Did your Mum ever drive?

Neither my mum or dad passed driving tests as they learnt in the army but they had a licence. My mum learnt on 6 ton lorries and drove an ambulance in they are.

When we could afford a car 12 years later only my mother drove. She drove into her 90’s all over Europe.

During the war!

I really admired my brother’s mother-in-law, who learnt to drive at the age of 60-something when her husband died. She lived in East London. She realised that if she didn’t drive she would rarely see her daughter (my sister-in-law) who lived in a village in Hertfordshire with little public transport.

My mum learned to drive at 45y because dad had died and he was her chauffeur. She passed second time.

My dad drove and we always had a car
My mum always cycled everywhere .and was never interested in learning to drive
I passed my test first time at 28 and have always had a car

My mother and both grandmothers drove and were good drivers.

My farm worker Dad drove before driving tests were introduced, necessary for his work. After they married my Londoner Mum drove tractors but said a car was too difficult as she couldn’t see the wheels, she also found it difficult to learn with my Dad as her teacher. . They couldn’t pay for lessons so Dad was the driver. He could fix anything and we always had an elderly car of some sort, usually in pieces in the kitchen. I began to steer a farm lorry as a small child, drove the tractor and grew up expecting to drive a car. My Dad began to teach me when I was 17, I soon understood my Mum’s viewpoint and was relieved I was working and could switch to a driving school.

My Dad was the driver, my Mum bless her took lessons in her 60s but never passed a test. I passed my test in my 30s I’m so glad as it’s my lifeline now I’m on my own.

Some great stories here. The ability to drive is considered a rite of passage now but back in the 1950s and 60s it was quite rare to see women drivers, who were the but of jokes.
Even in the 1980s, I offered someone a lift and as she got in she said her husband didn't allow her to use the car.
My DH commuted by bus to work for 40 years so that I, who had children to ferry, plus shopping etc could use the car. He loved driving though I was a back seat driver as he would be talking about the fascinating route and forgetting to change gear!.

Sorry to hear your DH is suffering so much with his back pain Ashcombe. Glad I gave you both a laugh. I hope he improves soon. Severe back pain is a misery.

Well done you driving to France. I’ll happily drive all over the Uk and Ireland but have never had the confidence for driving on the right.

Both my parents drove and my paternal Granny. I passed my test in my early 20’s, rode a motorbike before that, my daughter drives, but son doesn’t.

Yes my mum learnt to drive, more to prove a point I believe, because when she passed her test she didn't seem to want to put her driving into practice, only occasionally. My father had type 1 diabetes and as he got older he suffered from increasing hypos, then she drove a bit instead of him, albeit reluctantly. Eventually towards the end of his life, my father, because of too many associated health problems gave up the car and they both decided to rely on taxis and friends.

Women drivers were the butt of jokes remember my MIL telling me a HGV was blocking her way she politely asked the driver to move over he laughed at her and said if she was in such a hurry she should move it herself Red rag to a bull she got in and moved it whilst he stood with his mouth open
Note my previous posts she had an HGV and PSV licence

My mum passed her test aged 41 and eight months pregnant with my sister.

She didn’t enjoy it but whizzed back and forth to London to my Gran’s weekly.

My mum never drove and neither do I and I have never wanted to either, there are enough idiots on the road without me joining their ranks!! ?

My mother learned to drive during the war. Her mother learned to drive in 1905, as her father wanted someone to drive him out shooting in his new Wolseley. I still have Granny's linen dust coat, essential wear back then with open cars and unsealed roads.

Mum couldn’t drive, but Dad started to drive a delivery van in 1926 when driving tests weren’t around. His parents bought him a 3 wheeler Morgan when he was 21 in ‘32. He continued to drive into his 90s. I couldn’t wait to learn nor could my daughters - we’re a family of drivers. DH drove, but neither of his parents were bothered.

My mother was a terrible driver she was always crashing into something or other . I remember her bashing into a small island turning right into the housing estate of a main road and my dad rushing back to fix it before the police found out. I think she had more than 6 attempts at passing her test. I was in my 30s before I sat my test and passed first time what an achievement that was.

It would never have occurred to my mother to want to drive a car, and neither of my sisters never drove. Apart from some of my female teachers I didn’t know any women when I was growing up who did. My father learned to drive in the Army and so did my adult brother who then started a garage business so there was always a car of some sort in the family. I didn’t learn to drive until I was forty, and passed my test first time, as did DD. Both my son and my son in law took five tests before they passed. DH took his driving test in Belgium and it was quite farcical, but it got him his licence! They are all very good drivers now, but after driving for years for both work and leisure I now seem to have lost my driving mojo.

My mother passed on her 7th attempt, I'd give her an A+ for persistence and having been a passenger on the rare occasion, a D- for ability. She was a terrible driver!
My MIL however, learned to drive in her teens and after university and during the war, used to drive all round the SE advising dairy farmers on how to increase their milk production. She was accompanied by her trusty golden retriever, Roxie, and continued driving until in her 90's. Even in her 90's she was a better driver than my Mother was in her 40's.

Mum decided to learn to drive in her early 30's, although as they only had the one car, she didn't have much opportunity as Dad mostly took over the driving on trips out. She passed first time.

When Dad died in 1998, she decided to take a few refresher lessons, and then drove quite regularly until her early 70's when she decided to stop as she lost confidence.

Dad never took a test as he drove tanks in the War, so was given a licence on that basis.

My granny had an open topped car and drove it all over the country. My mother drove before I was born but gave up when she had a crash.

After my father died, mum took lessons and passed at the 7th attempt (aged 65) having failed one test for crashing into a wall! She was a nightmare and how she ever passed I will never know.

DH's mother passed her test in the 50s and had her own car.

I can't imagine being unable to drive and having my own car.

We also ensured that all our children could drive and have access to a car.

Yes - she learned in her 30s - then refused to walk anywhere, ever again. Of course, her health suffered accordingly.

Living in London, I never bothered, though, as it's so easy, and more convenient, to get a cab.

No, my mother never learnt to drive, no point they could never have afforded to buy a car or maintain it.

My mother learned in her mid forties when she needed a car for the business she had set up before divorcing my father. She loved driving fast, but fortunately knew when to give up.