Did your Mum ever drive?

Neither of my parents drove. They simply couldn't afford it and I don't think Dad had the temperament. He worked for a bus company so got a free bus pass and Mum could go half price. His observation was, "Too many idiots on the roads."

Younger brother was taught by his wife when in his 20s. I didn't knuckle down and learn until my mid 50s. Older brother and twin sister had a few lessons but couldn't get the hang of it so didn't persevere. I'm so glad I did.

My DM (born 1918) learned in her mid 40s, since it was only then that she could afford her own car. DF’s was a company car and IIRc she wasn’t allowed to drive it, and in any case she’d have found it too big.).

She drove until about 80 but I wouldn’t say she was ever super confident. By then she’d become more nervous but giving the car up meant that she became increasingly housebound - she had reclusive tendencies anyway.
She could easily have afforded to take taxis - we had pointed out to her that what she was saving by no longer running a car meant she could take masses) but she was of a generation/mindset where taxis were a Gross Extravagance. ?

Yes in her 30s. Her sister, my Aunt who was 10 years older learnt in her 20s but no other women in our family drove on any side of the family. I know my Aunt was told 'women couldn't drive' and this was as late as the 90s!

I learnt at 17, I wasn't putting up with that sexist rubbish!

Neither of my parents could drive. Mum wanted to learn during the war when in the waafs, but it was necessary for her to learn the basic mechanics of a vehicle in case of breakdown which, sadly, she couldn’t grasp, so she never did learn. Finances were too tight after for her to take lessons. Dad, bless him, had no sense of direction whatsoever, so I doubt he would have been a good driver, even if he could have afforded lessons and a car.

Foxglove77- Just wondering, what made you interested in this?

My Mother could drive , but never bothered , I got my licence before the driving test was brought in , but never managed to master the skill . I had lessons in my fifties , but all that happened was the Instructor learned some language he’d never heard before ! ?

Mum never drove. She occasionally tells me what to do (Marjorie goes a different way - to a funeral or whatever) which results in me saying "Who is driving?"
She comments on drivers, cars, fumes but relies on me driving her to appointments.

My Mum passed her test when I was a young child and I remember pulling on the back of the drivers seat trying to help her turn corners because I was so nervous.

Notspaghetti I have been looking through old family photos.

The male side have been lorry and bus professional drivers in years gone by. My Mum and her Mother never learnt to drive. I was a reluctant driver but my daughter never looked back and has a PSV and train licence.

I was interested to know how common it was for women to drive in previous generations, compared to women of today where it is the norm.

I only remember my mother driving once when i was about 7yr old.
My grandma never drove,iv`e been driving for about 35 years and i love it.

My mother didn't drive, but had a licence. In the days before driving tests, anyone could get a licence and I think her brother, who owned a dealership probably tried to persuade her to try driving. The licence was simply kept going year in, year out but even when my patient dad tried to teach her, she was far too nervous. His licence, too, was acquired before tests began but throughout his life, he was an excellent driver - loved driving fast! He gave me lots of practice after I had failed my test twice and he really was patient.

My mum passed her test when she was in her early 40's in the early 70's. I learned to drive shortly afterwards when I was 17.

We only had one car - which was quite normal in those days - she rarely drove it and that would only be locally.

When my parents went out in the car my dad always drove. My mum gradually lost her confidence and sold the car when my dad died in his 70's.

My mother passed her test before WWII, had her own car, I think it was an Austin 7, which she drove during the war in her work for the Food Office; after the war. married with a child and no longer working, she had to give her car up, which must have been hard.
She did drive my father's car and eventually had one of her own and drove well into her seventies, as I am doing.

My mum did, took lessons in her 30's passed before my Dad. She also took herself off to Local FE college and took some O levels.
She also did a night class in Car Maintenance, my Dad was more than happy for that skill.
She only passed away a year ago, so miss her.

One of them did. (I had two mothers). One obtained her driving licence back in the 1930's .

Thank you for this thread, Foxglove - it's become a fascinating slice of social history.

My mother was a farmer's daughter brought up in the era of carthorses. She would ride a Clydesdale bareback but I don't think she'd have had the nerve to get behind the steering wheel if we'd had a family car.

Her mother and aunt were Edwardians with a shabby genteel upbringing. Once a year they came to visit us in remote Banffshire in a hired car with "chauffeur". The old ladies loved playing Queen Mother and would heave themselves out of the car to greet us in a great waft of mothballs.

My mum was in her late 40's ear;y 50's when she learned to drive, automatic as she just didnt get the gear stick!!! I remember she once drove her and a friend to Gt Yarmouth for a weeks holiday and she got totally lost on the journey home. After that she only drove locally, and i am afraid i have taken after her. I don't do motorways far to much traffic which overwhelms me. Luckily all family live local so i do not need to drive long journeys.

Mum didn't drive and neither did dad.
I very rarely travelled by car until I learnt to drive at 32 and we bought an second hand car.DH dosen't drive either.

neither my mum or gran ever drove and on my dads side only he ever drove, his parents and sisters never drove. i was in my early 40's when i passed my test, my daughter passed by the time she was 20

My mum drove. I remember her learning in an old Ford Prefect (black of course). She didn't do it often. I don't drive. I tried learning and it was the most nerve wracking thing I ever did, and it cost a fortune. I gave up, used public transport, and taxis when necessary.

Dad learned to drive when I was about 10 and then we got our first car, a Vauxhall V8. I loved that car. He took mum out once and never repeated it as she was so nervous. I can say that with certainty as he took me out and mum insisted on coming too. She was a back seat nightmare! I never repeated it and only finally learned when I was 30. It took me a full year but I passed first time. It was one of the best things I ever did. It gave me independence.

Mum passed her test after a number of attempts (she never told us!) in her 30s. She was an appalling driver. Dad learnt when he was very young and my sister, brother and I passed our tests in our late teens. In fact, the day I passed my test was one of my best days ever! I love driving. In fact I do most of the driving. A good memory is of driving across the Sinai dessert in OHs off road vehicle! OH was taught by my father. OHs parents didn’t have a car and didn’t drive. I taught my elder son to drive. My daughter has had loads of lessons but hasn’t passed her test. Younger son thinks we should go back to a horse and cart.

Mum never drove in this country but was very proud of driving her boss’s Mercedes down the Ku’Damm in Berlin before the war!
My MIL was a somewhat erratic driver in her latter years but when the children were young she drove all over Europe in a little Fiat 600 6 seater including driving the 4 children back to the U.K. from Berlin (still during the Cold War) at the end of FIL’s posting.

Would just add, that after my father retired, my mother virtually stopped driving, since my father always would (they no longer had 2 cars.). We often told him that he really should make her drive now and then, otherwise there could be a problem later, esp. since she’d never been terribly confident anyway.

But he never did, or she just preferred to be driven - probably both - so by the time he became seriously ill in hospital, it was a case of forcing herself, unless she wanted to shell out for taxis every day.
So by the time he eventually died, a couple of years later, it was just as well she was more or less used to driving again. She was only 70 then, and carried on driving until she was 80.

Yes. She learnt in the 30’s before tests were obligatory. She was a good driver but once reversed out of the drive, which had two sets of gates, without opening the first set. I was such a clype that I couldn’t wait to tell my Dad. I ran down the road to meet him off the train and impart the news. She never let me forget it ?
She gave up driving at 73 through ill health. I passed my test at 17 and can’t imagine life without a car. It’ll happen one day and I’ll be lost. No public transport near me.