# Did your mother/grandmother drive?



## applecruncher (Apr 11, 2018)

Neither of my grandmothers ever learned to drive.  But my mother always drove, as far back as I can remember. I remember we had a 1952 Ford, and also a pickup truck which she drove sometimes.  She was an excellent driver, and never got a ticket nor was she ever in an auto accident in her life.

I remember when a cousin got her driver's license at age 16 (this was in the late 1950s). She didn't have her own car, she helped with errands and transportation of people for visits, church, etc.  

Several of my aunts never drove; their husbands took them to the store and everyplace they needed to go.  Two younger aunts learned to drive in the 1960s (they were both in their late 20s) and it opened up a whole new world to them.


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## C'est Moi (Apr 11, 2018)

My mother did not drive, ever.   My poor dad tried to teach her many times but it was an effort in futility.   She had decided she wouldn't and so she didn't.   

My grandma did drive and she was terrifying.   She drove like the proverbial "bat outta hell" and riding with her was always an adventure.


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## NancyNGA (Apr 11, 2018)

My mother drove, but rarely, until I got my license.  Then I became the driver, until I left home.  Doubt very much she ever drove again, and when my father retired, that was definitely it.  She hated driving.

Neither of my grandmothers ever learned to drive.


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## Falcon (Apr 11, 2018)

My  Mother drove.  In fact,  she made me practice with her until I took  (and passed)  my driver's  license  test.


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## Ruth n Jersey (Apr 11, 2018)

My Mom drove but not my Grandma. When my Dad retired he did all the driving and when he passed away I drove my Mom wherever she wanted to go.


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## helenbacque (Apr 11, 2018)

My mother drove well but was only comfortable around town.  One gmother never drove.  The other (born 1884) took lessons late in life - at about 60 -and did drive.  I love that she had the courage to do that.


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## moviequeen1 (Apr 11, 2018)

My mom loved to drive around town,then she and my dad moved to a retirement community in Hanover,NH in '92. When they came home to visit me,they would always drive the long 7 hr trip.Mom continued to drive until the last yr of her life in 2003,she was 80.
I recall my 2 grandmothers also drove  Sue


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## RadishRose (Apr 11, 2018)

Neither of my grandmothers drove. In fact one had acute motion sickness so bad she could barely make it to the end of her street as a passenger without having to throw up. How she ever crossed the Atlantic on that boat is beyond me.

My mother drove but very little. Would have to pack up toddler me and take dad to work to have the car all day. Renewed her license but stopped driving after some weirdo started following her home one night from downtown, tried to pull her car over but she gave it the gas. She was so scared she never drove again.

She and her neighbor friends had their husbands take turns driving them downtown, which was open on Thurs. nights for shopping, or dinner and movies, then pick them up. And they were dressed to the max, gloves, hats, high heels, the whole bit.


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## twinkles (Apr 11, 2018)

my  mom or my grandmother never drove a car


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## Aunt Bea (Apr 11, 2018)

We were a one car family until I was in high school.  

When I was little my mother did not often have the chance to drive, IMO it was a control thing with my father.  When my parents divorced my mother bought an old wreck of a car to drive back and forth to work. About the same time that she married my stepfather the old car died and she used his vehicle when she needed to buzz around town.  When my stepfather retired they decided it was time to have two cars.

My country grandmother drove on a regular basis and had her own car.

My city grandmother never drove or had a license she walked and relied on the city bus service to get around.


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## Lon (Apr 11, 2018)

Neither my mother or grand mothers drove a motor vehicle. Grand mothers drove a horse and buggy.


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## applecruncher (Apr 11, 2018)

Aunt Bea said:


> We were a one car family until I was in high school.
> 
> When I was little my mother did not often have the chance to drive, *IMO it was a control thing with my father.*  When my parents divorced my mother bought an old wreck of a car to drive back and forth to work. About the same time that she married my stepfather the old car died and she used his vehicle when she needed to buzz around town.  When my stepfather retired they decided it was time to have two cars.
> 
> ...



Not all that uncommon. In the 1950s there was a couple down the street and the man was extremely jealous and suspicious of his wife.  They had 2 cars; when he was mad at her he would take out the starter, battery, or otherwise disable it while he went to work so she couldn't go anyplace.


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## Keesha (Apr 11, 2018)

My mother drove all the time. We had an old black & grey Volvo
I didn’t really know my grandparents so don’t know if they drove or not. 
No aunts or uncles.


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## jujube (Apr 11, 2018)

My mother still drives very well at 92.  

One of my grandmothers never learned to drive.  She lived in the city on the tram line/bus line and never needed to drive anywhere by herself. 

My great-aunt, who was born in 1892, bought herself a car in 1922 and drove all over the country in it.  

My other grandmother grew up on a farm.  When her father bought a Model T in 1918, she wanted to learn to drive it.  Her brothers scoffed and said there was no way she'd ever learn to drive.  Her father taught her to drive anyway.  The first time she came home with the car, she asked her brothers to park it in the barn for her.  They refused, saying that if she wanted to drive, she needed to park it herself.  She tried and ended up driving through the back of the barn. The brothers felt vindicated, but her father said that was OK with him and if she wanted to drive it through the back of the barn every time, she could (can you tell who was Daddy's little darling?)


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## applecruncher (Apr 11, 2018)

*@jujube*



> My mother still drives very well at 92.  ​



AMAZING!  Good for her.  :clap:


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## ProsperosDaughter (Apr 12, 2018)

Both my grandmothers drove. My mother just never got the knack of the eye-foot-hand coordination thing. Many laughs when, in my early 20's, her 2nd husband tried to teach her.
:lofl:


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## IKE (Apr 12, 2018)

Mom always drove but I don't recall ever seeing either one of my grandmothers drive.


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## Leonie (Apr 12, 2018)

Nope, neither of them ever drove.  I didn't get a licence myself until I was 26.  I never felt the need to drive.  I had always lived in a major city, close to public transport, but moved a bit further out where the public transport wasn't as good.

I was 7 months preggers when I got my licence, and now I have a son who is a bit of a rev head ...  voom - voom.  LOL


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## Gary O' (Apr 12, 2018)

Like a bat outa hell
scared crap outa most passengers

that black Lincoln Mark IV took on more of a hearse/ambulance like persona with each hugged mountain curve
and she had a terrifying habit of looking at the passenger while conversing in cruise control set to 90mph


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## Lethe200 (Apr 27, 2018)

Neither grandmother drove, never learned. 

My mother drove, altho as she aged she started staying off freeways. She would drive to the store, or to church - only a few thousand miles every year.

My MIL was a pain. She knew how to drive but quickly gave it up to be chauffered around by her husband. She refused to get her amblyopia corrected. 

One time she decided she wanted to see a friend. She decided it wouldn't be a problem if we came and picked her up (about 1 hour), drove her to a friend's home (3 hours one way, in the opposite direction), drove her home (another 3 hours) and THEN we could drive ourselves home (another 1 hr), all on one Saturday.

I was not overly thrilled at the idea and even less so after completing one of the most exhausting day trips I've ever driven.

After that I realized that too many women I know allow themselves to get chauffered around, which makes absolutely no sense when you know that women far outlive men - and most of us don't live somewhere that public transportation or helpful neighbors can substitute.

So now I do most of the driving - I consider it practice for my old age, LOL.


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## Seeker (Apr 27, 2018)

My mother still drives, but her mother never drove , and barely left the house, she was agoraphobic. She had her groceries delivered.
My mother drives with both feet... one on the gas, other on brake...Scares me silly.:eek1:


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