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. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/crazy.gif[/img]

[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!
[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]
~ 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 [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/flag.gif[/img]

[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? [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/dunno.gif[/img]

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? [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif[/img]

[earntaz]

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