Driver Education, 1917 -- a Dual Control Briscoe Car

• Title: [Student and instructor in automobile - notice the dual controls]
• Date Created/Published: c1917 Aug. 4.
• Medium: 1 photographic print.
• Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-47339 (b&w film copy neg.)
• Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on publication.
• Call Number: SSF - Automobiles--Driver education [item] [P&P]
• Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

In my studies on the history of driver education I generally begin in the 1930s with the first efforts to bring driving in the high school curriculum. But of course driver education began with the first automobiles on the streets of the U.S. as drivers were taught by manufacturer's representatives, friends, salesmen, etc.  I found this photo in the Library of Congress Collection.  It is of interest because of the rather crude "dual controls." Nevertheless, it is important to note just how difficult it was to drive there early vehicles. It took skill, good reflexes, and quick thinking.