By JAMES W. SPAIN II

For the Monitor

“The road goes on forever, and the story never ends.”

-- Robert Earle Keen

There was a time when the young people living in Concord had no concerns about cruising up and down Main Street or traveling great distances in their automobiles. Our ancestors were relatively stationary people living on their farms and in their houses here in Concord, quite satisfied with the stability that food, shelter and family provided to them. Key concerns were centered around survival, certainly not luxuries that we see today.

The children living in the greater Concord area would travel by foot, great distances at a time, to their anticipated destinations. I heard of a family living near Long Pond a century ago walking to church each Sunday morning in bare feet with their best Sunday shoes carried until they arrived in town and only worn as they entered the church.

Henry Ford certainly changed our mode of transportation as he mass-produced affordable automobiles and sold them to the average family as the 1900s progressed. Families that once walked, rode horses or traveled in their family horse-drawn wagons were excited to welcome automobiles into their daily lives. Affordable, convenient and safe to a certain degree the automobile had arrived and was here to stay.

Both the young and the not-so-young were initially challenged with operating their new Ford Model T’s. Once purchased they felt they were operating something on the cutting edge of technology, and they were in fact doing just that. The horses were primarily kept for work around the farm and the automobile was something to use for a Sunday afternoon drive. When horses and early automobiles met there were many factors that needed to be addressed and safety was certainly one of them.

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It was not until the 1930s the term “driver education” became well-known and commonly used.

As automobiles became more advanced, their capabilities offered more comfort and certainly the ability to travel faster, speeds were increasing and people were concerned. Many new car dealerships would offer driver training to their customers, a basic course and a drive around town so that the operators were able to use their new vehicles in a somewhat safe manner. Car manufacturing progressed and Henry Ford had some competition in the coming years. A dealership training program was both welcomed and expected from people that made such a large purchase. In time, the local YMCAs were offering young drivers basic driver safety courses too. Many a parent or grandparent contributed to driver education for the young drivers around the country. People were receiving badly needed training more and more as each year progressed.

It was during the 1930s when many high schools offered driver education as a course of study. The early driver education courses our ancestors participated in here in Concord included a period of study behind a desk as well as practice behind the steering wheel. Cities and towns included a budget for driver education programs and invested in these required courses as years passed.

In addition to classroom study, hands-on driving and safety enhancement, the driver education students were also provided with automobile repair training. Basics such as changing tires were very popular and welcomed by the youth living in our town. As the years progressed and the 1930s became the 1940s, the driver education courses were progressing quite well. Many a high school teacher administered training courses to enhance their income above and beyond their regular school teacher compensation.

Classroom time was not an issue. Automotive repair training was not a concern. But many young adults simply did not own an automobile for the required training on the streets. Here in Concord we adapted to provide every aspect of this training, with a bit of creativity when it came to the use of a vehicle to train on the road with a driver education instructor.

Since the driver education program was administered by the city and part of the school budget each year, problems were resolved with the city budget. It was not until the year 1947 that the driver education students in Concord received their very first official driver education car. It was a very exciting time for the students. Prior to the arrival of the first “Dual Control Automobile” for student driver education, the young adults in Concord trained in Concord Police cruisers.

When a Concord patrol car was not being used the Concord drivers education teacher would stop at the Concord Police headquarters on Warren Street and pick up a police cruiser. The instructor would sit in the front passenger seat with two additional students in the back seat. Traveling about Concord, the citizens were always aware and cautious. Our ancestors knew it was either a Concord Police Officer or a Concord student driver heading in their direction.

When the new Concord Driver Education Dual Control Driver Training Car arrived in Concord, there were 31 students enrolled in the course. Students such as Winifred Woodbury, Ardyth Coulter, Nancy Willoughby and Honore Reardon were the first to use the new driver education car. The first driver education instructor to guide the new dual controlled vehicle was Roland Kimball. The future looked bright for the Concord students and there were already an additional 30 students signed up to train in the new dual-controlled automobile.

Instructor Kimball was given complete control of the new driver education vehicle. He was to manage the vehicle at all times. Mr. Kimball was also the school mathematics teacher. His 1947 driver education program included one class period per week relating to the theory of automobile operation. Mr. Kimball also brought each student out for actual driving experience four periods per week.

There were also 60 Concord senior citizens that signed up for the course offered by the Concord School District under Mr. Kimball’s instruction. The senior citizens were broken into two groups with half taking the training course during the first half of the academic year and the remaining seniors completing the course the second half of the academic year.

This driver training class with the new dual-controlled vehicle was widely popular and a desired training course by both the students and the community. The Penacook High School contacted Mr. Kimball and requested the dual-controlled car be loaned to them so that they could also utilize it to train young and old Penacook students. Everett Byron was the Penacook instructor and established a driver training program once per week with the Concord dual-controlled car. By December 1949, Byron had 21 senior citizens signed up for his next driver training program in Penacook.

The Driver Education program continued under the management of the Concord School District for decades. During the 1980s, many school districts started outsourcing the Driver Education programs to independent organizations.