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"A Fleet of Riding Lawnmowers": Drivers Ed, Past and Present

Drivers Education in Iowa used to be taught primarily through school. Now, many students go to private companies for their driving instruction.

Wallace Winkie taught generations of Belle Plaine teenagers how to drive. Now, his wife, Bev Winkie, has collected their stories in the book "Park It!" How much has changed in driving education since Winkie's heyday in the 50s?

Larry Johnson, coordinator for the Des Moines Public Schools' driving education, says one answer is the amount of time they're trained. Where driving education used to be taught over several months, now, some students can finish their instruction in as little as 4 weeks. 

"We wish we had a fleet of riding lawnmowers, so  kids could get used to driving something that's moving, get used to feeling the sensation of something that's moving to judge speed."

Johnson and Winkie join host Charity Nebbe on this hour's Talk of Iowa. Dave Kopp, co-founder of Drive with Cops, also joins the conversation.

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Charity Nebbe is the host of IPR's Talk of Iowa