First Woman Driver

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30453, 29 May 1964, Page 9

First Woman Driver

IBy

ALAN M. EYLES]

has been written on the subject of women drivers, some of which has been prejudiced, some complimentary and some humorous. On the local scene we have seen a woman speedway rider and several women racing drivers, to say nothihg of the many rally drivers, and a glance at the traffic on any week day will reveal hundreds of wives off shopping or visiting in the family car.

In spite of the old prejudiced jokes about lady drivers, it might be remembered that the findings of a recent investigation made in England regarding safety on the roads, placed a woman driver at the top of the list. Many motorists will be aware of the success of Pat Moss (now Mrs Carlsson), sister of Stirling Moss, in the Monte Carlo rally series and they sort out the would-be drivers from the genuine article, as do the many other international rallies in which she has successfully competed. The wife of Carl Benz, inventor of the first successful motor-car, was soon moving Father over into the passenger’s seat to become one of the very first women drivers, and there is evidence that in Christchurch, too, at the turn of the century, the ladies were not reluctant to take over the wheel. Those early cars were difficult to handle by today’s standards, and a journey of any length was really quite an effort. The first woman driver to be noted on the streets of Christchurch was a Mrs Wycliffe Goodwin, of Glenroy,

and the appearance of a woman at the wheel of a car was sufficiently unusual to warrant the matter being reported in the daily press of April 19, 1901: “Yesterday, the novel sight of a lady driving a fourpassenger motor-car through the streets of Christchurch attracted considerable attention. The ease and skill with which the car was handled while

driving through the crowded thoroughfares showed that the lady possessed the confidence and dexterity of an expert. “On Wednesday, Mr and Mrs Wycliffe Goodwin, to whom .the motor-car belongs; drove from their station at Glenroy to Christchurch, a distance of 60 miles, covering the distance in a few hours, the lady doing the steering during the journey.”