Encyclopedia Dubuque
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ADULT EVENING SCHOOL DRIVER EDUCATION
ADULT EVENING SCHOOL DRIVER EDUCATION. Started in 1945 through the Dubuque Safety Council, the driver's education class for adults by 1954 had enrolled 1,800 students with only one graduate ever charged with a moving violation.
The class began as an evening lecture course. It expanded to actual driving when the Red Cross, American Automobile Association and DUBUQUE POLICE DEPARTMENT furnished cars for at-the-wheel training. On March 3, 1947 the Safety Council provided a car with each succeeding year with the car provided by the American Automobile Association and General Motors. The car was provided free with the school board paying for gasoline, oil, insurance and repairs.
Starting out with three or four students plus instructor in the car, the students drove on quiet streets around the Fourth Street ball park. Before any driving, they had received ten hours of classroom instruction in driving technique and traffic laws. The student could choose his/her own six weekly one-hour driving times which occurred between 2:30 and 7:30 Monday through Friday. Off-duty policemen taught the classes which cost $7.00.
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Germanson, Ann. "Driving Class Tackles Traffic," Telegraph Herald, December 14, 1954, p. 1