasn’t, clearly, as we eventually introduced proper road rules and driving schools.
Slowly
Roald Dahl talks about this in his book, Boy. His sister bought a car. The salesman gave her a driving lesson and that was it. As I recall, she quickly crashed it!
So basically for years, if you knew how to use a horse carriage you knew how to drive. There were no signs, traffic or car focused police, so no need to study legislations.
Also cars were very basic and easy to drive. The mechanics were the hard thing but people with cars had time and money. For example the model T had two gears and the brakes. Here is a video how it worked:
They learned by the principle of โdo-or-dieโ. Canโt imagine the number of accidents they had even though those vehicles of the time were slow moving beasts.
Well there was a lot more farming families and ag. work was common in every town. So these folks were already familiar with tractor controls, and driving those old cars was pretty much like driving a tractor. So I think you just, kept it on the trail. โRoadโ
Thanks for suggesting this internet rabbit hole to go down.
From [https://www.edgarsnyder.com/resources/what-it-was-like-to-drive-100-years-ago](https://www.edgarsnyder.com/resources/what-it-was-like-to-drive-100-years-ago)
“Because the basics of driving weren’t taught, drivers frequently engaged in careless behaviors, such as not turning left through an intersection into the far, perpendicular lane. Instead, “corner cutters” made quick left turns much like we make right turns today, hitting pedestrians and other cars.”
One thing Iโve learned today is that I have greatly overestimated how difficult learning to drive actually is.
Undoubtedly many of the companies that sold cars provided some lessons to the early purchasers.
Also, if you ever wonder why licensing restrictions are so obnoxious, why people have to get driver’s licenses and why the rules around and testing are so strict, think back on to the 1920s when anybody could just get in a car and start driving around…
Yikes.
You read the manual. “Thank you for purchasing this Ford Model T, we hope it will provide you with years of trouble free service…”
When my grandfather got his first car it came with a badge as his driver’s license.
My dad was 7 in 1920 and had a paper route where he drove a Model T. I mean, he survived and thrived but wtf.
The people saying cars in that time were easier to drive are absolutely dead wrong. Non synchronized transmissions, manual timing control, manual mixture control, non powered steering, mechanical brakes, manual choke, crank start, the list goes on. The roads were still packed, just with more horses and wagons, but traffic lanes and signals hadn’t been created yet. Driving was serious and required effort and skill for a long time.ย
The car dealers would teach them the basics. Most of which were around just getting the car started. It took years for the road laws to catch up with the technology. There were instances where drivers accidentally hit and killed a pedestrian and ended up lynched by a mob.
It was, as they say, the wild west. No licenses. No insurance. Just drive ’em if you got ’em. Even my grandad (b. 1902) didn’t have to get a license until much later in life (rural Texas). Maybe that’s why he let me drive when I was 14.
Before Henry ford brought cars into the mass market they were luxury items so either you were rich enough to have someone drive you or at least rich enough to have someone teach you.
People were tougher back then. My grandfather whoโs family was in the garment business (he died in the 80s) learned to drive a box truck in manhattan at age 14. When thereโs a will thereโs a way
Funny story. My grandmother, who grew up in the most rural of rural places, had her license taken away when she was ~75 and had to retake the driving exam to get it back. After she failed it 5 or 6 times, she was bitching it. โWhy do I need to know the weight limit for a car seat!?! Iโm not having any more kids! Why do I need to know how to parallel park!?! Thereโs no parallel parking for 3 counties!โ I made some commiserating comment about how the exam must have really changed over time, and she said sheโd never taken an exam before in her life. โWhen we got our first car, the salesman just said, โthis is the clutch, this is the brake, and this is gas,โ and spent about 2 minutes explaining how to shift gears. And we just pulled off the lot in fits and jerks and figured it out on the 2 hour drive home.โ
Instructions for operating the car were often written in the owners manual. You read the manual, and then you go out and hopefully don’t crash.
A lot of trial and error.
I’ve driven an old car. It shifted a lot like a tractor. I’m sure farmers picked up on it really fast.
The same way humanity has learned all things:
1) Trial and error
2) Altruistic Communication
3) Natural Selection
In East of Eden thereโs a good chapter where Adam buys a car and the salesman like painstakingly explains the process for starting and driving, I imagine it was a lot like that
Regular Car Reviews has a hilarious and informative video on the YouTube about driving an early Ford (Model T?). Digs into how to start, drive, shift, even idiosyncrasies of tech at the time like no fuel pump and weird transmission related maintenance. Driving one of those things is very different than modern driving.
And those times you learn to drive by trial and error
My grandmother dad she just went to the license bureau and all you had to do was say you knew how to drive. No test, no nothing, just pay. That was the 30s, Cleveland OH
My grandfather went down to the local police station and asked for a drivers license. The police asked him a few traffic questions, then asked if he could drive. He said “Yes” and was issued a license on the spot!
As we all did before the 70s [in Europe] before driver’s license were required, with parents, elders or older guys with wheels. One perk of being drafted in Belgium, was to get a free military license. I got mine on a 10T truck, then just showed it at the town administration to get a civilian chauffeur’s license.
My grandfather took my mother to the beach when she was 14 and taught her to drive in an afternoon. She was annoyed that he also taught her sister (12) and little brother (10) on the same afternoon! I got a permit to drive at 15 years & 9 months if there was a licensed driver in the passenger seat. Didn’t have to take Driver’s Ed class, though that was an option. At 16 I took the driving test, and got my license.
I got my license at 16 in the 80s and I have never heard of anyone in real life going to driving school. We had a driverโs ed class in high school, after most of us already had our licenses and drove to school that day.
I remember the good old 1920s and shouting to the gas station attendant “You there, fill it up with petroleum distillate, and re-vulcanize my tires – posthaste!”ย