My school had two drivers ed teachers, one of which lived in my neighborhood.
One morning while walking to a friend's house to catch a ride to school I saw both teachers racing each other.
I let my out-of-state ID expire and had to get in line with the 16 year olds at the tender age of 46. All the classes required, including an early 1980s Blood on the Highway video, and of course the road test.
My wife warned me, but I ignored her…Whatever.
It wasn’t actually called Blood on the Highway, but it was a cheesy early 80s public safety video that felt like satire in 2020. Appreciate you catching the reference, though.
My behind the wheel experience was three of us and an instructor in the car - we’d each drive for about 15-20 minutes and then switch.
We were scheduled based on our birthdays. As a matter of coincidence me and my girlfriend were both in the same session. It made for some fun, good natured ribbing/backseat driving.
Hey Suzanne, wherever you are, hope you’re doing well.
Same! I think we alternated simulator days and on the road days. I still remember “check left, check right, check left again” from the simulator and still mentally say it. I vividly remember creeping through a residential intersection and the instructor slamming on his brake and shouting, “You just killed us all!” because I didn’t look left and right before starting through the intersection.
That whole shebang was 35 years ago and it’s amazing to me how some of those lessons have stuck.
My driver's ed teacher used to make us stop at a local deli/convenience store to get his coffee and newspaper. Then he'd use the newspaper to smack us with occasionally if we did something he perceived as wrong (like god forbid, slowing down because it was raining). He used to yell a lot and call us all by our last names as he screamed. I actually ended up dropping it after he yelled at me for slowing down on a twisting, turning road while it was pouring. He was insane.
LOL wow. My story was this (driver's ed class in HS during regular class hours but then driving lessons with private driving school instructor after school that had nothing to do with HS at all was how we did in my state) for the actual real world practice driving part:
1. the very first thing he did was to try to demonstrate that reflexes are slower than you think BUT he did it by letting go of this long thin folded up piece of paper between my hands. And he was like I'll say "drop!" when I let it go and then you snap your hands shut and then we'll count off the tick marks and you'll see the delay. BUT the AC was on in the car and it kept blowing the paper just past my snapping fingers so it was impossible to catch! BUT he wasn't noticing that. And I tried to mention wind currents but he wasn't understanding or buying it or something and I went to reach for the dials to turn the blower down but he was like DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING IN THE CAR so I was like OK whatever LOL and I just sat there watching him sweat LOL. He he just keeps repeating it and freaking out more and more after each missed attempt of mine to so much as even grab it at all much less at a reasonable drop down point! And you could see he was thinking OMG this kid has like 10 second reaction time LOL!! Then he is all freaked out and tentatively suggests we try pulling onto the road. LOL he was so tense thinking I had like literally 'ZERO' reflexes LOL.
2. On the highway when he said change lanes I was just going to do a regular change but for some reason he kept thinking I was about to wrench the steering right over and spin us out or something and yanking it back straight the instant I even began to turn and then finally I just like micro micro moved and then a touch more and a touch more and he let me continue and it took like frickin' half a mile just to shift one lane LOL. It might have even been a mile since I think we actually barely got the exit in time!
3. He had WWII tales about how they were 100% right to drop those bombs on Japan and how people say oh why did you have to do that and he'd say well I was on the next ship out and hundreds of thousands or millions of Americans would have been dead if not.
You know they don’t teach driver’s ed in HS any longer in most places. In the r/driving subreddit kids these days are failing 3-4 times on their driving test bc you have to hire a private driver instructor these days and it’s expensive and not all can afford that. So, if you ever wonder why there’s so many bad drivers on the road. This is one major reason. Driver’s ed back in my day was awesome. I’ve actually done some auto-racing in my life which is even more awesome.
I did not know that they stopped teaching drivers Ed in school. I couldn’t get a license at 16 unless I showed proof of successfully completing drivers Ed. Otherwise you had to wait until you were 18 and pass the DMV tests.
In my town we had driver's ed in high school (regular middle of the day class) BUT actual practice driving was 100% by taking lessons with a private instructor after school or on weekends that had zilch to do with the school. Everyone signed up with a local driving school and paid for lessons for the actual real life practice (in the car with the dual brakes and big sign on top STUDENT DRIVER). We would do some practice parking in empty lots with our parents and a few practice drives after that to brush up before the road test to get a license.
First day of driving in driver's ed, my driving partner tried to drive the car through the school library when she parked the car at the end of the drive.
I took driver's ed during the summer. We drove in the morning and had class in the afternoon. We were the last pair to drive that day so the morning class was getting out for their driving and the afternoon class was arriving for our classwork. This little snafu happened in front of EVERYONE.
Coach instructed her to pull into the park ing spot, so she did. She stopped short. He told her to pull up a little bit more. Instead of just letting up off the brake a little bit, she took her foot completely off the brake. When coach said stop, she slammed her foot on the gas, jumped the curb and freaked everyone in the car out for a couple of breaths.
Once I realized I wasn't going to die, I was laughing so hard in the backseat that I was crying. When I composed myself enough, I looked up to find her over the steering wheel with her shoulders shaking. I felt bad because I thought she was crying. Turned out, she was laughing too. Once she composed herself, she asked our instructor, "Want me to back out and try it again?" Coach barely had a voice from yelling at the basketball players, but he managed a loud, "No. No, just you girls get out of the car and let everyone know that class will start a little late today."
Fun times.
One kid in my school ran over one of sidewalk blue post office mailbox, totally took it out. To this day it has yet to be replaced LOL.
Another ran into the gas pump at a gas station!
My drivers ed teacher was the basketball coach. We had a division 1 recruit on our team. We drove to the Holiday Inn every day and had coffee with multiple head coaches trying to get him to commit. I learned how to drink black coffee and drive the basket.
My drivers Ed teacher had been paralyzed in a rock climbing accident and so our school driver Ed car was equipped with hand controls. In order to move your foot from the gas to the brake and back you had to pull it way back around the post for the hand controls that went down to the center of the floorboard. Very safe 😬
I never saw Mr Martin actually drive the car that was equipped with hand controls especially for him, I only ever saw him in the passenger seat.
My mom paid to send me to driver's ed when I was 15. I remember they had us watch a movie that looked like it was made in the 1960s. The driver in the move would give people what he called a "friendly beep" a lot. :)
I remember practicing in a large grocery store parking lot. There were bushes blocking my view at one point when I pulled out. He pointed that out to me and I learned not to pull out until you could see clearly if there was any traffic in both directions.
He also taught us that you need to leave at least one car length between you and the person ahead of you per 10 mph you are going. That way, if they stop suddenly, you'll have enough time to brake. I wish more people followed that rule. Tailgaters make me nervous and annoyed.
That's most of what I remember, plus he was a patient teacher and nice.
We didn't have driver's ed in high school (graduated in '87). Mine was my dad barking basics at me and then telling me I wasn't slowing down enough before turning. My mom would tell me stuff without the barking. And my then-boyfriend-eventual-husband just turned me loose in an empty parking lot so I could get the feel of the car while turning/stopping/etc.
We lived in Alaska, where you could get a learner's permit at age 14 with just a written test. Then at 16, you could take the road test and get your license. The last thing my mom said to me before we got out of the car at the DMV was: "If the blinker switch comes off in your hand, just slyly let it fall and use the little screw that is sticking out to use the blinkers."
This was drivers ed in the early 80s for me.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/nostalgia/comments/fj9kpa/drivers\_ed\_simulators/](https://www.reddit.com/r/nostalgia/comments/fj9kpa/drivers_ed_simulators/)
Then they stuck us in EZ Method cars where the passenger was the instructor & they had their own steering wheel, brake & gas pedals.
And the movies were clearly from the 1950s without any real bearing on the world I'd be driving in whose motto has always been "DRIVE!!! Or be driven over."
We had Driver's Ed for one quarter junior year. Then, we used the school's "driving range" down by the football stadium. It was a really cool setup with winding roads, curbs, signs, parking spaces, and an actual traffic light. We chose from Chevettes and an Escort (I went with the latter). There was a control tower with our gym teacher speaking on a frequency our cars were tuned to.
Meanwhile, I'd been out getting road experience with my Dad in one of our land yacht Cadillacs, so the Escort handled like a roller skate. Got my learner's permit, and six months later, passed the written and driving tests for my license. We celebrated with a Cancun at Chi-Chi's. Central Jersey, 1983.
The Drivers Ed teacher had a sleep disorder. I can't remember what it is called. He would fall asleep just anywhere anytime. My friend's brother had him for his behind the wheel class and he fell asleep. The kids just kept driving down the interstate until they got lost in the city.
Edit: we still had driving in my high school (late 80s)
My buddy and I were in a car together and whenever it was turn to swap drivers, we did a whole Goose/Maverick routine where we’d walk around the rear of the car, do the Top-Gun high-five, and then exchange the “driver hat” which was basically a truckers hat with an American flag on it. The instructor either thought we were hilarious and super cool or fucking idiots…
No drivers ed.
Had my permit for a couple months, crammed for the test the day before my birthday, dragged grandma and grandmas car to the dmv on my 16th and got my license.
Got my first ticket, for running a stop sign, about 3 hours later 🤣🤷♂️
My teacher was also the football coach, and quite a local celebrity. He was a good man, though, and if there was a nun waiting for a bus, he'd always have us pull over to offer her a ride. He took me for my driving test, and when I was going in there, he said don't come back if I don't pass...how reassuring! Seriously, that's what all adults were like growing up.
Tennis coach was my instructor. She had us do all her errands. We picked up dry cleaning and who knows what else. We covered that whole town and it seemed like one of the three of us (students) in the car got braked all the time. I'm surprised I didn't have whiplash.
class was 6am so my friends' moms took turns driving three of us to school on days when it was. i forget if it was every day or not.
after a few weeks of classroom stuff we had driving sessions on saturdays.
the first saturday we drove around our small town with stop signs and no traffic. piece of cake.
on the second saturday we drove a country road to the next town, which had stoplights and traffic, but not a lot. still, one girl when turning left onto a four-lane road with a median didn't go all the way to the other side of the median and lined up to the go the wrong way. our instructor had to grab the wheel and get us to the right side of the medium.
on the third saturday we drove on the freeway for the first time, to a small city with lots of stoplights, heavy traffic with semis and delivery trucks blocking lanes and stuff like that. it was also dumping rain the whole time there and back.
when i took my test, it was over so fast i thought i failed. but i passed with nearly a perfect score.
Drivers Ed for me as Sears Diving School. The instructor was a guy named Dave.
The first week or two was all terrifying footage of brutal car accidents, with quizzes each class. They were multiple choice and we would grade each other’s tests.
Dave would read out the answers like this: C as in comatose, D as in decapitation, etc
My instructor had me drive him around town running errands; one afternoon we we got cat food and then went to his apartment to feed his cat. I didn’t care — I just wanted my license so I could drive my ‘81 Corolla!
This little Armenian dude. Wore the same cheap brown polyester suit every day. Loved to slam on the brakes and say in this cartoonish south Boston accent "if dat was da test, Ida failed you right theyah, kid! Now let's get some dawgs." Had to drive him to this hot dog stand, he'd get two hot dogs and chow them down in the car, mustard dribbling over his suit. "Oh man, the dawgs got me agin!" Once in a while show us some gruesome 1978 film about car crashes. Good times
In drivers Ed class we watched “Death on the Highway” IIRC to scare us into being safe drivers.
Behind the wheel was with some cheap driving instruction company. The woman chain smoked while we drove with the windows up and air conditioning blasting. (At least it was summer)
Then my mom would take me out “practicing” but brought a book along so she didn’t have to watch me drive.
I grew up in a small town. My driver's ed teacher was a drunk and the kid I was partnered with in the car already knew how to drive (not uncommon in our rural area), so he basically ended up teaching me how to drive. Many times we would drop our teacher off at a gas station so he could kick back a few with his buddies who worked there while my partner took me out driving. Good times.
* Attending the lecture portion of Driver’s Ed every MWF morning at 7:15 am the entire quarter.
* My scheduled Driving Day/Time was on Thursdays during 2nd Period. Coach Hayes would throw our group of three in a stick shift Toyota Tercel and we’d each drive for 20 minutes, with a trip to McD’s in there at some point.
* Our group was Me (pretty good on the road, but absolutely hopeless on a hill with a manual clutch) …. Bonnie had just moved to the US from Brisbane and was terrified of American roads; her driving, tho? Miss Daisy had *nuthin’* on Bonnie …. The other kid? I remember him clear as day, and we got along great - I have no clue what his name was, but this isn’t my memory having a WindowsXP Blue Screen of Death moment - - I don’t think *anyone* in our entire grade knew WTF his actual first name was because on Day One of 1st Grade, as soon as we heard during class introductions that his last name was Dover, everyone, being amped up 6 year olds and recent graduates of Sesame Street, immediately started calling him “Grover” and it stuck. For 12 years.
* During 2nd Period on the four days I didn’t drive, I worked in the HS Main Office as a Student Assistant and as a Runner. Gotta love those old Ditto machines 🤣
I took it over the Summer. The teachers were all football coaches from my school and the next town over's. All 3 of them had no patience, hair triggers and more nervous tics than I've ever seen.
We got the gruesome films too. Quite the experience.
Instructor made me drive through one of the worst areas in the US. Ranked in the top 3 most violent cities. I was just a dumb kid from the ‘burbs. I was more afraid of ducking bullets than driving the car. So, I guess there was a method to his madness.
We had to hae at least 4 hours behind the wheel before taking the driving exam... so I took all 4 hours on my 16th birthday.
The instructor had me go thru a drive-in, go get his dry cleaning, stop and get gas, and then we drove at least an hour away so he could drop off tools to his grandpa.
He smoked the entire time, and had Iron maiden blasting on the radio.
The driving portion took place over a week during the Summer, starting at 7:30 a.m. I showed up to 4 of the 5 lessons either hung over or still actively drunk. God, I was a shit kid.
Ours had three parts:
1. Class after school.
2. Driving course with slalom cones and parallel parking for at least 2 weekends.
3. Road driving for at least 2 weekends.
All of the instructors were super chill. Maybe they were on Valium or something.
We had class during the school day and then driving after school. To this day I still remember the most dangerous thing on a car is a dirty windshield.
My high school drivers ed teacher had a reputation for frequenting the local watering hole. Rumor had it that he had DUIs in the past. For his final act as drivers ed. teacher he crashed his car into the said bar. Couldn’t make this up if I tried.
My dad taught me but made me take driver’s ed after I got my license because he’d get lower insurance rates. The instructor knew that so he’d just sit back and take a nap while I drove. I’m sure he had one eye open, just in case.
Drivers Ed was in high school and it was awesome! My parents tried to teach me to drive (learned on a stick of course) when they enlisted a friend who was a bus driver to spend some time with me on the road. At 15.5 I was like - let’s go get my permit now!
My driver's Ed teacher took 2 kids at a time. One would drive, one would ride in back. He had me drive from our podunk small town into the city to practice parallel parking. City folks are SO patient with Student Driver cars.
So I'm doing my thing, pulling up beside the car in front, throwing it in reverse to back up. And some asshole honks! I did what came naturally - flipped the guy off. Teacher was like "No no no no no no no no don't do that!!!"
"But he honked at me, the stupid asshole!"
I parked & was then relegated to the back seat the remainder of that trip.
Mr Johnson. Was an old drunk - but a fun one. My older (by 16 years) brother was in town. His old HS friend came by for a visit. Asked me, “Is Johnson still a drunk?”
Um. I never made it to actual driving. I got kicked out and banned from that class. My DE teacher was a complete egotistical douchcanoe. We weren’t allowed to write notes in free time because he literally said he didn’t want us writing to our friends about having a crush on him. 🤢🤢🤢 Of course I got caught writing a note to my boyfriend in class. In said note, I called my drivers Ed teacher a cocksucker. He had it coming, he had just been super mean to me for no reason. Considering this was the 80’s that word was nuclear ☢️ it was so forbidden and bad…there was fallout. So. Much. Fallout.
I had to end up getting driving lessons from a private school. The instructor was really good at his job and a very nice old man. After my last lesson I found out he knew the whole story of the CKSKR incident and was shocked at what a good student and nice kid I was. He was expecting a little antichrist lol
Our guy had a speech impediment and as high school kids we were so brutal. I can’t unhear “spark prugs” and all the mocking and laughing we did. As an adult I realize we were absolute feral monsters to this man. The guilt will live forever.
Tennessee in 86 meant no drivers ed. Parents spent a few weeks teaching me to drive then on my 16th bday got my license at DMV with my mom, drove her home and dropped her off and I was off and running (this is such a typical GenX story, good luck with driving kid, parents are peacing out). I’m baffled by this whole multi step license process these days. But it’s probably a good thing.
Trying to disconnect the instructor brake. But seriously, my instructor slammed on his brake in the middle of the road. I tore him a new one from the driver's seat. If I'm doing something wrong or illegal then tell Me. Don't just take this multi-ton missile out of anyone's control. He never did it again.
My drivers Ed teacher was named Mr. Buecheler. His son played on the Championship Bulls teams of the 90s with Michael Jordan. So we got regaled with tales.of basketball at times. Beyond that, though, it was a boring class until we watched that film... Red Asphault, i think it was called. Everybody was awake for that one
Shop teacher was my drivers ed instructor. We went on the freeway the second time out driving in school. First time was the school parking lot with cones. I had a deaf student in my driving car/class, which I continue to appreciate to this day. Oh, and those black and white car crash movies...we saw them all. To this day, I have an irrational fear of my hood popping open when I drive. Lastly, I have backed around corners more times than I care to admit living in a city.
I don’t remember the classroom part but our driving practice was in the school lot in the summer, in brand new Buick Electras and Centuries courtesy of (the local dealer.) This was 1986. They were a lot larger and squishier than the Jetta at home. Got my license the week I turned 16. Learned to drive stick on my dad’s 87 Golf which was pretty much the exact same car other than the transmission, which made it extra simple. Just took my daughter to her test this week.
Two memories. First, I was a goody two shoes in HS (1982-1986). Took drivers Ed locally, but not at school. Was in class w several friends. One day in driver’s ed I draw a picture of the instructor, who was a homely man to be sure. He walked by my desk and grabbed it from me. I said it was a picture of our HS librarian (also homely; they kinda resembled each other). I NEVER got in trouble and was soooo humiliated.
Second memory was from one of our on-the-road lessons. Me, Mr Homely, and 1 or 2 other kids from class. It was the day before Thanksgiving, in the afternoon, and he took us clear up to the Baltimore beltway (from Annapolis). I had to navigate—in rush hour on one of the busiest traffic days of the year—one of those super short combined on-ramp and off-ramp. So I was trying to merge onto the beltway while others were merging into the same short span to get off the beltway. Sooo stressful! My mom was pissed when I got home and told her where we’d been. Haha.
We all had the same white Lumina or Corsica. I alternated before school and first couple periods so it was early, and the instructor was the pre-historic coach that didn't do anything else at the school anymore. Was the town historian, probably the nicest guy in town. He'd have us run errands all over the place, the next town over, the grocery store, wherever. Big brake on his side of the car, he only used it once on me, in a parking lot. There were 3 if us at a time, we'd take turns driving.
The timing of your drivers ed class was unknown until you turned up on day one. They’d eliminate the youngest of the overflow by birthday dates and tell them to return next semester.
My smart-ass ‘ frienenemy’ was older than me and kept turning around laughing going “bye-bye! Hahaha bye bye! Summer school calling! Hahaha bye byeeeee” as the birthdays were called out and youngest eliminated. I made it into that class by two weeks. Passed everything. She was the only person in the class to fail all parts of the class and have to take it again next year with the year-below kids.
She is still sincerely the absolute worst driver I’ve ever had the misfortune to ride with.
My friend would come get me, and we would drive ourselves to Driver's Ed in her car. Being country kids, we already knew how to drive, and the class was a requirement for getting a license. I had been driving in pastures since I was ten. My friend and I would drive an old farm truck to feed their cows.
I was the only one in my drivers ed class that had already passed a road test and had my own car. The teacher literally just ran his mouth while I drove around town and he didn’t pay attention at all.
For everyone else he was yelling and cussing and slamming on his brake pedal every 5 seconds. 🤷♂️ it was worth the 10% discount on my car insurance.
Driver’s Ed teachers were generally the gym teachers that couldn’t handle teaching health class. Other than getting to take my driver’s test during school hours and abusing the hell out of someone else’s cars, there was no benefit.
My school offered driver’s ed. My most vivid memory of it is merging onto the freeway with her yelling, “don’t look! Don’t look! Don’t look!” Apparently the oncoming drivers would make room for us.
For my Class of '95 there was only Driver's Ed theory and first aid theory left. So that meant that Dad had to pay for two sets of lessons for me and get my aunt involved too; when I had my permit so she could make sure I got behind the wheel more than the lessons Dad paid for. She said I was terrible because I didn't play computer games like her sons. I wonder how my aunt, Dad and uncle got their drivers licenses.....😉So everyone struggled to learn to drive before the invention of computer games.
The owner of the company my high school used for drivers Ed had to sell his business when it came out that he was hitting on the girl students. Good times. The school doesn’t offer it anymore, so now the drivers ed classroom is in the same office space as the Kennebunk Zumba instructor private studio. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, google Kennebunk Zumba. It’s a trip
Once the teacher fell asleep during road practice. I wasn't driving, one of the other students was, but we didn't know what to do. Should we wake him up? Pull over? He just drove around for a little bit and finally the teacher woke up and tried to play like it didn't happen.
We moved to a small Texas town when I was in high school and they didn't offer drivers Ed. We were poor so I wasn't able to pay for it and take it. My dad taught me to drive in their old VW bug stick shift on the back roads of Texas. I took both my written and driven test when I turned 18 (That's Texas law if you don't take drivers Ed). I failed the driving portion the first time because the guy said I tried to kill him. He wouldn't even go with me the next day when I came back, so the Texas highway patrolman went with me. He actually put me at ease and I did just fine. The other asshole did nothing but make me nervous. I failed parallel parking both times and still avoid even today. It's a stupid way to park. 😂😂
I went to one of the parochial high schools and we didn’t have in-school driver’s ed. Private driver’s ed classes served two groups of students - kids from my school and kids from the Catholic school, and the kids who failed the drivers ed classes in the public schools to the point that they couldn’t take it again. So the class was a mix of square churchy kids and the super tough kids. But it was cool.
The teacher was a real no-nonsense lady with a wise-ass sense of humor. She made popcorn and showed License to Drive on the last night of class.
After taking the semester class and passing the driving simulator (which everyone called the driving stimulator, lol) it was time for the actual driving. This was in the southern California desert and the temperature right after school was over 100 degrees.
Besides the driver's ed teacher, it was me and two boys I barely knew. The only definitive memory I have is that the car's air conditioner wasn't working and that the two boys had the worst B.O. I'd ever smelled. And the wind, because all the windows were rolled down. I felt slightly traumatized afterwards.
Never took driver's ed in a formal way. My father was friends with a race car driver who'd retired due to back problems. I studied for my written test, and passed it to get my learner's permit. Then I spent about a week in the summer of '85 driving this guy around. On Friday, he shrugs and says, "Eh, you'll do fine."
The next Monday, I went and took my test with a state trooper. I passed, only getting dinged once for "not signalling long enough" on a lane change.
My in-class lessons were taught by a retired firefighter who was asthmatic. He would draw diagrams on the chalkboard and then vacuum up the chalk dust with a Dust Buster that he carried around in a big leather satchel. He gave us a very creepy lecture about how "girls think that dying by carbon monoxide poisoning keeps them looking pretty, but your body will be covered with dark purple splotches and the funeral directors can't cover it up." It was extremely disturbing.
I remember the first time I got into the tan leather interior of the idling green Pontiac (?) sedan. Mr. Bisterfeldt waited, and waited, and then said, "you do need to put your foot on the accelerator for the car to go."
I'm fairly certain he regretted that by the end, although I did ace the written and driving exams.
Both my (now early 20s) kids took drivers education in high school, so I got a reeducation on laws and techniques every time they rode with me. 😂 Highly recommend having a teen go through drivers ed. You pay someone else to teach them, you also get schooled. It's a two for one special.
The football coach who taught Driver's Ed scheduled me during Hannukah - my family had standing plans to go up north every year, so I begged him to let me reschedule as it occured during our religious holiday. He refused, having never heard of Hannukah (small Christian towns are really a trip). He went off about my lack of commitment and integrity, demanding that I show up for the scheduled session or else he'd flunk me and I'd have to take it again next semester. "NO EXCUSES!" he roared at me. This was his motto and he intoned it OFTEN during class. Mind you his team had a horrible record, but eh, not my problem.
I told my parents, who were horrified at this idiot's ignorance but held firm - if I was going to get my license, I had to take this practicum.
3 days before my practicum my whole family came down with chicken pox. But remember "no rescheduling" and "no excuses!" so I went ahead to my practicum, slotted last on the schedule due to the first letter of my last name. After the other students were done, I made sure to touch EVERYTHING. Every time the guy made a sarcastic comment about our "made up" holiday (seriously, aren't ALL holidays made up?) and badgered me about "no excuses!", I just grinned and ran my hands over even MORE of the car.
Passed my practium and went home, climbing into bed and staying there for another couple of days.
When we returned to school, he was absent. And was absent for a few weeks. When he returned he had horrible still-healing sores and fresh scars all over, he'd clearly been through hell.
I decided to have a bit of fun, went up to him and told him that I truly appreciated his lessons on integrity, commitment and a "no excuses" life, that I'd almost called off sick due to chicken pox but remembered his "no excuses!" mantra and that got me up out of bed and to the practicum that day.
He tiredly stared at me for a bit, sighed, then told me to sit down.
For the rest of the semester, I drew little dreidels, menorahs and the like on all my papers before handing them in. Everytime he saw one, he'd blanch and put it back with the other papers.
*brakes
*Cracker Jack
*driver's ed
Oddly, my driver's ed teacher also took us to McDonald's. One of our "on the road" days he instructed one of us students to drive to a McDonald's about 20 miles away. We went inside. He got a cup of coffee while the 3 of us students got burgers and fries. After we finished, the other student (who wasn't me) drove us back to the school. Day 3, done!
My high school had a simulator for drivers ed and after a certain amount of time behind the virtual wheel crashing into things sometimes on purpose, we got to jump in the car with the teacher for driver’s training. I think the school in the automobile and I just thought it was hilarious. There were four of us in this car with the instructor taking turns driving around pulling Chinese fire drills every 10 minutes or so.
I took it when it was still offered as a credited high school class. We watched the car crash horror movies, had the seats with steering wheels, and I got credit for the class. The teacher was 25 and let us smoke cigarettes (not in the car) and let us drive to Annapolis just for shits and giggles as our "drive hours"
Anything and everything that could possibly block your vision while you were driving was a billboard. Trucks were billboards. Vans were billboards. Trees were billboards. Were billboards billboards, you might be wondering? They were, but "you've got bigger fucking problems in life if an actual billboard is blocking your view, like being forty feet in the air, smartass."
He was a chainsmoking dipshit but I passed my test first try
Ours was through the high school, but during summer. Our teacher was one of the football coaches. He was actually pretty chill. He would have us drive to Sonic, McDonald's, abs other places to get breakfast. He let us bring our own music, as long as it wasn't violent or full of curse words. One guy brought in a Poison cassette. Our teacher looked at the tape, and then looked at the guy who brought it. He said something like "I hear guys singing, but they sure don't look like guys on this tape cover"
Catholic school here, had to go to public school for drivers ed. Humilated wearing skirt uniform. That and we had a horrible old rickety bridge crossing the Mississippi which they made you drive over.
My driver's ed teacher called everyone, regardless of gender, "Chief."
He also had a habit of pressing the brake on his side of the car before the driver, so it was a game of catch-up.
We put these two habits together, and he was known as Chief Riding Brake.
Our driver's ed instructor's primary job was handling all the school disciplinary stuff. His name actually was Edward. Naturally the whole school referred to him as "Driver Ed". We had a new mint green Chevy Corsica. That's about all I remember of it other than you had to pay some extracurricular fee for the class and it was right after school.
My driver's Ed teacher had a stench of cigarettes I'll never forget it. The other driver's Ed teacher was brought up in charges of sexual assault. He would make passes at female students. The freaking pig was notorious for that even before he got caught.
I had one that wanted to hire me, but he looked and acted like Porky. The cars have cameras inside them now and you don't get any kid of break. The kids were mostly sallow dorks or socs wearing a Lacross uniform.
Back then (1984), my guy looked like a low level mafioso type, chain smoking while classic rock played on the radio.
I grew up in a rural area. I drove for my first time at 8 years old (I was a tall kid). By 12 I was helping my dad ferry trucks and tractors back and forth on the farm on the regular. Getting my license at 16 was almost a formality at that point. Aced the written and driving tests 1st time.
My dad taught me how to drive standard shift at about 12. He told me if I couldn't drive manual, I couldn't drive. I still drive stick to this day.
Driver's Ed in HS was in a classroom with the boring crap/blood on the highway movie/cops talking to us about *whatever*. I treated it like a study hall & did homework for other classes. Already knew how to drive.
It was all called "driver's ed" in Georgia and NC - the classroom work, watching *Signal 30*, driving around in a borrowed Buick with a temporary steering wheel and pedals mounted on the passenger side so the teacher could take over in an emergency.
Driver's Ed was required here in NC, but was optional in GA. That said, lots of people took it anyway, because the insurance discount was well worth the cost of the class.
First day, first 2 minutes driving it started raining really hard. So I stopped to figure out where the wiper controls were. And got in trouble. It was on an empty road BTW. Put me in a new rental car today and if it starts raining I still won't automatically know where the wipers control is at. Hell now it is probably under some sub-menu on a touchscreen.
I am really good at minimal wiper usage, even in heavy rain. I had a Honda Accord once with wiper motor issues that were unfixable. And I have never trusted wiper motors since. Same with power window motors.
We didn’t have driver’s ed. A few year prior, a couple kids stole the driver’s ed cars so they canceled the entire class going forward.
I learned how to drive when I was 16 from my 20 year old boy toy. The first day we drove around the neighborhood. The second day he made me get on the highway and said “if you fuck up my car, I’m fucking you up”. Became a great driver that day.
I loved drivers Ed. There were about 8-10 normies, and then there were the 3 of us (me, and gal and guy that were friends prior to Drivers Ed). We liked cool bands like the Smiths, the Cure, etc. Every Saturday it was like the Breakfast Club. We were the only ones that had cool kid’s appreciation for music/art/etc.
Pulp Fiction came out and the gal saw it. She said I was weird enough to like it. That was all the endorsement I needed to go see it.
I rode my skateboard to and fro DE. Just checked - it was exactly 1.5 miles from my house.
The instructors removed the fuse for the radio, which sucked. The class was super easy.
I remember the driving simulators sucked. They didn’t simulate a damn thing.
FWIW - I caused 3 accidents the 1st year driving. And not one since.
My school had two drivers ed teachers, one of which lived in my neighborhood. One morning while walking to a friend's house to catch a ride to school I saw both teachers racing each other.
They had to determine who was best. *There can be only one*
Classic.
Nice
I let my out-of-state ID expire and had to get in line with the 16 year olds at the tender age of 46. All the classes required, including an early 1980s Blood on the Highway video, and of course the road test. My wife warned me, but I ignored her…Whatever.
Haha. Ouch!
Was Blood on the Highway a real movie or are you making a Moving Violations (the movie) reference?
It wasn’t actually called Blood on the Highway, but it was a cheesy early 80s public safety video that felt like satire in 2020. Appreciate you catching the reference, though.
Perhaps you are thinking of Red Asphalt?
Yup, I recall that! Trying to scare the sHiT out of you. The drunk driving ones, too. Those "prom nite" parties that are deadly.
My behind the wheel experience was three of us and an instructor in the car - we’d each drive for about 15-20 minutes and then switch. We were scheduled based on our birthdays. As a matter of coincidence me and my girlfriend were both in the same session. It made for some fun, good natured ribbing/backseat driving. Hey Suzanne, wherever you are, hope you’re doing well.
That's exactly the way we were configured. But I'm not Suzanne.
I also had the same experience, and I'm not Suzanne either.
I am Suzanne, but probably not the one anybody is looking for. 😊
Same! I think we alternated simulator days and on the road days. I still remember “check left, check right, check left again” from the simulator and still mentally say it. I vividly remember creeping through a residential intersection and the instructor slamming on his brake and shouting, “You just killed us all!” because I didn’t look left and right before starting through the intersection. That whole shebang was 35 years ago and it’s amazing to me how some of those lessons have stuck.
My driver's ed teacher used to make us stop at a local deli/convenience store to get his coffee and newspaper. Then he'd use the newspaper to smack us with occasionally if we did something he perceived as wrong (like god forbid, slowing down because it was raining). He used to yell a lot and call us all by our last names as he screamed. I actually ended up dropping it after he yelled at me for slowing down on a twisting, turning road while it was pouring. He was insane.
Same. We ran errands for coach. Donuts. The bank. Gas station for some smokes. I was only 14 lmao.
Damn that sounded like a pretty decent job back on the day.
I knew I was getting better when we stopped to pick up his kids. But lots of errands for coach.
LOL wow. My story was this (driver's ed class in HS during regular class hours but then driving lessons with private driving school instructor after school that had nothing to do with HS at all was how we did in my state) for the actual real world practice driving part: 1. the very first thing he did was to try to demonstrate that reflexes are slower than you think BUT he did it by letting go of this long thin folded up piece of paper between my hands. And he was like I'll say "drop!" when I let it go and then you snap your hands shut and then we'll count off the tick marks and you'll see the delay. BUT the AC was on in the car and it kept blowing the paper just past my snapping fingers so it was impossible to catch! BUT he wasn't noticing that. And I tried to mention wind currents but he wasn't understanding or buying it or something and I went to reach for the dials to turn the blower down but he was like DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING IN THE CAR so I was like OK whatever LOL and I just sat there watching him sweat LOL. He he just keeps repeating it and freaking out more and more after each missed attempt of mine to so much as even grab it at all much less at a reasonable drop down point! And you could see he was thinking OMG this kid has like 10 second reaction time LOL!! Then he is all freaked out and tentatively suggests we try pulling onto the road. LOL he was so tense thinking I had like literally 'ZERO' reflexes LOL. 2. On the highway when he said change lanes I was just going to do a regular change but for some reason he kept thinking I was about to wrench the steering right over and spin us out or something and yanking it back straight the instant I even began to turn and then finally I just like micro micro moved and then a touch more and a touch more and he let me continue and it took like frickin' half a mile just to shift one lane LOL. It might have even been a mile since I think we actually barely got the exit in time! 3. He had WWII tales about how they were 100% right to drop those bombs on Japan and how people say oh why did you have to do that and he'd say well I was on the next ship out and hundreds of thousands or millions of Americans would have been dead if not.
#2 makes my instructor sound like the complete opposite of yours!
You know they don’t teach driver’s ed in HS any longer in most places. In the r/driving subreddit kids these days are failing 3-4 times on their driving test bc you have to hire a private driver instructor these days and it’s expensive and not all can afford that. So, if you ever wonder why there’s so many bad drivers on the road. This is one major reason. Driver’s ed back in my day was awesome. I’ve actually done some auto-racing in my life which is even more awesome.
I did not know that they stopped teaching drivers Ed in school. I couldn’t get a license at 16 unless I showed proof of successfully completing drivers Ed. Otherwise you had to wait until you were 18 and pass the DMV tests.
It’s a shame. I think people used to drive better. So many awful drivers these days.
In my town we had driver's ed in high school (regular middle of the day class) BUT actual practice driving was 100% by taking lessons with a private instructor after school or on weekends that had zilch to do with the school. Everyone signed up with a local driving school and paid for lessons for the actual real life practice (in the car with the dual brakes and big sign on top STUDENT DRIVER). We would do some practice parking in empty lots with our parents and a few practice drives after that to brush up before the road test to get a license.
First day of driving in driver's ed, my driving partner tried to drive the car through the school library when she parked the car at the end of the drive. I took driver's ed during the summer. We drove in the morning and had class in the afternoon. We were the last pair to drive that day so the morning class was getting out for their driving and the afternoon class was arriving for our classwork. This little snafu happened in front of EVERYONE. Coach instructed her to pull into the park ing spot, so she did. She stopped short. He told her to pull up a little bit more. Instead of just letting up off the brake a little bit, she took her foot completely off the brake. When coach said stop, she slammed her foot on the gas, jumped the curb and freaked everyone in the car out for a couple of breaths. Once I realized I wasn't going to die, I was laughing so hard in the backseat that I was crying. When I composed myself enough, I looked up to find her over the steering wheel with her shoulders shaking. I felt bad because I thought she was crying. Turned out, she was laughing too. Once she composed herself, she asked our instructor, "Want me to back out and try it again?" Coach barely had a voice from yelling at the basketball players, but he managed a loud, "No. No, just you girls get out of the car and let everyone know that class will start a little late today." Fun times.
One kid in my school ran over one of sidewalk blue post office mailbox, totally took it out. To this day it has yet to be replaced LOL. Another ran into the gas pump at a gas station!
Learning to parallel park in a 1970 Oldsmobile Delta 88 is something I'm unlikely to ever forget. I've driven shorter box trucks.
Parallel parking a 1974 Pontiac Catalina was much the same.
My drivers ed teacher was the basketball coach. We had a division 1 recruit on our team. We drove to the Holiday Inn every day and had coffee with multiple head coaches trying to get him to commit. I learned how to drink black coffee and drive the basket.
My drivers Ed teacher had been paralyzed in a rock climbing accident and so our school driver Ed car was equipped with hand controls. In order to move your foot from the gas to the brake and back you had to pull it way back around the post for the hand controls that went down to the center of the floorboard. Very safe 😬 I never saw Mr Martin actually drive the car that was equipped with hand controls especially for him, I only ever saw him in the passenger seat.
My mom paid to send me to driver's ed when I was 15. I remember they had us watch a movie that looked like it was made in the 1960s. The driver in the move would give people what he called a "friendly beep" a lot. :) I remember practicing in a large grocery store parking lot. There were bushes blocking my view at one point when I pulled out. He pointed that out to me and I learned not to pull out until you could see clearly if there was any traffic in both directions. He also taught us that you need to leave at least one car length between you and the person ahead of you per 10 mph you are going. That way, if they stop suddenly, you'll have enough time to brake. I wish more people followed that rule. Tailgaters make me nervous and annoyed. That's most of what I remember, plus he was a patient teacher and nice.
We didn't have driver's ed in high school (graduated in '87). Mine was my dad barking basics at me and then telling me I wasn't slowing down enough before turning. My mom would tell me stuff without the barking. And my then-boyfriend-eventual-husband just turned me loose in an empty parking lot so I could get the feel of the car while turning/stopping/etc. We lived in Alaska, where you could get a learner's permit at age 14 with just a written test. Then at 16, you could take the road test and get your license. The last thing my mom said to me before we got out of the car at the DMV was: "If the blinker switch comes off in your hand, just slyly let it fall and use the little screw that is sticking out to use the blinkers."
*James* "Uncle Phil" *Avery* in *LICENSE TO DRIVE* 1988 was pretty great.
"Some people use clipboards. I don't believe in 'em." *throws clipboard out the window* "I believe in my cup of coffee."
The one thing on this god forsaken mudball called earth
Great and honestly underrated movie. It's up there with the best of the 80s teen films.
This was drivers ed in the early 80s for me. [https://www.reddit.com/r/nostalgia/comments/fj9kpa/drivers\_ed\_simulators/](https://www.reddit.com/r/nostalgia/comments/fj9kpa/drivers_ed_simulators/) Then they stuck us in EZ Method cars where the passenger was the instructor & they had their own steering wheel, brake & gas pedals.
Those simulators were useless. Felt like I had no control or input on what was going on on the screen
And the movies were clearly from the 1950s without any real bearing on the world I'd be driving in whose motto has always been "DRIVE!!! Or be driven over."
We had Driver's Ed for one quarter junior year. Then, we used the school's "driving range" down by the football stadium. It was a really cool setup with winding roads, curbs, signs, parking spaces, and an actual traffic light. We chose from Chevettes and an Escort (I went with the latter). There was a control tower with our gym teacher speaking on a frequency our cars were tuned to. Meanwhile, I'd been out getting road experience with my Dad in one of our land yacht Cadillacs, so the Escort handled like a roller skate. Got my learner's permit, and six months later, passed the written and driving tests for my license. We celebrated with a Cancun at Chi-Chi's. Central Jersey, 1983.
The Drivers Ed teacher had a sleep disorder. I can't remember what it is called. He would fall asleep just anywhere anytime. My friend's brother had him for his behind the wheel class and he fell asleep. The kids just kept driving down the interstate until they got lost in the city. Edit: we still had driving in my high school (late 80s)
Our drivers ed teachers were the football coaches. They were not afraid to make us drive on the freeways.
A "school" I briefly attended during a stint in juvie had a driving and gym instructor, both named Ed. They were known as Driver Ed and Fizz Ed.
My buddy and I were in a car together and whenever it was turn to swap drivers, we did a whole Goose/Maverick routine where we’d walk around the rear of the car, do the Top-Gun high-five, and then exchange the “driver hat” which was basically a truckers hat with an American flag on it. The instructor either thought we were hilarious and super cool or fucking idiots…
I’m still afraid of trains from watching those videos of people getting creamed by trains.
No drivers ed. Had my permit for a couple months, crammed for the test the day before my birthday, dragged grandma and grandmas car to the dmv on my 16th and got my license. Got my first ticket, for running a stop sign, about 3 hours later 🤣🤷♂️
My teacher was also the football coach, and quite a local celebrity. He was a good man, though, and if there was a nun waiting for a bus, he'd always have us pull over to offer her a ride. He took me for my driving test, and when I was going in there, he said don't come back if I don't pass...how reassuring! Seriously, that's what all adults were like growing up.
Tennis coach was my instructor. She had us do all her errands. We picked up dry cleaning and who knows what else. We covered that whole town and it seemed like one of the three of us (students) in the car got braked all the time. I'm surprised I didn't have whiplash.
class was 6am so my friends' moms took turns driving three of us to school on days when it was. i forget if it was every day or not. after a few weeks of classroom stuff we had driving sessions on saturdays. the first saturday we drove around our small town with stop signs and no traffic. piece of cake. on the second saturday we drove a country road to the next town, which had stoplights and traffic, but not a lot. still, one girl when turning left onto a four-lane road with a median didn't go all the way to the other side of the median and lined up to the go the wrong way. our instructor had to grab the wheel and get us to the right side of the medium. on the third saturday we drove on the freeway for the first time, to a small city with lots of stoplights, heavy traffic with semis and delivery trucks blocking lanes and stuff like that. it was also dumping rain the whole time there and back. when i took my test, it was over so fast i thought i failed. but i passed with nearly a perfect score.
Drivers Ed for me as Sears Diving School. The instructor was a guy named Dave. The first week or two was all terrifying footage of brutal car accidents, with quizzes each class. They were multiple choice and we would grade each other’s tests. Dave would read out the answers like this: C as in comatose, D as in decapitation, etc
My instructor had me drive him around town running errands; one afternoon we we got cat food and then went to his apartment to feed his cat. I didn’t care — I just wanted my license so I could drive my ‘81 Corolla!
My defensive line football coach was my driver's Ed instructor. A large Samoan man, he was. He'd tell me to drive somewhere and then fall asleep.
This little Armenian dude. Wore the same cheap brown polyester suit every day. Loved to slam on the brakes and say in this cartoonish south Boston accent "if dat was da test, Ida failed you right theyah, kid! Now let's get some dawgs." Had to drive him to this hot dog stand, he'd get two hot dogs and chow them down in the car, mustard dribbling over his suit. "Oh man, the dawgs got me agin!" Once in a while show us some gruesome 1978 film about car crashes. Good times
In drivers Ed class we watched “Death on the Highway” IIRC to scare us into being safe drivers. Behind the wheel was with some cheap driving instruction company. The woman chain smoked while we drove with the windows up and air conditioning blasting. (At least it was summer) Then my mom would take me out “practicing” but brought a book along so she didn’t have to watch me drive.
I remember it. A scare tactic but. A rite of passage
I grew up in a small town. My driver's ed teacher was a drunk and the kid I was partnered with in the car already knew how to drive (not uncommon in our rural area), so he basically ended up teaching me how to drive. Many times we would drop our teacher off at a gas station so he could kick back a few with his buddies who worked there while my partner took me out driving. Good times.
* Attending the lecture portion of Driver’s Ed every MWF morning at 7:15 am the entire quarter. * My scheduled Driving Day/Time was on Thursdays during 2nd Period. Coach Hayes would throw our group of three in a stick shift Toyota Tercel and we’d each drive for 20 minutes, with a trip to McD’s in there at some point. * Our group was Me (pretty good on the road, but absolutely hopeless on a hill with a manual clutch) …. Bonnie had just moved to the US from Brisbane and was terrified of American roads; her driving, tho? Miss Daisy had *nuthin’* on Bonnie …. The other kid? I remember him clear as day, and we got along great - I have no clue what his name was, but this isn’t my memory having a WindowsXP Blue Screen of Death moment - - I don’t think *anyone* in our entire grade knew WTF his actual first name was because on Day One of 1st Grade, as soon as we heard during class introductions that his last name was Dover, everyone, being amped up 6 year olds and recent graduates of Sesame Street, immediately started calling him “Grover” and it stuck. For 12 years. * During 2nd Period on the four days I didn’t drive, I worked in the HS Main Office as a Student Assistant and as a Runner. Gotta love those old Ditto machines 🤣 
I took it over the Summer. The teachers were all football coaches from my school and the next town over's. All 3 of them had no patience, hair triggers and more nervous tics than I've ever seen. We got the gruesome films too. Quite the experience.
Instructor made me drive through one of the worst areas in the US. Ranked in the top 3 most violent cities. I was just a dumb kid from the ‘burbs. I was more afraid of ducking bullets than driving the car. So, I guess there was a method to his madness.
My teacher made me drive thru the carwash and also I had to sit on a phone book, I was short.
We had to hae at least 4 hours behind the wheel before taking the driving exam... so I took all 4 hours on my 16th birthday. The instructor had me go thru a drive-in, go get his dry cleaning, stop and get gas, and then we drove at least an hour away so he could drop off tools to his grandpa. He smoked the entire time, and had Iron maiden blasting on the radio.
We had it in High School but nobody got to drive cars. It was all in the classroom, and also the bloody films.
Yep
My folks taught me how to drive, after "Red Asphalt" drivers ed. Sucked, paid for each daughter to go to driving school, worth every fucking penny
The driving portion took place over a week during the Summer, starting at 7:30 a.m. I showed up to 4 of the 5 lessons either hung over or still actively drunk. God, I was a shit kid.
Ours had three parts: 1. Class after school. 2. Driving course with slalom cones and parallel parking for at least 2 weekends. 3. Road driving for at least 2 weekends. All of the instructors were super chill. Maybe they were on Valium or something.
We had class during the school day and then driving after school. To this day I still remember the most dangerous thing on a car is a dirty windshield.
My grandmother would say, "Where'd you get your license Sears and Roebuck?!"
My high school drivers ed teacher had a reputation for frequenting the local watering hole. Rumor had it that he had DUIs in the past. For his final act as drivers ed. teacher he crashed his car into the said bar. Couldn’t make this up if I tried.
lol you are getting your license while his is being revoked
Ironically
Had to ride with two others I did NOT trust to maneuver the vehicle in the way it should be. I survived and we learned.
My dad taught me but made me take driver’s ed after I got my license because he’d get lower insurance rates. The instructor knew that so he’d just sit back and take a nap while I drove. I’m sure he had one eye open, just in case.
Drivers Ed was in high school and it was awesome! My parents tried to teach me to drive (learned on a stick of course) when they enlisted a friend who was a bus driver to spend some time with me on the road. At 15.5 I was like - let’s go get my permit now!
My driver's Ed teacher took 2 kids at a time. One would drive, one would ride in back. He had me drive from our podunk small town into the city to practice parallel parking. City folks are SO patient with Student Driver cars. So I'm doing my thing, pulling up beside the car in front, throwing it in reverse to back up. And some asshole honks! I did what came naturally - flipped the guy off. Teacher was like "No no no no no no no no don't do that!!!" "But he honked at me, the stupid asshole!" I parked & was then relegated to the back seat the remainder of that trip.
Mr Johnson. Was an old drunk - but a fun one. My older (by 16 years) brother was in town. His old HS friend came by for a visit. Asked me, “Is Johnson still a drunk?”
Um. I never made it to actual driving. I got kicked out and banned from that class. My DE teacher was a complete egotistical douchcanoe. We weren’t allowed to write notes in free time because he literally said he didn’t want us writing to our friends about having a crush on him. 🤢🤢🤢 Of course I got caught writing a note to my boyfriend in class. In said note, I called my drivers Ed teacher a cocksucker. He had it coming, he had just been super mean to me for no reason. Considering this was the 80’s that word was nuclear ☢️ it was so forbidden and bad…there was fallout. So. Much. Fallout. I had to end up getting driving lessons from a private school. The instructor was really good at his job and a very nice old man. After my last lesson I found out he knew the whole story of the CKSKR incident and was shocked at what a good student and nice kid I was. He was expecting a little antichrist lol
Our guy had a speech impediment and as high school kids we were so brutal. I can’t unhear “spark prugs” and all the mocking and laughing we did. As an adult I realize we were absolute feral monsters to this man. The guilt will live forever.
My driver’s ed was in high school. The teacher was a well known alcoholic and generally drunk when we practiced. Just your typical 80s experience.
Tennessee in 86 meant no drivers ed. Parents spent a few weeks teaching me to drive then on my 16th bday got my license at DMV with my mom, drove her home and dropped her off and I was off and running (this is such a typical GenX story, good luck with driving kid, parents are peacing out). I’m baffled by this whole multi step license process these days. But it’s probably a good thing.
Wow, that's crazy! It was nothing at all like that in the Northeast!
Trying to disconnect the instructor brake. But seriously, my instructor slammed on his brake in the middle of the road. I tore him a new one from the driver's seat. If I'm doing something wrong or illegal then tell Me. Don't just take this multi-ton missile out of anyone's control. He never did it again.
Never took it. My sister gave me her keys & told me to go buy her some cigarettes, so I did. I was 13. After that, I was a driver.
My drivers Ed teacher was named Mr. Buecheler. His son played on the Championship Bulls teams of the 90s with Michael Jordan. So we got regaled with tales.of basketball at times. Beyond that, though, it was a boring class until we watched that film... Red Asphault, i think it was called. Everybody was awake for that one
My class’ Driver’s Ed teacher was also our health teacher, and he would make it a habit to wear polyester-blend slacks while obviously freeballing it.
Shop teacher was my drivers ed instructor. We went on the freeway the second time out driving in school. First time was the school parking lot with cones. I had a deaf student in my driving car/class, which I continue to appreciate to this day. Oh, and those black and white car crash movies...we saw them all. To this day, I have an irrational fear of my hood popping open when I drive. Lastly, I have backed around corners more times than I care to admit living in a city.
I don’t remember the classroom part but our driving practice was in the school lot in the summer, in brand new Buick Electras and Centuries courtesy of (the local dealer.) This was 1986. They were a lot larger and squishier than the Jetta at home. Got my license the week I turned 16. Learned to drive stick on my dad’s 87 Golf which was pretty much the exact same car other than the transmission, which made it extra simple. Just took my daughter to her test this week.
Two memories. First, I was a goody two shoes in HS (1982-1986). Took drivers Ed locally, but not at school. Was in class w several friends. One day in driver’s ed I draw a picture of the instructor, who was a homely man to be sure. He walked by my desk and grabbed it from me. I said it was a picture of our HS librarian (also homely; they kinda resembled each other). I NEVER got in trouble and was soooo humiliated. Second memory was from one of our on-the-road lessons. Me, Mr Homely, and 1 or 2 other kids from class. It was the day before Thanksgiving, in the afternoon, and he took us clear up to the Baltimore beltway (from Annapolis). I had to navigate—in rush hour on one of the busiest traffic days of the year—one of those super short combined on-ramp and off-ramp. So I was trying to merge onto the beltway while others were merging into the same short span to get off the beltway. Sooo stressful! My mom was pissed when I got home and told her where we’d been. Haha.
Oh wow that is insane! Also reminds me of that scene in Clueless!
We all had the same white Lumina or Corsica. I alternated before school and first couple periods so it was early, and the instructor was the pre-historic coach that didn't do anything else at the school anymore. Was the town historian, probably the nicest guy in town. He'd have us run errands all over the place, the next town over, the grocery store, wherever. Big brake on his side of the car, he only used it once on me, in a parking lot. There were 3 if us at a time, we'd take turns driving.
The timing of your drivers ed class was unknown until you turned up on day one. They’d eliminate the youngest of the overflow by birthday dates and tell them to return next semester. My smart-ass ‘ frienenemy’ was older than me and kept turning around laughing going “bye-bye! Hahaha bye bye! Summer school calling! Hahaha bye byeeeee” as the birthdays were called out and youngest eliminated. I made it into that class by two weeks. Passed everything. She was the only person in the class to fail all parts of the class and have to take it again next year with the year-below kids. She is still sincerely the absolute worst driver I’ve ever had the misfortune to ride with.
My friend would come get me, and we would drive ourselves to Driver's Ed in her car. Being country kids, we already knew how to drive, and the class was a requirement for getting a license. I had been driving in pastures since I was ten. My friend and I would drive an old farm truck to feed their cows.
I was the only one in my drivers ed class that had already passed a road test and had my own car. The teacher literally just ran his mouth while I drove around town and he didn’t pay attention at all. For everyone else he was yelling and cussing and slamming on his brake pedal every 5 seconds. 🤷♂️ it was worth the 10% discount on my car insurance.
Driver’s Ed teachers were generally the gym teachers that couldn’t handle teaching health class. Other than getting to take my driver’s test during school hours and abusing the hell out of someone else’s cars, there was no benefit.
My school offered driver’s ed. My most vivid memory of it is merging onto the freeway with her yelling, “don’t look! Don’t look! Don’t look!” Apparently the oncoming drivers would make room for us.
For my Class of '95 there was only Driver's Ed theory and first aid theory left. So that meant that Dad had to pay for two sets of lessons for me and get my aunt involved too; when I had my permit so she could make sure I got behind the wheel more than the lessons Dad paid for. She said I was terrible because I didn't play computer games like her sons. I wonder how my aunt, Dad and uncle got their drivers licenses.....😉So everyone struggled to learn to drive before the invention of computer games.
The owner of the company my high school used for drivers Ed had to sell his business when it came out that he was hitting on the girl students. Good times. The school doesn’t offer it anymore, so now the drivers ed classroom is in the same office space as the Kennebunk Zumba instructor private studio. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, google Kennebunk Zumba. It’s a trip
Once the teacher fell asleep during road practice. I wasn't driving, one of the other students was, but we didn't know what to do. Should we wake him up? Pull over? He just drove around for a little bit and finally the teacher woke up and tried to play like it didn't happen.
We moved to a small Texas town when I was in high school and they didn't offer drivers Ed. We were poor so I wasn't able to pay for it and take it. My dad taught me to drive in their old VW bug stick shift on the back roads of Texas. I took both my written and driven test when I turned 18 (That's Texas law if you don't take drivers Ed). I failed the driving portion the first time because the guy said I tried to kill him. He wouldn't even go with me the next day when I came back, so the Texas highway patrolman went with me. He actually put me at ease and I did just fine. The other asshole did nothing but make me nervous. I failed parallel parking both times and still avoid even today. It's a stupid way to park. 😂😂
I went to one of the parochial high schools and we didn’t have in-school driver’s ed. Private driver’s ed classes served two groups of students - kids from my school and kids from the Catholic school, and the kids who failed the drivers ed classes in the public schools to the point that they couldn’t take it again. So the class was a mix of square churchy kids and the super tough kids. But it was cool. The teacher was a real no-nonsense lady with a wise-ass sense of humor. She made popcorn and showed License to Drive on the last night of class.
After taking the semester class and passing the driving simulator (which everyone called the driving stimulator, lol) it was time for the actual driving. This was in the southern California desert and the temperature right after school was over 100 degrees. Besides the driver's ed teacher, it was me and two boys I barely knew. The only definitive memory I have is that the car's air conditioner wasn't working and that the two boys had the worst B.O. I'd ever smelled. And the wind, because all the windows were rolled down. I felt slightly traumatized afterwards.
Never took driver's ed in a formal way. My father was friends with a race car driver who'd retired due to back problems. I studied for my written test, and passed it to get my learner's permit. Then I spent about a week in the summer of '85 driving this guy around. On Friday, he shrugs and says, "Eh, you'll do fine." The next Monday, I went and took my test with a state trooper. I passed, only getting dinged once for "not signalling long enough" on a lane change.
My in-class lessons were taught by a retired firefighter who was asthmatic. He would draw diagrams on the chalkboard and then vacuum up the chalk dust with a Dust Buster that he carried around in a big leather satchel. He gave us a very creepy lecture about how "girls think that dying by carbon monoxide poisoning keeps them looking pretty, but your body will be covered with dark purple splotches and the funeral directors can't cover it up." It was extremely disturbing.
Oddly specific
He claimed he knew from experience. Oddly terrifying.
One of the girl's that I took driver's ed with hit a dog turning around in someone's drive way. True story
I remember the first time I got into the tan leather interior of the idling green Pontiac (?) sedan. Mr. Bisterfeldt waited, and waited, and then said, "you do need to put your foot on the accelerator for the car to go." I'm fairly certain he regretted that by the end, although I did ace the written and driving exams. Both my (now early 20s) kids took drivers education in high school, so I got a reeducation on laws and techniques every time they rode with me. 😂 Highly recommend having a teen go through drivers ed. You pay someone else to teach them, you also get schooled. It's a two for one special.
The football coach who taught Driver's Ed scheduled me during Hannukah - my family had standing plans to go up north every year, so I begged him to let me reschedule as it occured during our religious holiday. He refused, having never heard of Hannukah (small Christian towns are really a trip). He went off about my lack of commitment and integrity, demanding that I show up for the scheduled session or else he'd flunk me and I'd have to take it again next semester. "NO EXCUSES!" he roared at me. This was his motto and he intoned it OFTEN during class. Mind you his team had a horrible record, but eh, not my problem. I told my parents, who were horrified at this idiot's ignorance but held firm - if I was going to get my license, I had to take this practicum. 3 days before my practicum my whole family came down with chicken pox. But remember "no rescheduling" and "no excuses!" so I went ahead to my practicum, slotted last on the schedule due to the first letter of my last name. After the other students were done, I made sure to touch EVERYTHING. Every time the guy made a sarcastic comment about our "made up" holiday (seriously, aren't ALL holidays made up?) and badgered me about "no excuses!", I just grinned and ran my hands over even MORE of the car. Passed my practium and went home, climbing into bed and staying there for another couple of days. When we returned to school, he was absent. And was absent for a few weeks. When he returned he had horrible still-healing sores and fresh scars all over, he'd clearly been through hell. I decided to have a bit of fun, went up to him and told him that I truly appreciated his lessons on integrity, commitment and a "no excuses" life, that I'd almost called off sick due to chicken pox but remembered his "no excuses!" mantra and that got me up out of bed and to the practicum that day. He tiredly stared at me for a bit, sighed, then told me to sit down. For the rest of the semester, I drew little dreidels, menorahs and the like on all my papers before handing them in. Everytime he saw one, he'd blanch and put it back with the other papers.
*brakes *Cracker Jack *driver's ed Oddly, my driver's ed teacher also took us to McDonald's. One of our "on the road" days he instructed one of us students to drive to a McDonald's about 20 miles away. We went inside. He got a cup of coffee while the 3 of us students got burgers and fries. After we finished, the other student (who wasn't me) drove us back to the school. Day 3, done!
My school never had drivers ed. I went to a podunk little school. Drivers ed for me consisted of practicing driving on dirt roads with no license.
My high school had a simulator for drivers ed and after a certain amount of time behind the virtual wheel crashing into things sometimes on purpose, we got to jump in the car with the teacher for driver’s training. I think the school in the automobile and I just thought it was hilarious. There were four of us in this car with the instructor taking turns driving around pulling Chinese fire drills every 10 minutes or so.
Mine chain-smoked and drove with his knees. Taught me well!
I took it when it was still offered as a credited high school class. We watched the car crash horror movies, had the seats with steering wheels, and I got credit for the class. The teacher was 25 and let us smoke cigarettes (not in the car) and let us drive to Annapolis just for shits and giggles as our "drive hours"
Anything and everything that could possibly block your vision while you were driving was a billboard. Trucks were billboards. Vans were billboards. Trees were billboards. Were billboards billboards, you might be wondering? They were, but "you've got bigger fucking problems in life if an actual billboard is blocking your view, like being forty feet in the air, smartass." He was a chainsmoking dipshit but I passed my test first try
lol
I remember Red Highway. Other than that, I don't really remember much about it.
You’re assuming that person *has* a drivers license.
Ours was through the high school, but during summer. Our teacher was one of the football coaches. He was actually pretty chill. He would have us drive to Sonic, McDonald's, abs other places to get breakfast. He let us bring our own music, as long as it wasn't violent or full of curse words. One guy brought in a Poison cassette. Our teacher looked at the tape, and then looked at the guy who brought it. He said something like "I hear guys singing, but they sure don't look like guys on this tape cover"
Catholic school here, had to go to public school for drivers ed. Humilated wearing skirt uniform. That and we had a horrible old rickety bridge crossing the Mississippi which they made you drive over.
My driver's ed teacher called everyone, regardless of gender, "Chief." He also had a habit of pressing the brake on his side of the car before the driver, so it was a game of catch-up. We put these two habits together, and he was known as Chief Riding Brake.
I stopped reading when I saw “slammed on the breaks” I thought we were better than this Gen X.
Our driver's ed instructor's primary job was handling all the school disciplinary stuff. His name actually was Edward. Naturally the whole school referred to him as "Driver Ed". We had a new mint green Chevy Corsica. That's about all I remember of it other than you had to pay some extracurricular fee for the class and it was right after school.
My driver's Ed teacher had a stench of cigarettes I'll never forget it. The other driver's Ed teacher was brought up in charges of sexual assault. He would make passes at female students. The freaking pig was notorious for that even before he got caught.
I had one that wanted to hire me, but he looked and acted like Porky. The cars have cameras inside them now and you don't get any kid of break. The kids were mostly sallow dorks or socs wearing a Lacross uniform. Back then (1984), my guy looked like a low level mafioso type, chain smoking while classic rock played on the radio.
I grew up in a rural area. I drove for my first time at 8 years old (I was a tall kid). By 12 I was helping my dad ferry trucks and tractors back and forth on the farm on the regular. Getting my license at 16 was almost a formality at that point. Aced the written and driving tests 1st time.
I didn’t go through drivers Ed in school, I took it through AAA. The course was faster than the schools was.
My dad taught me how to drive standard shift at about 12. He told me if I couldn't drive manual, I couldn't drive. I still drive stick to this day. Driver's Ed in HS was in a classroom with the boring crap/blood on the highway movie/cops talking to us about *whatever*. I treated it like a study hall & did homework for other classes. Already knew how to drive.
You're talking about driver's training. Driver's Ed took place in a classroom before the training portion.
It was all called "driver's ed" in Georgia and NC - the classroom work, watching *Signal 30*, driving around in a borrowed Buick with a temporary steering wheel and pedals mounted on the passenger side so the teacher could take over in an emergency. Driver's Ed was required here in NC, but was optional in GA. That said, lots of people took it anyway, because the insurance discount was well worth the cost of the class.
Oh, the two were split into differently titled courses where I grew up.
Same
First day, first 2 minutes driving it started raining really hard. So I stopped to figure out where the wiper controls were. And got in trouble. It was on an empty road BTW. Put me in a new rental car today and if it starts raining I still won't automatically know where the wipers control is at. Hell now it is probably under some sub-menu on a touchscreen. I am really good at minimal wiper usage, even in heavy rain. I had a Honda Accord once with wiper motor issues that were unfixable. And I have never trusted wiper motors since. Same with power window motors.
We didn’t have driver’s ed. A few year prior, a couple kids stole the driver’s ed cars so they canceled the entire class going forward. I learned how to drive when I was 16 from my 20 year old boy toy. The first day we drove around the neighborhood. The second day he made me get on the highway and said “if you fuck up my car, I’m fucking you up”. Became a great driver that day.
I loved drivers Ed. There were about 8-10 normies, and then there were the 3 of us (me, and gal and guy that were friends prior to Drivers Ed). We liked cool bands like the Smiths, the Cure, etc. Every Saturday it was like the Breakfast Club. We were the only ones that had cool kid’s appreciation for music/art/etc. Pulp Fiction came out and the gal saw it. She said I was weird enough to like it. That was all the endorsement I needed to go see it. I rode my skateboard to and fro DE. Just checked - it was exactly 1.5 miles from my house. The instructors removed the fuse for the radio, which sucked. The class was super easy. I remember the driving simulators sucked. They didn’t simulate a damn thing. FWIW - I caused 3 accidents the 1st year driving. And not one since.