<p>Kids here count the days/hours/minutes until they can get their driver’s license. They can get their Learner’s Permit at 15 and must have it for a full year before they are eligible to get the license at sixteen. Oh, the moans if your birthday happens to fall on a weekend,lol.<br>
Driver’s Ed classes are free, given at the high schools after school. The practice driving part is also free and done after school during the week and some weekends.</p>
<p>I was so glad for my S’s to get their license. They both got part-time jobs the same month they got their driver’s license, worked year 'round all through h.s. and also played football.</p>
<p>Of my 3 boys, all got their permits at 16, but only my oldest has his license. He finally got his at age 18. He’s a terrible driver, hates it, and always gives the keys to drive. When we foiund that out, he wasn’t given the car for awhile.</p>
<p>My middle son failed the test twice (panicked when backing up), and swears he’ll NEVER drive!</p>
<p>My youngest has been too busy to get his license, especially now that so many new rules are in place. He wasn’t very interested anyway because all his friends drive him everywhere, but he actually loves cars. At first, I wasn’t trying to push the idea, but now it’s getting tiresome to drive him when he could do that for himself. He’s finally interested; he’ll probably get his license next summer.</p>
<p>Our philosophy is that they have to get a license before they go to college. If they don’t, they’ll have to walk! We live in suburbia: not much transportation around here, but most kids have their own cars.</p>
<p>One of the considerations in getting a license before college was the “years of experience” as a driver. Our insurance rep told me that the longer they drive, the better rates they will get as a young single person after college, particularly if they stay with the company for their auto insurance. Not sure if it is true or not - but I noticed on our invoice that just this last month, my oldest son had “four years of driving experience” and now a big rate drop, because of his good student driver discount. It kind of makes sense. </p>
<p>Our insurance company charges a small fee once they are insured, but if they are a part time driver with no car at school, we don’t have to pay a big premium for them during those months that they are away.</p>
<p>Even though S1 didn’t have a car on campus, there have been a couple instances where he had to drive a friend to the airport with the friend’s car (and bring back to campus). </p>
<p>For my other son, having a license allowed him to get a work study job on campus last year where he had to use one of those electric powered golf carts/vehicles. It was a good job (wish he had it this year!), and one he wouldn’t have been eligible for, without the license.</p>
<p>There are also jobs after college that might require a license and a clean driving record. (In fact, I just applied for a job that requires a regular drivers license and a commercial, non-truck license. Not the first job I have needed a license for, but I have never needed a different rating, before!) Like credit scores, the longer you have a good record, the better.</p>
<p>I’d say it’s about half and half in my hometown, who wants to drive and who doesn’t. I do know that VERY few of my friends who are younger than me got their permits when they were legally allowed, whereas my friends and I who were the same age all got our permits and licenses within about a week of each other. So maybe it is an age factor.</p>
<p>My oldest turned 16 the end of December. That is very dangerous driving time in Florida.
Between the medicated and/or inebriated senior snow birds and the lost tourists taking right hand turns from the far left lane, the old addage my dear Auntie told me holds true. “You must assume that everyone you encounter on the road is either drunk or at the very least insane!”
DS got his liscence upon turning 16, but we held off handing over the keys for his solo driving until the coast was clear after Easter.</p>
<p>Both of my kids got their licenses during the summer between junior and senior year of high school. </p>
<p>When they were younger, I would have told you that was much too young. However, I have changed my mind, as a result of seeing the growth in maturity and independence that resulted from them being responsible for getting themselves to jobs, volunteer activities and school-related activities that took place off campus.</p>
<p>Even if we had decent public transport in this town–we don’t–it wouldn’t have done any good for my daughter, who travels around cleaning up rivers and streams and volunteers at a therapeutic horse-riding center for disabled kids. Horse ranches are not usually on bus or train routes. My son traveled around making presentations to conferences for his main extra-curricular activity in hs. Both have driven themselves to jobs. I could have hauled them around myself, but then those activities would have been less useful as tools for developing independence.</p>
<p>An added plus is that they are experienced drivers before they leave for college. We have known young people who have to learn to drive in order to accept jobs or internships during summer breaks at college. That isn’t always convenient.</p>
<p>I agree with the gist of the article, though. I don’t see as much rush to get licensed on the 16th birthday as was the case when I was young. (Not for me; I was almost 18, since my family only had one car, and I wasn’t going to be getting the use of it anyway.) Part of the reason for the delay may be because our school district no longer offers driver’s ed, and private lessons are not free. Part of it is because parents are more willing to be chauffeur for all of high school. And I think fewer kids have jobs, even during the summers.</p>
<p>Heck, in rural Iowa a lot of kids get their school license at 14 – they can drive themselves and siblings to school and back, then their “real” license at 16 – they can drive anywhere, but only between 5am and 12 midnight. At eighteen they get their final license, no restrictions. We know many, many kids who got their license the day they turn 14. Both of my kids skipped the school license: S1 got his at 17, S2 at 16.</p>
<p>I enjoy driving, but I’d much rather walk everywhere. Unfortunately, that cannot be easily done where I live. Riding a bike would be okay too, but I haven’t done that in years, and I am afraid that I have forgotten how. :/</p>
<p>oldest D will be 19 very soon and still doesn’t have her license and really doesn’t care about it. Youngest is 15 and wants a permit yesterday! Soon, I will say to my youngest, “you can only have the car if you drop your older sister off at the mall.” THEN, she’ll want to go to the DMV, for sure.</p>
<p>I think there are some other issues here. School and sports take up much more time than I remember in high school. The second one is motivation related. My d only got a move on to get her license at 17 when her grandfather gave her a used car!</p>
<p>^^Agree with motivation being a factor. D finally got her permit right before her 18th birthday last summer… so she would have picture ID to get into a hookah bar! She still has never driven.</p>
<p>My kids needed ID when they started doing some traveling. They opted to go to the DMV and just get a state ID.</p>
<p>My son is 20 now. I don’t imagine he’ll do anything about the driver’s license at least until he’s a senior in college. He just has no need to drive right now (not to mention nothing to drive.) My daughter will be 18 this summer, and while she’s home from college for summer break, I would not be surprised if she finally got that learner’s permit just on principle. We’ll see.</p>
<p>Both kids have summer jobs they return to each year, and both are within walking distance of our house. Oh well… it’s up to them. I’m out of the mom-business now, at least on that level.</p>
<p>Learning to drive in northern Virginia is not for the faint-hearted! S got his permit when he was a sophomore taking the classroom part of driver’s ed. After a few times driving in a parking lot, he decided he wasn’t ready yet. (Big sigh of relief from Mom!) He decided he was finally ready at 17 and passed the test (barely) right before graduation.</p>
<p>He’s not a very confident driver, and doesn’t have a car at school so he can’t get any more experience. When he’s home, he has no interest in driving. He’d much rather take the bus or Metro.</p>
<p>I had been pleased that my S is in an urban college with excellent public transportation so he didn’t have to have a car at school. One less thing to worry about. Now I find out he got a zipcar membership, so he can tool around in that big city. Yikes!</p>
<p>DD2 got her permit as early as possible, at 15.5 and one day. She was so upset the DMV was closed on her 15.5 birthday. And is even more horrified that 6 months from the day she got her permit is again a Sunday. She’ll get her license when she’s 16 and 2 days, oh the horror!!!</p>
<p>She’s excited because she works at a barn 30 minutes away, and would like to be a bit flexible on when she goes and comes home. Setting schedules with me messes that up. Though I must say, the 7am horse run on weekend mornings is an absolutely perfect time to break a new driver in on freeways.</p>
<p>Admittedly, DD1 was less enthusiastic about getting her license, until I gave her a copy of the local bus schedules, and told her I’d give her rides to her activities until the end of the month she turns 16, and at that point it was her sister’s turn to have first dibs on the mom taxi. She got her license about a week and a half after she turned 16. She’s now at school in LA, with a family car, which she uses to get back and forth to work.</p>
<p>I will admit, around here most mom’s are willing to be at beck and call for their teens to drive them anywhere right up until the kids leave for college. So it is not rare for kids to get their license after age 18.</p>
<p>I’m also 18 and don’t even have a permit. Nor do my 20 and 23 year old brothers. West LA has enough public transit, though the subway to the sea would be very useful. My dad has taken the bus to work almost everyday for the last 13 years.</p>
<p>We live in the western part of LA County. It appears that the desire to get a license early is less so than in my generation in western WA. We had to broach the subject with S, and keep egging him on. He got his license just before his 17th birthday, after taking the road test twice. We anted him to have a solid year or so experience under his belt before he went off to college, wherever. Since his birthday is coming up shortly, he’ll now be able to take passengers under the age of 18 and legally drive after 11 pm (they don’t seem to be very strict on that latter requirement so it’s been skirted a few times although for insurance purpose we laid down the law on the transport of under 18s … or it may be under 21, I can’t remember.)</p>
<p>I forced my S to get his license, mainly for ID as his permit would expire while he was away at the university. He finally passed the road test the day before he flew back from Christmas break! D has yet to take any road test & she’s 20! She’s happy to just renew her permit periodically.</p>
<p>He just had us send him a car so he finally has something to drive, but he rarely drives–has only used 1/2 tank of gas in 3-4 months. It is handy to get to Costco & stores tho.</p>
<p>I got my license for ID when I went off to school as a sophomore transfer student. Didn’t use it much until I started my profession about 4 years later (had nothing to drive anyway). Most of the kids I know who drive do so for the PARENTS’ convenience and haul around their sibs and/or get themselves to & from where they want to be rather than being chauffered; my kids are happy being driven.</p>
THEN, she’ll want to go to the DMV, for sure.</p>