Large drop in % of younger folks w drivers license

[Atuckman]

thought this was interesting
seems like younger folks aren't just cutting the cord on landlines.
number of licensed younger drivers steadily declining.

At the auto show, a few of us were discussing how younger generations are simply looking for an economical way to travel from A to B. You could see the commoditization of cars across the floor of the show. how different things are from years ago when a car reflected a person's personality via styling, colors and drivetrain.

take a look at this chart.

[Mr70]

Hired a new employee who didn't have a drivers license.He was 22.
Asked why,he said he didn't see the need for it,as well as his friends/family always gave him a ride.He walked everywhere and biked as well.One time he even mentioned driving a car was a fad...a fad?
Told him I thought he was making his life very difficult,but he was eager to prove me wrong & hired him anyway,knowing full well the times he had to come/leave work here.
After 4 weeks,he was noticeably late numerous times and even asked us if he could leave very early too.All due to his transportation.
He quit us,we didn't quit him.

[Luvchevs]

I am surprised at the amount of young males that I know that seem to have very little interest in driving and cars. It appears that video games and cell phones have their attention these days. <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/crazy.gif

[PeteLeathersac]

High Insurance is another reason many kids don't get started driving young, a worse problem now as everyone 'needs' newer vehicles or has little choice as older/affordable s'boxes don't pass emission tests without multi $ spent etc.
Interesting of the Chart above is the higher percentages of 55-up drivers!
<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif
~ Pete

[427TJ]

They also don't have jobs or have jobs that don't pay a lot. Cars have become an extravagance that many kids don't feel the need to pay for.

[77Z28]

Chart definitely depicts trend I have been seeing. My daughter's college roommate did not get drivers license till age 21 or 22. I think a lot of parents have that helicopter/protective mentality and do not want to push the issue. At age 48, everyone I knew in high school could not wait to get learners license at 15 and full license at 16.

[old5.0]

The world is becoming a hostile place to the automobile. When I was in high school 25 years ago all the kids went out and cruised Main Street on Friday and Saturday nights. There were house parties of course, and street racing after midnight, but everyone ended up on Main at some point during the evening.

Then about ten years ago, the hypocrites on the city council decided to ban cruising. Dunno what the kids do now but cars don't figure into it much.

[earntaz]

X2 -- Isn't that the damn truth ... I guess our generation had it made! TAZ <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/flag.gif

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Keep in mind that some states don't grant a license till 17+ years of age. It doesn't explain the drop in the 17+ age group, but by the time they've gotten a job at 16 (hopefully) they've figured out how to get there and back without a car - so why incur the expense? <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/dunno.gif

I know my Benjamin can't wait to drive, and Danny (age 8) just asked me the other day what his 'High School Car' will be....uh, a '67 Camaro? <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif

[earntaz]

Just keep spoiling the heck out of em' Marlin ...

[markinnaples]

Our 15 yo is muscle car crazy and is in the process of buying his first car (thanks Papa), a 5 spd 305 Camaro (not sure if it's an IROC yet) that's completely custom painted. He'll be 16 in August and needs to have his permit for a year. He knows he needs to keep his grades up and his attitude good or that Camaro is going to be sold, period.

He's definitely in the minority though as most of his contemporaries are into diesel trucks way more than hot cars of any type.

[PxTx]

There will always be a car culture. I've used facebook to find different GTG car events and can honestly say it is easier to find a good gathering of people at any moment than it was in the early 1990's. Back then, Sunday nights in Philly was the highlight of the week. Anything in between might be a cruise night or a packing lot of a few high school die hard car guys. Even around my non-car guy high school buddies they always liked being in my car when we would meet people. They may have had licences, but didn't &quot;get it&quot; like we do. I didn't hold it against them (much :)) Now, there is something happening every night and day. Maybe there was before and I'm just more aware of it.

My kids only being 6 &amp; 8 years old know that I am enthusiastic for them to be driving as early as possible and they seem to be excited too. Maybe there will be a decline in the # of friends driving. Heck, in 10 years some will have self driving cars, for sure. That's a whole other can-o-worms.

In the end, I'm satisfied with the car culture I've observed of people 16-21 years old. I feel things are alive and well.

[marxjunk]

i know of some 30 somethings that have never had a license..dont need one..dont want one...just like above..they have figured out how to live without one...



it was a right of passage when i was a kid...

[RPOLS3]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: markinnaples</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
He's definitely in the minority though as most of his contemporaries are into diesel trucks way more than hot cars of any type. </div></div>

Similar deal where we live. Our 16 year old son drove the 87' T-Type to school this spring when the weather was nice enough to do so and other than a newer Mustang GT that parked next to him there were no other &quot;cool&quot; cars in the lot. Lots of jacked up 4WD full size trucks though.

Jake