Among the most important events in a teenager’s life, and it tends to have greater significance among the male of the species, is earning a driver’s license. Although driving is a privilege and not a right given to motorists by the state, a person has to meet a number of criteria before he can receive this privilege. In the state of Wisconsin when I was growing up a person had to reach the age of sixteen before he could obtain a temporary driver’s permit by passing a written exam. Then, after sufficient practice driving if the individual could pass a road test administered by an examiner from the motor vehicle department he received his driver’s license.
Very few school districts still offer driver’s education classes to their students, but when I attended it was not unusual to find one or more teachers certified to teach the classroom element of such a program. A number of other teachers routinely obtained the behind-the-wheel certificate so they could teach students on the road after school or during the summer as a way to supplement their income. At the time it was unusual for parents to contract with private driver’s education programs since the programs at school were free.
In order to take the classroom driver’s education course a student only needed to turn sixteen within the year. Since my birthday is in February I enrolled in this course my first fall at John Marshall Junior Senior High School.
Classroom instruction was broken into two parts, 30 hours of text instruction and 10 hours in the simulator. In the class we learned the color, shape, and symbols used for various road signs. We learned proper maintenance of our vehicles and why it is important for our safety to change windshield wipers and measure air pressure when inflating tires. Mr. Fallon gave us quickie quizzes where he tried to catch us off our guard with circular stop signs and turn signals that flashed left when you went up.
Throughout the school stories of the gruesome films students were required to watch prior to starting the simulator portion of the program were passed from upper classmen to freshmen and sophomores. While the actual events portrayed in the films were tragic the shrieking tone of the background music and macabre narration made the experience similar to the scared straight films passed off as drug education during this same era. In other words, they bordered on the absurd and highly laughable.
Unlike modern computer simulation the simulators we sat in were not synchronized to the motion picture projected in front of us showing the road on which we were driving. Once the lights were turned off and if Mr. Fallon was not nearby it was not unusual for students to spin their steering wheels in either direction or to slam the accelerator to the floor. One thing I was sure to do as soon as I sat down in the simulator was fasten my seatbelt. They were not retractable, but the kind commonly found in airplanes. If a student forgot to put on her seatbelt she would have to make up the class after school.
When Mr. Fallon tapped me on the shoulder unexpectedly I immediately glanced down to see my seatbelt was fastened and checked to make sure my hands were at ten and two on the steering wheel before looking up at him. He smiled and pointed at the ignition. I smiled, leaned forward and turned the key to the on position. It was the only time I needed his help in the class.
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