# Were Women Always Allowed to Drive (in the U.S.)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 20, 2013, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-women-always-allowed-to-drive-in-the-u-s/647824 "2013-01-20T19:02:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-women-always-allowed-to-drive-in-the-u-s/647824/1 "2013-01-20T19:02:25Z")
When cars became an everyday thing, did women have to fight for the right to drive (like they did to vote)? Sent from my SGH-i677 using Board Express ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-women-always-allowed-to-drive-in-the-u-s/647824/2 "2013-01-20T20:21:47Z")
I would say to not as great a degree as in some other arenas. Very early on, electric vehicles such as Bakers and Detroit Electrics were marketed very heavily to women. Baker ad copy, such as this ad for their 1910 model illustrates this: [http://blog.americanhistory.si.edu/.a/6a00e553a80e1088340162fd171542970d-500wi](http://blog.americanhistory.si.edu/.a/6a00e553a80e1088340162fd171542970d-500wi) Of course, electrics were expensive. They marketed them to AFFLUENT women. Remember, government regulation such as driver’s licenses didn’t originally enter into this. States didn’t start requiring a license to drive until after there were quite a few vehicles appearing on the streets - the state of NY was the first US state to enact a licensing law, and that was in 1910. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-women-always-allowed-to-drive-in-the-u-s/647824/3 "2013-01-20T20:42:40Z")
You may also note that a large variety of activities became “liberation” issues for the young women of the 1920s, smoking and driving among them. For THESE things, of course, the companies making automobiles and cigarettes were well aware that they would only make half as much money if half the population couldn’t use their products without facing disapproval. One of the early exercises in PR by [Edward Bernays](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays) was to make it OK for women to smoke in public, on behalf of the American Tobacco Company. (It might also be noted that Bernays had the grace to publicly regret it later on as the dangers of smoking became more well known, and he worked for anti-smoking campaigns in the 60s.) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-women-always-allowed-to-drive-in-the-u-s/647824/4 "2013-01-20T21:01:55Z")
As **yabob** says, licenses didn’t begin to become required until 1910, and New Jersey was apparently the first state to require licenses for all drivers in 1913. This article on [Women’s Automotive History Highlights](http://www.aacamuseum.org/Pdf/WomensHistory.pdf) mentions many instances of women being drivers in the decade of the 1910s, so it would appear that women were allowed to drive from the beginning. (Although it says that by 1910 5% of all licensed drivers were woman, that seems dubious since licenses hadn’t been required before then.) Women had driven wagons and carriages throughout US history, so there wouldn’t have been much sense in restricting them from driving horseless carriages. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-women-always-allowed-to-drive-in-the-u-s/647824/5 "2013-01-20T21:03:57Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > I would say to not as great a degree as in some other arenas. Very early on, electric vehicles such as Bakers and Detroit Electrics were marketed very heavily to women. I remember reading somewhere (so I can’t provide a cite) that a big obstacle to women driving themselves was the need to hand-crank cars to start them and that electric starters were a big reason that women started to drive. (Hand cranks required a fair amount of strength and also could injure a person if things went wrong.) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-women-always-allowed-to-drive-in-the-u-s/647824/6 "2013-01-20T21:13:15Z")
New technology without associated tradition or regulations presented good opportunities for those who had been excluded from other activities. By the time drivers licenses were needed plenty of women were driving already. But it probably did raise questions at the time. But women hadn’t been excluded from riding horses or driving wagons. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-women-always-allowed-to-drive-in-the-u-s/647824/7 "2013-01-20T21:16:41Z")
There was a series of books published between 1910-1913 called “The Automobile Girls” by Laura Dent Crane, about girls driving various places (Washington D.C., the Berkshires, etc.) I saw one of them in a used bookstore years ago, and glanced at it. The father of one of the girls laughed at the idea of them driving anywhere. “Next you’ll be wanting to vote!” he chuckled. The girls’ response? “Oh Daddy, don’t be silly.” He did let them go on the trip, though. > **[The Automobile Girls in the Berkshires; Or, The Ghost of Lost Man's...](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-automobile-girls-in-the-berkshires-or-the-ghost-of-lost-mans-trail-laura-dent-crane/1018053462)** > > "Mollie Thurston, we are lost!" cried Barbara dramatically. The two sisters were in the depth of a New Jersey woods one afternoon in early September. "Well, what if we are!" laughed Mollie, leaning over to add a cluster of wild asters to her great... ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-women-always-allowed-to-drive-in-the-u-s/647824/8 "2013-01-20T21:18:35Z")
Prior to automobiles, it was [acceptable](http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/whi/fullimage.asp?id=67984) for women to deal with horse drawn transportation, so why would it be odd for them to deal with the horseless variety? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-women-always-allowed-to-drive-in-the-u-s/647824/9 "2013-01-20T21:44:23Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > When cars became an everyday thing, did women have to fight for the right to drive (like they did to vote)? > > Sent from my SGH-i677 using Board Express They were only allowed to drive if they didn’t use their cell phones while doing so. ---
**Author:** ![Sevencl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sevencl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevencl)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-women-always-allowed-to-drive-in-the-u-s/647824/10 "2013-01-20T22:04:42Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > There was a series of books published between 1910-1913 called “The Automobile Girls” by Laura Dent Crane, about girls driving various places (Washington D.C., the Berkshires, etc.) People really drove between states in those ancient cars? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-women-always-allowed-to-drive-in-the-u-s/647824/11 "2013-01-20T22:15:14Z")
Remember, not only were there a lot of women drivers in the U.S. in the 1910’s and 1920’s, there were a lot of women who flew planes: > **[Aircraft pilot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviatrix)** > > An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they are involved in operating the aircraft's navigation and engine systems. Other aircrew members, such as drone operators, flight attendants, mechanics and ground crew, are not classified as aviators. > In recognition of the pilots' qualifications and responsibiliti... ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-women-always-allowed-to-drive-in-the-u-s/647824/12 "2013-01-22T23:44:14Z")
> [@Sevencl](#): > > People really drove between states in those ancient cars? You bet–uphill both ways. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sevencl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sevencl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevencl)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-women-always-allowed-to-drive-in-the-u-s/647824/13 "2013-01-23T00:20:41Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > You bet–uphill both ways. 🙂 Seriously? Those old hand cranked things? What’d they do for gas? I mean, surely there weren’t gas stations and truck stops every few miles like now? And if you broke down in the wilderness between states you didn’t exactly have a cell phone to call AAA. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-women-always-allowed-to-drive-in-the-u-s/647824/14 "2013-01-23T00:53:17Z")
> [@Sevencl](#): > > Seriously? Those old hand cranked things? What’d they do for gas? I mean, surely there weren’t gas stations and truck stops every few miles like now? And if you broke down in the wilderness between states you didn’t exactly have a cell phone to call AAA. The Model T and Model A could run on regular gasoline, kerosene, or alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-women-always-allowed-to-drive-in-the-u-s/647824/15 "2013-01-23T01:02:12Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I remember reading somewhere (so I can’t provide a cite) that a big obstacle to women driving themselves was the need to hand-crank cars to start them and that electric starters were a big reason that women started to drive. (Hand cranks required a fair amount of strength and also could injure a person if things went wrong.) I’ve heard the same; that electric starters made cars very liberating for women and teenagers because they didn’t need to have an adult male along to do the grunt work of getting the thing started. And that it wasn’t all that much fun for the adult males in question either if they got a finger or wrist broken by the crank when the engine started. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-women-always-allowed-to-drive-in-the-u-s/647824/16 "2013-01-23T01:04:38Z")
> [@Sevencl](#): > > People really drove between states in those ancient cars? You must see a great Ken Burn’s film, _[Horatio’s Drive](http://www.pbs.org/horatio/index.html)_, about the first automobile trip across the U.S. – in 1903! It’s everything you ever wanted to know about driving across the country when there was a total of 150 miles of paved roads, and many people had never even seen an automobile. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-women-always-allowed-to-drive-in-the-u-s/647824/17 "2013-01-23T01:10:13Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > The Model T and Model A could run on regular gasoline, kerosene, or alcohol. I did not know that. Did any engine settings have to be changed to accommodate each different fuel? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-women-always-allowed-to-drive-in-the-u-s/647824/18 "2013-01-23T01:11:22Z")
> [@Sevencl](#): > > Seriously? Those old hand cranked things? What’d they do for gas? I mean, surely there weren’t gas stations and truck stops every few miles like now? And if you broke down in the wilderness between states you didn’t exactly have a cell phone to call AAA. Back then people could bring gas cans with them. I don’t imagine gas stations existed at all, at least as we think of them. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-women-always-allowed-to-drive-in-the-u-s/647824/19 "2013-01-23T01:24:12Z")
> [@Sevencl](#): > > People really drove between states in those ancient cars? Well, to be fair, they were probably pretty new back then. Wait, did you mean _primitive_ cars? ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-women-always-allowed-to-drive-in-the-u-s/647824/20 "2013-01-23T01:40:16Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > I did not know that. Did any engine settings have to be changed to accommodate each different fuel? A guy I met at a fair who had a Model A said that the carburetor needed to be adjusted to switch fuels. This makes sense, as modern flex-fuel vehicles adjust the air-fuel ratio automatically to adapt to different fuel. I think he said that the Model A could, in theory, run on motor oil. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-women-always-allowed-to-drive-in-the-u-s/647824.md?page=2)