The Roadway, Driver, Vehicle and the Defensive Driving Course

Until the invention of the wheel humans were limited in the duration and distance of traveling.  With broader travel and more choices of travel methods life and safety also became more complicated.

396 BC
Camillus gave women unrestricted rights to drive and own chariots in Rome.

50 BC
Julius Caesar prohibited downtown parking to relieve congestion and also established one-way streets.

1660
King Charles II of England issued this decree “Whereas the excessive numbers of hackney coaches in the city of London are found to be a nuisance, the streets and highways being thereby made impassible and dangerous; we command that no person or persons permit or suffer said coaches to stand or remain in any of the streets.”

1757
Boston passed an ordinance against “fast driving” — no faster than a foot pace.

1760
The first one-way streets in the United States were established in New York City.

1793
The first turnpike was begun between Philadelphia and Lancaster, PA.  It was 62 miles long.

1796
The first macadam road in the US was completed at a cost of $7,500 per mile.

1805
The first self-propelled, steam-powered vehicle was developed in the United States. Built by Oliver Evans, the “Orukter Amphibolos” was used to dredge the harbor in Philadelphia. (French army officer Nicholas Joseph Cugnot built a similar vehicle in 1769.)

1817
Baltimore was the first American city to install streetlights.

1835
The Highway Act of 1835 passed into law the British custom of keeping to the left side of the road. Later, the ruling applied to motor vehicles in the Motor Car Act of 1904.

1886
Daimler built the first gasoline-powered car.

1889
The first recorded traffic death in the United States occurred in New York City when Wall Street real estate dealer Henry H. Bliss stepped off a trolley car at 74th Street and Central Park West. He had turned around to help a lady down the steps when he was struck and run over by an electric automobile passing the trolley.

1895
The Duryea Brothers beat the Olds Brothers in the first Chicago Road Race.

1896

• England passed a law prohibiting any power-propelled vehicle to travel the highway faster than 4 mph and required the vehicle to be proceeded by a man with a red flag.
• The first recorded sales of an automobile in the United States occurred. Built by Charles and Frank Duryea, the gasoline-powered vehicle was purchased by a Massachusetts man. The Duryea brothers continued making automobiles into the early 1900s.

1899
President William McKinley was the first US president to ride in an automobile.  It was a Stanley Steamer.

1903

• Mary Anderson of Birmingham, Alabama, patented a “window-cleaning device.” Her invention was an arm that removed snow, rain and sleet from the windows of electric motor cars of that period. The arm was manually operated inside the car by means of a handle.
• New York City printed the first traffic regulations.

1905
There were 78,000 motor vehicle operating in the US

1907

• The first seat belt was offered in a Thomas Flyer.
• A blacksmith attached a crude iron bar — or bumper — to a 1907 Oakland.

1908
Rhode Island was the first state to enact a driver licensing law.

1909
President William Howard Taft shocked the Americans when he drove a Packard around a racecourse at 56 mph.

1910
New York State enacted a motor vehicle bill which included annual registration and licensing of chauffeurs, lighting at night and reciprocity.  State speed limits were 30 mph in the country and 15 mph in the cities.  Fees and fines supported road maintenance.

1913
The National Safety Council is founded.

1915
Prism lenses for headlights debuted.

1916
Hand-operated windshield wipers appeared as standard equipment on some cars, but wipers remained optional equipment for most manufactured vehicles into the 1930s.

1917
The Popular Hero Safety Fender, which resembled a bike rack, went into use.

1918
Malcolm Loughead developed four-wheel hydraulic brakes.

1921
The National Safety Council began the publication of death and injury statistical data.

1923
The first formal high school driver education course, including road instruction, was established in Gilbert, Minnesota.

1924

• Two-filament headlamps for direct and diverted lighting appeared on some cars.
• Standardized Accident Reporting began through the NSC National Committee on Uniform Traffic Accident Statistics.

1925
Front and rear bumpers became standard equipment.

1927
The National Safety Council printed the first “Accident Facts” book.

1933
Power brakes were available from several automakers.

1934

• Iowa organized the first state safety council.
• Memphis, TN passed an ordinance that required periodic motor vehicle inspections.

1935
The U.S. Navy experimented with self-inflating air bags to keep planes afloat after forced landings. Although the trials failed for the Navy, car safety inventors used the gathered data in the 1950s.

1937
The National Safety Council (NSC) made its first driver safety film.  The topic was safe truck and bus driving.  It was titled, With Care.

1952
A series of patents were filed for “automatic cushions” designed to protect passengers in crashes. The Bertrand Patent of 1958 featured six air cushions as big as circus balloons.

1953
The 83rd Congress on August 13, 1953 passed Public Law 259 which formally established the National Safety Council as a federally chartered organization.

1954
Safety padding was introduced for dashboards.

1960
Halogen headlights replaced seal-beam headlights.

1961
U.S. automobile manufacturers announced that seat belt anchorages would be standard equipment in all 1962 models.

1963

• The Executive Committee of the Women’s Conference of the National Safety Council recommended the development of an adult driver improvement program.
• The Driver Improvement Program Department was opened on November 4, 1963.

1964

• Based on studies from Accident Facts determining the causes of motor vehicle deaths on U.S. highways, Chris Imhoff drafted a driver safety program called the Driver Improvement Program.  The program during the field-testing process became the Defensive Driving Course (DDC).
• The first DDC pilot program was sponsored by the Women’s Conference of the Toledo-Lucas County Safety Council in Toledo, Ohio.  It was taught in two one-hour sessions, one evening a week for four consecutive weeks in mid-April and early May.
• The first DDC class was presented as a part of Safety Congress in 1964. Shortly after that, the first “Instructor Development Course” (IDC) was held.
• The first DDC at the NSC staff consisted of three people: Chris Imhoff, George Boyd, and Linda Smith.

1965

• Packard Electric Division of General Motors in Warren, MI was the first company to sponsor DDC for employees.
• The first labor union to become a DDC training agency was IBEW-Local 702 in West Frankfort, IL.
• Ray Martinez trained the first group of instructors to attend an IDC in the field; the class was held in New Orleans, LA.
• The US Army adopted DDC for their Proving Ground in Fort Huachuca, AZ.
• CBS, Shell Oil and the National Safety Council’s DDC staff produced the National Driver’s Test, viewed by roughly 80 million people on CBS-TV.
• October 25, 1965 at the LaSalle Hotel in Chicago the “Advisory Committee for the Driver Improvement Programs of the National Safety Council” was founded.

1966

• The first DDC Instructor Development Course was held in Canada.
• Springfield, IL was the first municipality in the U.S. to require all city employees to take DDC.
• Finley S. Lake of Interstate Motor Freight in Grand Rapids, MI was elected the first Chairman of the Advisory Committee.

1967

• CBS and Shell Oil approached DDC, again, for help with the new National Driver’s Test.
• At the Motor Transportation Conference, NSC’s recommendation of the new “timed interval concept,” developed by Boeing aerospace engineer Ralph Peak to help motorists determine safe following distances, was approved.
• West Virginia became the first state to allow point reduction to drivers who attend the eight-hour DDC.
• Edward S. Adams of Iowa Farm Bureau in Des Moines, IA was elected the 2nd Chairman of the Advisory Committee.

1968

• DDC traveled overseas to New Zealand. Mr. Imhoff said, “This gave me a vision of an international defensive driving community.”
• Israel National Council for Prevention of Accidents translated DDC.
• In Jacksonville, FL the one-millionth DDC student graduated.
• DDC entered the European and Asian markets.
• Cross-shoulder belts were added in automobiles.
• Norman Ledgin of the Greater Kansas City Safety Council in Kansas City, MO was the third Chair of the Advisory Committee.

1969

• Detroit Edison and the city of Honolulu presented DDC in Japanese for the first time.
• The US Navy launched service wide DDC training.
• There were now 770 DDC training agencies.
• Edward R. Klamm of Allstate Insurance Co. in Northbrook, IL was the fourth Chair of the Advisory Committee.

1970

• The 2,000,000th DDC student graduated in Seattle, WA.
• The Arabian/American Oil Company translated DDC for their employees.
• The Defensive Driving League was founded.
• Ford offered “ignition interlock,” which prevented drivers from starting their cars unless their seat belts were fastened. A flop with motorists, Congress eliminated the ignition interlock as a federal auto safety requirement.
• C. S. Waters of the North Carolina, Department of Motor Vehicles in Raleigh, NC was the fifth Chair of the Advisory Committee.

1971

• South Carolina made it mandatory for drivers holding suspended licenses to take DDC.
• The first Defensive Driving Course Instructors’ Association was formed in Sacramento, CA.
• Hartford Insurance Company became a corporate DDC training agency.
• The Canada Safety Council trained 250,000 DDC students.
• The 3,000,000th DDC student graduated at Fort Polk, LA.
• Harry Verdier of the Greater Philadelphia Safety Council was the sixth Chair of the Advisory Committee.

1972

• NSC announced the first annual Defensive Driving Week (April 30 – May 6).
• The DDC Motorcycle Supplement was created.
• The DDC self-instruction program was introduced.
• The Texas State Board of Insurance granted a 10 percent premium discount to Texans who successfully completed DDC.
• The 4,000,000th DDC student graduated at Fort Collins, CO.
• Saab 99E was the first car to surpass U.S. safety standards for 5 mph bumper.
• Merrill Pollard of the Tampa Citizens Safety Council in Tampa, FL was the seventh Chair of the Advisory Committee.

1973

• DDC was adopted by the Republic of China.
• The 5,000,000th student graduated DDC in Long Grove, IL.
• The DDC-School Bus Supplement made its debut.
• The U. S. DOT required all 1973 model cars to sustain 5 mph front-end collisions.
• GM field-tested 1,000 Chevrolet Impalas with driver- and passenger-side air bags.
• Laura Watts of the Alabama Safety Coordinating Committee in Montgomery, AL served as the eighth Chair of the Advisory Committee.

1974
The Inter-American Safety Council translated DDC into Spanish and Portuguese.

1975

• The 6,000,000th student graduated DDC in Honolulu, Hawaii.
• A DDC Air-Ramp Vehicle program was designed for the safety of airline support drivers.
• NSC promoted the proper positioning of sun visors--pulling the visor all the way down and all the way up until it touches the windshield so it points away from the driver.
• NSC first advised drivers that when they stopped behind another vehicle, they should be able to see the other vehicle’s rear wheels touching the pavement. This allows for easier maneuverability around stalled cars or to escape a robbery or car-jacking situation.
• A. B. Gardner the Director of Safety at Ft. Monroe, VA served as the ninth Chair of the Advisory Committee.

1976

• The 7,000,000th DDC student graduated in Sacramento, CA.  (For the first time 1,000,000 DDC students had graduated in a single year.)
• The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints began using DDC for all of their drivers.
• Edmund G. Hession of the Canada Safety Council in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada was the tenth Chair of the Chair of the Advisory Committee.

1977
The state of Florida included DDC in its point-reduction program.

1978

• The Coast Guard joined the other armed service branches that taught DDC.
• The 9,000,000th DDC student graduated on the Papago Indian Reservation in Sell, AZ.
• DDC Self-Instruction program was revised.
• The governor of American Samoa made DDC mandatory for all government-employed drivers.
• M. Worth McDonald of the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles in Raleigh, NC was the eleventh Chair of the Chair of the Advisory Committee.
• The Drinking, Driving and You supplement was added to DDC.

1980

• New York State mandated a 10% insurance premium discount for DDC graduates.
• NSC modified the two-second rule (originally, the “timed interval concept”). The “two-second-plus” rule added one additional second of following distance for each driving condition that deteriorates.
• The German electronics company, Robert Bosch G.m.b.H., introduced an anti-lock braking system, first used by European cars.
• George Gustafson of the Texas Safety Association in Austin, TX was the twelfth Chair of the Advisory Committee.

1981

• DDC developed the Make It Click campaign.
• Robert W. Thomas of Swift & Co in Chicago, IL was the thirteenth Chair of the Advisory Committee.

1982

• DDC-II was written and designed as a four-hour program.
• New York lowered its eight-hour requirement for point-reduction and insurance-discount programs to six hours. DDC instructor James A. Solomon, Rochester Safety Council, edited the pilot program for the National Safety Council.
• Jack Porter of NL Industries in Houston, TX was the fourteenth Chair of the Advisory Committee.

1984

• DDC celebrated its 20th anniversary with a total rewrite of the eight-hour program, including a new name, color code and use of state-of-the-art equipment.
• New York passed the first mandatory seat-belt law.
• The “Advisory Committee for Driver Improvement Programs of the National Safety Council” was renamed “Center for Driver Training – Advisory Committee”.  Grant Clarke of the Central Florida Safety in Orlando, FL became the fifteenth Chair.