I remember back when I was 17 years old and went to take my first driving test. It seems like such a long time ago that it happened, but it is something that has stood in my mind all these years since. So if you will visualize with me just what happened those years ago, I assure you that you will be shaking your head and laughing during the reading of my story.

The year was 1968 and I had turned 16 and went over to the Department of Transportation building in Coudersport, PA and got my driving permit. My Dad and oldest brother were going to teach me how to drive. Being a girl Dad didn't allow me to practice until I had a permit, but that was okay with me because I wanted to do everything by the book. So the first time that I got to drive the 1960 Chevy Bel-Air car was in the parking lot of the high school. There were actually two parking lots and Dad being very wise started me out in the bigger one. All I had to do was make a right turn and drive up an area that would normally hold two cars and get to the next parking lot. Then I was to turn around and go back to the bigger one. The only thing that I had to keep in mind was that I couldn't drive down the middle, I had to stay on my own side of the road. Well that was good IF you were a qualified driver. Lucky for me though the car was an automatic and I didn't have to worry about shifting gears, although I don't think that there would have been any need for that as I was going so slow anyway. Well needless to say I think Dad got a couple gray hairs that night.



The permits were only good for 3 month if I remember correctly. During that time you were suppose to be able to learn how to drive, park the car, and do all kinds of turns. However, I don't know what it was that made my Dad and brother quit taking me out to practice, but the permit ran out before they got me fully trained. With winter coming on Dad said I would have to wait until the spring to get another permit. So after I had turned 17 I got another permit and was taken out more so that I could practice and be able to finally take my test. However, during much of the driving practice I can remember that Dad and my brother would yell a lot at me. I don't understand why men think females have a hearing problem that they need to yell at us. But I got through it and many times was a nervous wreck when I finished. I also learned how to drive on a standard shift vehicle.

So after all this practicing I was ready to take my test. My Aunt Olie and Uncle Carl were up for a visit and Uncle Carl was convinced that I was ready to take the test. So he let me drive his car over to take the test. That was the only time that I had driven his car, but the 25 mile drive was enough for me to get a feel for the car. We went into the building and filled out all the necessary paperwork and waited outside for a State Trooper to come and give me the test. The only thing that I wasn't overly good at was parallel parking, but I figured that I could maybe make it alright.

The State Trooper came to the car got in on the passenger's side. After fastening our seat belts he instructed me where to go and I pulled out and started my test drive. Everything was going fine I though. There were several intersections and a few stop signs and then he told me to parallel park the car on Main Street in Coudersport. So I proceeded to park it and when I finished he broke the news to me that I had flunked the driving part of my test, but told me to pull up even with the car that was in front of me. He then instructed me how to back into that parking space correctly and that has stayed with me all these years. But my parking the car wasn't why I failed the test. He took me around to one intersection and there was a White STOP sign. It was a Hexagon shaped sign with the word STOP clearly written on it. The only thing different was that it was painted White instead of the usual Red. However, he explained to me that it didn't matter what the color was the word Stop was there and I should have stopped for it. We then proceeded back to the Highway Department Building. I told my Uncle that I would be back in a few minutes. I needed to go inside and they used a paper punch to punch a hole in my permit.



When I came out I explained to Uncle Carl about the stop sign and he said he wanted to see it cause he didn't think it was fair either. So I took him and showed him the sign. So he said that I would pass it the next time. If only he had been with me the next week he would have stood on the side of the car and shook his head for sure.

The next week my oldest brother took me over to take my test. It was quite foggy out so headlights were needed and when we got there I had forgotten to shut the headlights off and so it drained the battery enough that we needed to get someone to jump start the car. Lucky for me there were three people ahead of me to get tested first. My brother said when I see the State Trooper coming I needed to push all the button for the heater and the defroster to the on position so that he would think I got cold. But if he needed me to shut the car off and then turn it back on then it should be okay. See if you can't get your car started you automatically fail.

So I did what my brother told me to do when I seen Trooper Buchanan coming toward the car. He stopped briefly to say Good Morning to my brother. Then he got in the car. You talk about being nervous, I was a bundle of nerves. Remember now I am a shy 17 year old girl that still lived on the farm and was scared to death to go into the big towns. And this State Trooper was not only nice looking and his uniform fit him perfect but he also smelt good, which made me even more nervous. I just knew that I was going to mess up cause my brother more or less told me that I was going to. I could tell that Trooper Buchanan was trying his best to reassure me that I was going to do fine. We chatted for a few minutes and he explained to me that because I had failed the other test the week before that he was only going to have me go to one stop sign and then he would take me around a block that didn't have any stop signs. I though yeah right, but I was going to look out for them just incase there were some hidden or something. Well true to his word we only had just the one stop sign, but then came the horrible words. He proceeded to tell me that because I had done the parallel parking the week before that I wouldn't have to do that, but that I would have to do a 3 point turn which is also referred to as a K turn. But I had practiced that quite a lot so I was sure that I could do it.

Now remember I had the heater and defroster turned on; well it was getting mighty hot in the car. So when I pulled up to start my turn I had to roll the window down. I did the turn correctly and he told me to proceed back to the Highway Department Building. As we are going back I happened to see him check mark the PASSED section on his clipboard and I was really excited then. When we got in front of the building I didn't bring the car to a complete stop before putting it into park. Needless to say his knees went into the dashboard and he looked at my brother and then turned to me and said, "Next time bring the car to a complete stop and then put it in park otherwise it is bad on the transmission." He then said,"Come inside and I will stamp your permit as you have passed your test."

Several years later I was working as a waitress and he came into the restaurant that I was working and I was able to thank him for passing me and I reminded him that I was the one that put his knees into the dash of my car. He just laughed and said yes I remember that now and said I could tell you were nervous that day.



So here I am 40 years later and my husband says that I scare the hell out of him with my driving. Maybe that is what I did to my Dad and brother.