Teens not wanting to drive? Anyone?

[Night Elf]

None of my children have been or are excited about driving. My oldest got her learner's permit when she was 17 and her license and a car when she was 18 and only because she knew it would be better to drive herself to work. Ds got his learner's permit at age 17 and it is expiring next month so we went ahead and renewed it. He's 19 now. He has no interest in practicing and has said he doesn't want to drive. I figured that was normal because he has Asperger's and does things on a different timescale than some of his peers. And now my youngest, who will be 18 on Monday, just got her learner's permit yesterday. The guy told her she just needed to hold it one week and she could get her license. She looked shocked! haha She said there was no way she would be ready. She's going away to college in the fall and there is lots of stuff within walking distance, so she doesn't think she needs a license.

 

I'm a good driver! I've only had one accident and that was the other guy's fault. I don't speed. I'm responsible and considerate of other drivers. So what did I do to scare my children from driving? I just find this weird. Do any of you have teens who haven't wanted to drive?

[Matryoshka]

My older two have been poky.  They're twins, turning18 in June.  One just finally got her license a couple of weeks ago (hallelujah!!)  The other has her permit, and has practiced a bit.  She should have her license by May, though - the driving school let her schedule all her practices and then the test with them so there's a bit of a timetable, which is nice.

 

The third is 15 and much more gung-ho.  She'll take driver ed this summer (can take at 15.5), then get her permit at 16 and will hopefully have her license as soon as she can get it, which is 16.5 in this state.  I am sooooo over being the taxi driver, so I'm going to be very invested in making sure this timetable gets stuck to!

[The Girls' Mom]

I think it is our culture right now.  I know a LOT of teens that just weren't excited about getting their license.  I had to force my oldest to learn, and she didn't get hers until she was almost 18.  (We live in an area that you have to drive to get anywhere!) I think part of it has been that they have been shuttled all over the place..lol.  When I was a kid, we lived out in the boonies.  However, my mom and dad both worked full time, and we never could go anywhere.  I couldn't wait to get my license so I could just simply get out of that house! 

 

My younger two are anxious to get theirs, but they REALLY want jobs that they know they can't have until they can drive.  

[Butter]

I didn't want to drive.  Ever.  I still don't enjoy it.  My parents made me get my learner's some time after I turned 16.  I was going to the community college and working so I think there was a lot of "please drive so we don't have to cart you around anymore" coming from them.  A few days before I turned 17 my mom fell and broke her left ankle.  We had a manual.  She could not drive it.  So she managed to get to work to pick me up and informed me we were going directly to the DMV and I'd be getting my driver's license immediately.  If it hadn't been for that I don't know when I'd've gotten it.  I just wasn't anxious to drive.

[G5052]

That's very common in my area, but we have some of the worst traffic in the U.S. Insurance is also pricey here. Some of our homeschool friends don't license theirs until they're 19 because you don't need driver's ed then.

 

My oldest didn't get licensed until he was 18 because there was a slight break at that point on insurance. Teen boys are expensive, even though he's a more careful driver than I am and has straight A's. We did driver's ed and loved the instructor. It was well worth it because he caught mistakes I didn't see, and he had more recent information about safe driving than I did. 

 

My younger one is more eager because she has friends that are driving, so we'll start the process this summer. The other issue is me having enough time to take her out regularly.

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

 

 

My teen has chosen to wait. He just has no interest at this time.

[Starr]

I have one who does and one who doesn't. If I were to do it over it would be mandatory. Permits, then driving 5 times a week, even if it was for one block to start. It would have been a requirement to graduate home school. It's a nightmare once they move out to college.

[bolt.]

I didn't want to learn to drive as a teen. I learned at about 25, when my then-new job became a challenge on public transit.

[Laura Corin]

Calvin hasn't been enthusiastic, but we have some public transport.  He's thinking of maybe learning this summer.

[Night Elf]

I'm glad it seems to be more common. Here you need a 30 hour instructional class to get a license if you're younger than 18, but not a permit. I feel we missed the boat. There are a couple of companies that offer that private class and on-the-road training, and if you do both with them, you can test with them without going to the DMV. I haven't minded being a taxi as long as I haven't had to go far, but ds will soon need to take college classes at a campus that is 45 minutes away. I'm not going to enjoy that.

[lynn]

None of my children have been or are excited about driving. My oldest got her learner's permit when she was 17 and her license and a car when she was 18 and only because she knew it would be better to drive herself to work. Ds got his learner's permit at age 17 and it is expiring next month so we went ahead and renewed it. He's 19 now. He has no interest in practicing and has said he doesn't want to drive. I figured that was normal because he has Asperger's and does things on a different timescale than some of his peers. And now my youngest, who will be 18 on Monday, just got her learner's permit yesterday. The guy told her she just needed to hold it one week and she could get her license. She looked shocked! haha She said there was no way she would be ready. She's going away to college in the fall and there is lots of stuff within walking distance, so she doesn't think she needs a license.

 

I'm a good driver! I've only had one accident and that was the other guy's fault. I don't speed. I'm responsible and considerate of other drivers. So what did I do to scare my children from driving? I just find this weird. Do any of you have teens who haven't wanted to drive?

 

I think it's quite common now.  My neighbor's daughter had no interest until she was getting ready to move away from home I think she was closer to 20.    

[plansrme]

I agree that it is common now (metro Atlanta), but my two oldest were itching to drive. They both took their permit test on their fifteenth birthdays and either took or will take their road test the day after their sixteenth birthdays. My second is counting the days (less this three weeks now) until her road test. I don't understand this reluctance at all--driving is freedom!! But we know plenty of kids who are in no hurry at all.

[G5052]

I'm glad it seems to be more common. Here you need a 30 hour instructional class to get a license if you're younger than 18, but not a permit. I feel we missed the boat. There are a couple of companies that offer that private class and on-the-road training, and if you do both with them, you can test with them without going to the DMV. I haven't minded being a taxi as long as I haven't had to go far, but ds will soon need to take college classes at a campus that is 45 minutes away. I'm not going to enjoy that.

 

Same here. We have good options for driver's ed where the instructor tests them.

 

Homeschool friends have done the 45+ minute drive to community college with theirs until they're 19, but I work and can't do that even though we're even closer. So nice that my oldest figures out his schedule on his own, sometimes combines it with the gym, and can even run a few errands for me.

[Matryoshka]

I'm glad it seems to be more common. Here you need a 30 hour instructional class to get a license if you're younger than 18, but not a permit. I feel we missed the boat. There are a couple of companies that offer that private class and on-the-road training, and if you do both with them, you can test with them without going to the DMV. I haven't minded being a taxi as long as I haven't had to go far, but ds will soon need to take college classes at a campus that is 45 minutes away. I'm not going to enjoy that.

 

My kids have all done the class, and we also have the thing where you don't have to go to the DMV to test.

 

I thought two of my kids would be at the high school this year, but one bailed so now I have two at the CC instead, which is about 15 min. away on the highway, but closer to 30 if it's rush-hour (either in the traffic or back roads).  And one has a job and 3x a week ballet and is always wanting to see friends who don't live close at all, and the other has had robotics 6x a week 1/2 hour away each way.  And also has far-flung friends.

 

Thank heavens for my introvert at the high school 5 min. away, whose only extracurricular is at the school, and she mostly meets friends to study at the library also 5 min away.

 

So one of those other two having a license is huuuuge!!!  But now youngest got a job that is near CC but not near our house.  I am hoping older dd with license will help, but I have a feeling she will resist.  I am hoping bribery will work...

 

[Dmmetler]

From what I've seen, our local homeschool teens aren't excited about driving, but their parents want them to to take some of the load off mom. Usually it ends up waiting until the teen wants to get a job or do DE classes where the parent simply can't easily drive them on a regular basis. 

 

 

[Tammyla]

Very common according to our insurance company.   Neither of mine were/are excited, but dd got her permit at 18 and license;  our state makes it a big old pain and expensive to get a permit, graduated license and eventually a full license. 

 

Ds has no interest in driving and both of mine are pretty green in their attitudes towards a lot of things.  

Edited March 18, 2016 by Tammyla

[Annie G]

I have one who does and one who doesn't. If I were to do it over it would be mandatory. Permits, then driving 5 times a week, even if it was for one block to start. It would have been a requirement to graduate home school. It's a nightmare once they move out to college.

 

Older two couldn't wait to turn 16 and take their driving test. So when the younger two weren't excited, I figured in a year or so they would be. They took driver's ed at 15 and drove with us but just never asked to drive or wanted to become licensed.  We live right in town so it wasn't a big deal...but now it is. Ds is finally licensed but dd isn't. She's 23 and a college grad, with two jobs.  And even though he's licensed, he's not a capable highway or big city driver. 

 

I think for our two, it was a maturity issue- not that they weren't ready to drive, but they didn't want the responsibility.  Why bother when someone will take them places? They can walk to most places in town and when dd was away at school she was in a place with great free public transportation. 

 

Yeah, I really wish I had pushed them more to take care of this while in high school. Mom fail. 

[Catherine]

My Aspie child was absolutely terrified the first time he got behind the wheel.  On a tiny back road in the middle of nowhere, where he was able to practice traffic-free until he was ready to "take it on the road" literally.  So that was part of it here. Another of my kids was a little later than possible, as he did not get his license until he was 17. Current 14 yo, I suspect, will be quicker as he tends to be in most things.  Driving in my area is very intimidating so that doesn't help.

[elegantlion]

My son has no desire and I can't afford to put him on the insurance, so I'm not pushing. Currently it's not much of an issue because we only have one car anyway. I was surprised when he wasn't ready to drive at 16. He wants to transfer to a different college and I'd like him to learn before then even if he doesn't take a car. 

 

I love driving, it's one of my great freedoms. 

[bettyandbob]

Oldest is 21 and doesn't drive. He is 2E and has managed to figure out some transit. At school he doesn't need it. We've told him, he needs to do this now to move on after graduation. It's a pain in the rear to take him to work as well take my youngest places and go to work myself. It has saved us on insurance.

 

Middle is 18. She got her learners just before 16 and license just before 17. She doesn't like driving, but does it because it's useful. To get her to practice we had to pick high value destinations. Barnes and Noble was a favorite. She drives to ballet and work. She won't drive at university bnext year. She started helping with highway driving on a long trip last summer. She is comfortable with driving now, but we continued a lot of practice after she got her license.

 

Need to get her older sibling to move on this...

 

Youngest has intellectual disabilities and will not likely drive.

[snowbeltmom]

I have one who was at the DMV the day he turned 15.5, another who is counting down the months until she is 15.5, and another who has shown no interest at all. 

 

I didn't know why until he was in for a physical this week and the doctor asked him why he hasn't gotten his driver's permit.  He told the doc. that he doesn't want to have to sit in the boring driver's ed classes, so he is going to wait until he is old enough that he won't have to take them, which according to my son is age 18. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

If I could get away with not driving, I probably would.  I really don't like it.

 

But then i appreciate that I can. 

 

So, I dunno.

 

 

[SparklyUnicorn]

I didn't get my license until 23.  Not for lack of wanting to, but I didn't have the money to afford lessons and related expenses until then.  And the insurance rates were too high.

 

 

[Bluegoat]

So apparently this has been a major demographic shift that people who study such things have noticed.  It was first really noted with the millenials but also happens to some extent with gen x.

 

There seems to be little connection with car culture, as well as a strong awareness of driving as expensive and environmentally problematic.  Also people increasingly seem to be rejecying the car-based lifestyle of the suburbs - they don't want to drive everywhere.  Driving is not seen as an important right of passage, cars are not a status symbol, and cars are as much a liability as a freedom.

 

This pretty much fits my description - I drive but I would generally rather walk of have access to really good public transport.  I didn't much care about starting to drive and only did because my parents insisted.

 

My dh things increasing automation of cars makes driving itself less fun, which might be true.  I've also wondered if the expectation that even small amounts of alcohol are incompatible with driving means that people are more used to making other arrangements when they go out.

[OneStepAtATime]

DD is anxious and wants to wait until she feels more secure about her driving abilities. Several friends are waiting because it is cheaper to wait until 18 so she is happy to wait with them.

 

I have friends who never learned to drive and one that did but has used public transportation almost exclusively for 25 years. Only one was unhappy about not learning but what she said stuck with me. She said the longer she waited to learn, the less confident she felt that she could. By her 40s she was deeply regretting how trapped and incapable she felt but was too embarrassed to try at that point.

[desiree77]

My teens are surrounded by friends who don't want to drive. I suspect it comes from parents who readily chauffeur their kids to every place they want to go. I say no to many outings because I refuse to do the driving. In a suburban homeschool community often events are a half hour or more away from home. I have two teens and three younger kids. It's not like I have time or gas money to drive everywhere!

 

But I've seen their friends parents do insane amounts of driving for social events. I wouldn't care to get my license either if I knew mom would drive me anywhere. My teens have been ready to get their licenses at 16. However I've told ds that I would likely not be able to afford his insurance so he's determined to get a job at 15 so he can afford to drive. He's starting drivers ed in 6 months when he's still 14.

[Bluegoat]

I'm glad it seems to be more common. Here you need a 30 hour instructional class to get a license if you're younger than 18, but not a permit. I feel we missed the boat. There are a couple of companies that offer that private class and on-the-road training, and if you do both with them, you can test with them without going to the DMV. I haven't minded being a taxi as long as I haven't had to go far, but ds will soon need to take college classes at a campus that is 45 minutes away. I'm not going to enjoy that.

 

Yes, this would be a no-brainer to me.  "If you are going to college you need to arrange your own transportation because no one needs their mom to be dropping them off to post-secondary schooling."

[MysteryJen]

We made ds1 wait to get his permit until he was 16, getting his license at 17. Partly for maturity, partly for financial reasons. I expected that he would not be a great driver, and he is not. Like my brother :) he is working on getting better, but it would be great if he lived somewhere and could be car-less.

Dd1 got her permit right on time, and got her license a month after she turned 16. I expected she would be a great driver and she is. We were thrilled when she got her license, because she could get herself to morning practice. Next year will be sad, because we have to drive dd2.

 

Ds2 has his permit (forced to get it) and has driven one time in the last two months. He has no desire. I think he will be a decent, careful driver....anyway probably much better than his brother. Hopefully, he will have a year of driving experience before he heads off to college. He is just as happy biking or taking the bus.

[Ottakee]

I would LOVE for one or more of mine to be able to drive safely.  The older 3 all have special needs and the older 2 of them will never drive, the 3rd maybe in a few years but that is very iffy.

 

Then we have a 15 year old foster son who wants to take drivers training, etc. BUT he is on probation and has 2 felonies and 7 misdemeanors.....so not sure he is even eligible yet.....and we certainly couldn't afford his insurance rates (but the agency might have help with that).  Then youngest foster son is only 12.  I can see him driving at 16 or so.

 

Maybe we all wanted to drive earlier as we lived rural and town was 12-15 miles away (including the highschool) and my mom rarely drove me anywhere.  We paid for rides from older teens in the neighborhood or we didn't go unless we could figure out a friend to stay with in town.

 

I get very tired of driving everywhere.  With 5 kids with special needs that need to go in different directions/different times, etc. it gets old fast. 

[bethben]

My 15 year old went through a driver's training course just recently.  Basically, the gist of the course was that teen drivers are very inexperienced and just all around unsafe drivers. It scared him.  Granted, it also taught him other stuff he needs to know but he's a little frightened of driving now and doesn't really want to do it.  I told him it's a life skill and he needs to know, but we'll stick to back roads and quiet housing development streets for a while.  He also doesn't have a car that he can drive regularly nor any hopes to get a car, so why bother learning to drive?

[Bluegoat]

I think that telling teens they need to be careful is good, especially if you teach them how to be careful.  I am not sure frightened drivers are good drivers, though.

[JumpyTheFrog]

 as well as a strong awareness of driving as expensive and environmentally problematic.  Also people increasingly seem to be rejecying the car-based lifestyle of the suburbs - they don't want to drive everywhere. 

That might be the case for some, but many people in this thread have pointed out that own their teens are quite content being driven around by their parents. I really doubt these teens aren't interested for environmental reasons or else they'd start walking, using public transit, or not going. Instead, it sounds like they don't see any reason to change or they don't want/can't afford a car or insurance.

[JumpyTheFrog]

A friend with oldest kids has also noticed that his kids and their friends aren't very interested in driving. He thought it was because they all texted each other instead of getting together in person. (Although decades ago even girls who used the phone a lot still wanted to drive to see their friends.)

[Cinder]

I didn't get my license until 23.  Not for lack of wanting to, but I didn't have the money to afford lessons and related expenses until then.  And the insurance rates were too high.

 

I didn't get mine until 22yo. My dad tried to teach me when I was a teen but lessons always went badly between us so we quit. My mom refused to teach me because she couldn't afford insurance and we had good public transportation there anyway. I finally learned after I grad college and was married. Dh taught me so I'd be able to get myself to work.

 

Here in my part of metro ATL there is no public transportation. Ds1 put off his permit for about a year but then when he finally got it, he was eager to drive. Ds2 is a more cautious person, in general, and he really didn't want to drive because he saw daily how crazy some drivers can be. But dh said he *had* to get his license because we weren't going to drive him all over once he grad high school. He dragged his feet but he finally got his license just a few months before he turned 18yo. Now he enjoys the independence, and I like the significant decrease in my daily driving. Some days, I actually don't drive *anywhere*! :p

[Bluegoat]

That might be the case for some, but many people in this thread have pointed out that own their teens are quite content being driven around by their parents. I really doubt these teens aren't interested for environmental reasons or else they'd start walking, using public transit, or not going. Instead, it sounds like they don't see any reason to change or they don't want/can't afford a car or insurance.

Well, I am sure some don't care, and some care explicitly, but I wasn't really thinking of either of those things.  More that cultural attitudes to car culture have just changed so much, I think it affects most people to some degree.  The idea of the car is just much more ambiguous and less posively associated.  North American car culture seems to have lost its romance.

 

I am sure being driven everywhere also makes a difference though. 

[amy g.]

My 17 year old didn't even open her drivers education packet. I wasn't happy about it because it means that I have to drive her to community college and sometimes wait for her there with my younger girls. My husband said I wouldn't be upset about it if I saw how high out car insurance already is.

 

She isn't going to have a choice soon because we are moving away and she might not have her older sister to take her places any more.

 

In her defense, she isn't refusing to learn to drive at all. She just doesn't want to be taught by ME after being in the car when I taught her older siblings.

 

I think that this summer she will have to suck it up and find a solution we can all live with.

 

I didn't drive until I graduated from college. When I complain about my daughter's not driving. My brother always says, "Duh, she is your clone."

[73349]

I didn't get my license until I was 18. One, I couldn't afford a car. Two, my mom would've sent me to run errands, probably with siblings in tow, rather than letting me use the car for anything that would benefit me. (My extracurricular & social stuff was pretty much at school, and I walked.)

 

But the biggest obstacle really was that it's a difficult skill--in particular, to drive a large vehicle like we had through narrow city streets where we lived. Especially for kids who have been doing a lot mentally (reading, computer use) but not physically (team sports, building stuff), driving is a really daunting, complex motor activity that requires a level of attention that is just not demanded by other things teens do. It's like learning to walk, and being judged every time on how good you are at it, except it also costs money.

[Ali in OR]

Yes, not driving is definitely a teen "thing" here. My 15 yo would skip it if I let her (though 13 yo is anxious for her opportunity). But to me it's part of growing up, part of what you need to learn while you're still in high school. I've done just a little training with her (she got her permit last summer) but she will be in the CC's driver ed class next month. I'm glad she'll get full training from people who do this all the time, and she'll be tested as part of the course so she doesn't have to go through that at the DMV. Driving is expensive; I understand parents who put it off for that reason or because they live in a place with great transportation. We live in a car-dependent area and having dd able to drive will make my life a little easier.

[Tenaj]

All of mine (so far) have waited until at least 18 to get their licenses. I do require that they have permits for at least a year before that though.   The boys both got their licenses at 18 after having a permit for a year or so.  My daughter didn't get her license until she was 19.  

 

The main reason we wait is to avoid the need to pay for the expensive classes that are required under the age of 18.  We drive a lot and by encouraging them to have their permits for a year or more they can get a lot of driving experience from country roads to city driving just in our area.  

 

Also, we drive for homeschool sports about 45 minutes on in highway and city traffic and we're not quite comfortable with the early license drivers being cut loose on that particular route.  They would have to drive it everyday during sports seasons and the likelihood of an accident, especially when faced with winter weather makes us hesitate on the early driver's license in our house.  It would be a bit different if they were just driving to our local school for practices.

[Scarlett]

For those of you with public transport I can see it not being too urgent for teens to learn to drive. In my world though, people who dont drive are severely handicapped in life and or they are a significant burden on others. Unacceptable to me. My Ds just turned 16 and several years ago when it was discussed he was all meh about getting his permit. I nipped that attitude in the bud very quickly. I paid for his parent led drivers Ed course, he got his permit the earliest day he could (15 1/2) and his license the week he turned 16.

 

Oh, now it is cool. :). He is VERY proud to be the first of his age group to get his license.

 

I have a friend who was raised in NYC. She didn't drive. Makes sense in NYC. She married in her late 20s and moved to rural AR where there is no public transport. 18 years later she still doesn't drive. Makes me nuts.

 

Ok getting off soap box now.

[Scarlett]

All of mine (so far) have waited until at least 18 to get their licenses. I do require that they have permits for at least a year before that though. The boys both got their licenses at 18 after having a permit for a year or so. My daughter didn't get her license until she was 19.

 

The main reason we wait is to avoid the need to pay for the expensive classes that are required under the age of 18. We drive a lot and by encouraging them to have their permits for a year or more they can get a lot of driving experience from country roads to city driving just in our area.

 

Also, we drive for homeschool sports about 45 minutes on in highway and city traffic and we're not quite comfortable with the early license drivers being cut loose on that particular route. They would have to drive it everyday during sports seasons and the likelihood of an accident, especially when faced with winter weather makes us hesitate on the early driver's license in our house. It would be a bit different if they were just driving to our local school for practices.

They have to have classes if they get their permit before age 18.? Here in OK it is before age 16. And it wasn't expensive at all. $69

[gardenmom5]

I had one who didn't want to drive.  I required my kids to learn - they don't have to drive if they don't want to, but they will know how and be legal.

 

the one who didn't want to drive, (and didn't even want to practice) did find  there were advantages - and got enough practice in.  finally taking a driver's test the Friday before starting a job on Monday that was a two HOUR one-way commute via bus (plus walking a mile on the edge of a road) or a 20 minute trip via car.

this kid still despises manual transmissions - and our kid car was a manual (because we think they should at least know how.)

 

we also live in one of the worst traffic areas in the country, which can be intimidating for an inexperienced driver.

[theelfqueen]

My Oldest was dying to get his license and Muppet Boy seems to be on the same path (15 next week!) ...but Oldest's fiancee?

I seriously thought that girl was NEVER getting a license. She got it the WEEK before she left for college. I'm not kidding. At one point *I* offered to take her out for driving practice since her mother seemed completely uninterested in helping her get her license.

 

But I can't talk -- I didn't get my license until a week before I turned 18. My parents had promised to match me dollar for dollar to buy a car... I asked them to match my money for being an exchange student instead. I wanted to go to Russia way more than I wanted a car. And without a car, and with many months away in Russia looming... I decided a license wasn't a priority. My best friend used to say "Any idiot can get a driver's license, it takes genius to get people to drive you everywhere" LOL

 

Edited March 18, 2016 by theelfqueen

[catz]

I got my license the day I turned 16.  Where we live, we do see similar trends where teens are waiting.  We do have decent public transport so I am seeing more kids using that.  My son started using it at 14 on his own.  I do think parents are more willing to drive there kids these days too.  I actually hope my 15 year old takes driver's ed in the next 6 months.  Teens are busy too - it's hard to schedule!  He does want to take it.

 

I actually would not mind at all if license age moved to 18.  That said, I do think driving is a life skill in many parts of the US and I do want my kids to be able to drive before they get too deep into their adult lives.  It can be pretty self limiting not to have that skill actually.  I don't LOVE driving like some, but really, it is just necessary.  I would not be enthusiastic about driving an adult 45 minutes one way many times a week and I'll be pushing hard before that point.  My oldest in particular is a pretty asynchronous kid, so I can see not one age is the right age for everyone.

[bluemongoose]

I didnt get my license until right before I left for college. I was tired of feeling like the third parent in my family and knew that if I drove it would only turn me into the family taxi as well...

I doubt that is your situation! But I remember not caring about driving and getting my license.

[theelfqueen]

I think the license restrictions that don't allow a student to drive around their friends have limited their interest in driving considerably.

 

[Arcadia]

Every weekday morning, there are many adults in front of my complex waiting for their company bus. A short walk away is another company bus pickup spot. My neighbors rather take the free transport and nap on the bus.

 

As for teens, the community college is walkable, state u is door to door by light rail, library and supermarket are walkable. They need to drive to sports other than basketball, tennis or golf (which are walkable). The swim moms and gym moms have been driving since kids were under 6 and they just carpool if need be. The school kids take drivers ed in school but teen drivers aren't common.

 

I don't have a drivers license. My DMV ID is the non driver one. My kids want to drive on the tracks like legal drag racing tracks but they aren't keen to drive on our crazy roads. We had encounter a few driving the wrong way on a one way street and many who ran red lights nearly running down pedestrians.

[Prairie~Phlox]

I had my license right after I turned 16, I lived in the country, so it was necessary. Dh didn't get his until he was 18. Dd got her permit T 16, did not take drivers training & held it until 17.5 & got her license right before she started community college. I was not carting her back & forth. She also works part rime (full time in the summer) & just got a car last week. A lot of her friends do not have their license & do not have motivation to get it.

[mumto2]

Dd can't seem to be bothered to schedule the lessons. She says she is too busy. :lol: Public transport is available and she is fine with that. I suspect Ds will get it taken care of before Dd. He isn't old enough yet.

[hornblower]

They have to have classes if they get their permit before age 18.? Here in OK it is before age 16. And it wasn't expensive at all. $69

 

I'm always astonished that you guys still have the old rules. 

 

Here the earliest you can get your learner's is  at 16; then you can't do your first driving test until 12 months later so the earliest you can drive on your own (with restrictrions, no passengers, no night time etc)  is 17. 

 

Then you have to drive clean (no tickets, no infractions) for 24 months and you take another driving test to get an unrestricted licence. So the earliest you can get it is 19. 

 

BUT, if you take an approved course, you can remove 6 months off that 24 months wait. The courses run $1,100 and up.