Shocker! Young people aren't getting drivers' licenses. It's 'too much hassle.'

[onehandle]

Last edited Wed Aug 7, 2013, 04:09 PM - Edit history (1)

Ever since the recession hit in 2007, Americans have been driving less and less. And, as we’ve discussed before, a big chunk of that decline has been due to the fact that kids these days don’t seem to drive as much as their parents did.

Case in point: Back in 1983, about 87 percent of 19-year-olds had drivers’ licenses. But in 2010, only 69.5 percent did. So why the decline? Well, we could always just ask the young folks. And that’s exactly what Brandon Schoettle and Michael Sivak of the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute have done in an interesting new survey.

The researchers found that about 15.3 percent of the U.S. population aged 18 to 39 now gets by without a license, a big increase from past years. And, within that group, they asked 619 people their primary reason for not owning one. Here were the answers:

–37 percent said they were either too busy or didn’t have the time to get a license.
–32 percent said that owning and maintaining a vehicle was just too expensive.
–31 percent said they could hitch a ride with someone else if needed.
–22 percent said they’d rather walk or bike.
–17 percent said they’d rather use public transportation.
–9 percent said they were worried about driving’s effects on the environment.
–8 percent said they could work or communicate online.
–7 percent cited disability or medical problems as their main reason.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/08/07/why-arent-young-people-getting-drivers-licenses-too-much-hassle

Playing into the GOP's photo voter ID strategy. And Rinse Penis smiles...

On edit: Those adding the poll up to 163% and questioning the validity of the poll seem to think that multiple answers are impossible to collect from a single person being polled.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

1. aren't like 80% of the population in cities these days?

that could explain a lot about why people dont bother driving

[La Lioness Priyanka]

2. caveat: i do not know how to drive. nt

[unblock]

3. i guess it's not worth getting a license! 163% can't be wrong!

[Go Vols]

18. +1

[unblock]

51. BWAHAHAHA!!!!!!

[Egalitarian Thug]

52. Ask a silly question...

[loli phabay]

54. lol your wit was wasted there

[Dawson Leery]

4. How do these kids get around if they live in distant suburbs?

[Duer 157099]

5. If you can't afford college, can't find a job, don't have a car, live at home with parents

then why do you need to drive? I think that's what is really happening.

[HereSince1628]

50. A place to exchange 'extras' with friends outside of parents' house?

My impression teaching undergrads from 1983 til 2009 was the auto was sort of THE PLACE to do things if you had to live with parents.

[Duer 157099]

71. ...and then I learned that some kids can't even afford a car...

True.

[Steepler0t]

7. Do they much anymore?

Seems kids move to cities and ride bikes/walk. The suburban lifestyle seems to be percieved as old failed dreams of boomers. The secluded cultural ghettos of the cold war.

[Dawson Leery]

10. Certainly when you live near a city, everthing is near by.

There are many who live in the suburbs still.

[Steepler0t]

13. maybe

But suburbia is a dead end of hopelessness. Nothing new or exciting coming from that old mindset of rat race/familial madhouses of dysfunction. But then the brightest of youth always are the ones who escape asap.

[tabbycat31]

21. My RW sister

Who is 30 has absolutely no desire at all to live in the suburbs. She's living in a city now, but if they move (their daughter turns 1 next month so maybe before she starts school) it will be to a rural area, not suburban.

[Steepler0t]

37. the nuclear family thing

Is not very popular with youth nowadays either. Not surprising seeing as generations of suburban refugees come to urban areas, bring the baggage that comes with suburban disfunction/isolation and act holier then thou about some cause, then get knocked up/hook up and head back to the burbs to repeat the cycle of disfunction. Urban youth have a different world they live in. Not represented by television or media (where suburban people are forced to receive their culture from sadly)

Yes, I am in a bad mood today. No offense to any fellow DUer with my broad grumpy statements.

[Skittles]

62. I live in a metroplex and I don't see people walking

of course, it is 105 degrees right now

[Posteritatis]

73. I'm licenseless and live in the burbs

Quite far into them in fact, but I'm fortunate to have access to a good transit system - I'm riiiiiiiiiiight at the end of one of the main cross-city routes - and have a pretty stretched definition of 'walking distance' besides.

That said, if I didn't have the bus route I'd probably move a little further into town where one was more accessible (or where "walking distance" encompassed the city proper).

[hobbit709]

6. A friend of mine didn't get his license until he was 40

Of course he grew up in NYC and didn't need one there. In Austin he could get a ride from friends until he got a city job that required he drive a city truck.

[opiate69]

8. Our oldest just turned 16, and he won't be getting his any time soon sadly...

Here in Washington state, kids under 18 have to go through driver's education programs before they can take the tests and get their license. And, of course thanks to the anti-tax fucksticks, the schools no longer offer it, so the only options we've found are expensive private "driving acadamies"...

[pnwmom]

17. Insurance is also higher for the under 18's -- but they will give some kind of break

for kids who've taken the classes.

[CreekDog]

9. It's harder to get a license now. I didn't need a birth certificate to get mine

but now, you need to have a birth certificate, and they've also increased the age requirement.

the longer you live without driving, the less likely you'll start --seems to me.

[malaise]

11. I heard one of my nephews and his friends talking one day

They're all anti-war and thought they could avoid a draft that way. I don't know where they got that information but they all refused to get drivers' licenses. He finally got his license two years ago after mi sis refused to drop him anywhere and his big brother moved away.

[sammytko]

38. I knew a couple of people in the military that didn't know how to drive when they enlisted -

When they checked into their first permanent duty station, they were required to get trained and licensed.

[SoCalDem]

12. Young people have the easiest time getting a birth certificate (if they need it)

to get a voter registration.. and the ones who claimed altruistic reasons for not getting a car would seem to be savvy enough to do just that..

I do not see this as playing into the hands of the GOP.. I see them as sensible young people

My youngest deliberately delayed getting his license until he was 18 because he could not have a job, and knew he did not really need a car or the hassle/expense.

[onehandle]

15. Voter photo ID laws will likely be in place in a dozen or more states by November 2016. nt

[SoCalDem]

19. That;s why we need ALL local Dem leaders to get BUSY NOW

Locate anyone who is NOT registered..and contact all who ARE and make sure they ALL have birth certificates and then make sure they are registered properly.

It sucks to always be "behind the curve", but until we get control of these funky legislatures, we cannot make realistic/voter-friendly changes in the laws, so instead of kvetching about how unfair it is (and it IS), we need to play by the rules we HAVE and not the ones we wish for.

I would go one step further and have them register as republican, so their status is less likely to be questioned

[dixiegrrrrl]

14. Total numbers of that survey come to 163%.

Therefore I question of the accuraracy.


Am also curious if the 163% of respondents lived in a big city, an urban area, a rural town, etc.

[KamaAina]

23. People may have given more than one answer.

[unblock]

26. more than one "primary reason"?

[KamaAina]

32. "No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public."

[REP]

72. The actual quote:

No one in this world, so far as I know — and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me — has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby. The mistake that is made always runs the other way. Because the plain people are able to speak and understand, and even, in many cases, to read and write, it is assumed that they have ideas in their heads, and an appetite for more. This assumption is a folly.

-- Henry Louis Mencken, Notes on Journalism, 1926

[Dr. Strange]

59. It's the metric system.

It messes up everything!

[ksoze]

16. Good news is it may lead to a drop in auto deaths

For many 16 year olds, driving a 4000 pound hunk of metal is too much. When combined now with the need to text very 20 seconds, it is a recipe for disaster.

[SoCalDem]

20. By the time our son was 20, he had lost 5 friends to accidents (2 in one accident)

[KamaAina]

22. Good luck getting a job.

As a non-driver for many years, I've gone through hundreds of want ads saying "Experience? Check. Degree? Check.... Oh crap, driver's license."

[hunter]

24. I've got a nephew and a few of my kids' friends...

... who have moved to San Francisco or other big cities and have zero interest in cars.

Frankly, I'm a little jealous. I hate owning a car. My wife and I have avoided commuting since the mid 'eighties, but we still don't live in a community where cars are entirely unnecessary.

I think the car dependent suburban lifestyle is a dead end. The "freedom" of owning a car is an illusion. Many of us are trapped within the strict social boundaries of the places we park our cars.

[dixiegrrrrl]

63. Well, it is not just a suburban issue....

Down here in sub tropical South, there are only a few big cities...the rest is small towns with no bus service, not even many sidewalks, and everything is spread out. Walking to the store in these temperatures is dangerous.
and there is a high over 60 population.
Cars are necessary.

[MindPilot]

25. How times change!

Everybody I knew was at the DMV taking the test on the morning of their 16th birthday. Our parents were as anxious for us to get licensed as us kids were; it meant they didn't have to ferry us around any more and it greatly expanded our employment opportunities.

Kind of similar to that other thread about young people living with their parents; my generation couldn't wait to get out on our own.

[oldhippie]

31. Same here ....

The morning of your 16th birthday you skipped school if you had to in order to be in line when the testing office opened. I don't know ANYONE, male or female that didn't do that. It was practically a mandatory right of passage in upstate NY.

In big cities, maybe not so much.

[Benton D Struckcheon]

34. Yeah, not in the Bronx.

I got one when I was 19. Didn't really use it until after college. Subway took you everywhere you needed to go.

[greatauntoftriplets]

27. Are they driving without licenses?

[OneGrassRoot]

28. I know more and more young people for whom this is true, now that you mention it.

Last edited Wed Aug 7, 2013, 04:37 PM - Edit history (2)

My daughter and quite a few of her friends didn't get a license right away. Some are in their early 20s and still haven't gotten one if they live in the city or have access to public transportation.

Are you speaking to the GOP strategy of making voting more difficult for people without a driver's license?

Yep, that's gonna be an issue for more young people than people realize.

[etherealtruth]

49. It certainly is

I have three children ... none are licensed.

My 31 year old was in a serious accident (a passenger) when he was 20, and can't bring himself to drive.

My 19 year old (college student) ... simply has no desire.

My 17 year old desperately wants to drive ... sadly, he is visually impaired!

We live in metro Detroit (read: no mass transit) ... this is a very real for me.

[OneGrassRoot]

58. :(

I'm sorry that your son was in a bad accident when he was younger; hope he is well now.

I'm sorry your youngest is hindered from driving due to visual impairment.

And I'm also sorry there is no mass transit in metro Detroit!!!

Here in NC they've instituted some of the toughest voting restrictions ever recently. Hopefully you won't go through the same, but I have a feeling you will.

[etherealtruth]

67. Thank you

Your compassion made me smile.

I hope beyond hope that we are not confronted with the voting rights issues you all have been. It sickens and saddens (actually sickens) me that voters would be discourage rather than encouraged!

[tabbycat31]

29. all states have restrictive laws

I remember when I had my permit, I was allowed to do highway driving (which is good experience). I drove my family at Thanksgiving for a 3 hour trip with a permit. Now that is no longer allowed.

Lawmakers are very busy making it hard for a demographic that can't yet vote them out drive. What I want to know is what they are doing on the other end of the spectrum (a demographic that votes in large numbers) because older drivers can be just as dangerous.

One holiday, I was driving home and there were no fewer than 5 accidents causing traffic problems. All 5 of them involved a Buick with handicapped plates. (Purely anecdotal evidence and not a scientific study).

[JEFF9K]

30. even higher

The percentage would be even higher if not for conservative policies that have cut aid to mass transit, causing fares to skyrocket, and service to be slashed.

[HockeyMom]

33. Growing up in Manhattan

and never learning to drive because of no need, why would I want a driver's license? Of course, back in those days there was not the clamor for photo ID's, but I did have a photo ID from work. Ask how many people living in Manhattan, or any major city with public transportation, have driver's licenses. These are the places which would be penalized with all these photo ID for voting. Not ALL of these city residents are poor either.

[PennsylvaniaMatt]

35. I'm 18 and I am going to get my license in two weeks - Godwilling!

For me, I waited 6 months after my 16th birthday to get my permit, had my permit for 1 year, renewed it because I wasn't ready with parallel parking, months later I took the drivers test, but I failed on the parallel parking part, and I have just been putting it off for months and months.

In my case, I am included in the 31% of people that said they could hitch a ride with someone else. When I was a junior and senior in high school, because of my parent's odd work schedules, my dad could drop me off in the morning, and my mom could pick me up in the afternoon. On the weekends, I could get a ride with a friend if I were going somewhere, and in the summers, I spent a lot of time in NY with grandparents, and I had a ride anywhere I wanted to go. Most cases, it was more of a hassle to practice parallel parking and making an appointment at the DMV 40 minutes away than to just get a ride somewhere.

I will say, also, that I think it is complete garbage that people that get their licenses through the DMV have to parallel park, yet a lot of my friends took it through drivers education, and they didn't have to. If some kids have to parallel park, then EVERYONE should!!! I've talked to people all over that have been driving for years, and they NEVER have to parallel park!

[MineralMan]

40. Parallel parking is not difficult, but it does require

that you are able to maneuver your vehicle, and know where it is in relationship to other objects. That's the real reason for that requirement. It's a minor skill that every driver needs to learn. Far too many drivers have no idea of the relationship of the right side of their vehicle with regard to objects on that side. That's a recipe for disaster.

It's easy, really, to parallel park. You just have to learn to do it and practice a bit.

[PennsylvaniaMatt]

45. I've gotten better at it recently...

I guess all the frustration practicing now will pay off later if I ever NEED to find a parking space and to parallel park is the only way!

[AngryOldDem]

43. Good luck!

TOTALLY agree about parallel parking. I have never done it. I think I had to maneuver between two cones at my driver's test, but that was it. If I can't find a pull-through place to park, I keep looking.

You sound just like my son...he's had to renew his temps, too. He's getting close to being eligible to take the test, and in the meantime he has ways of getting around (mom, dad, friends, etc.).

[PennsylvaniaMatt]

44. Thank you!

Glad to know I'm not alone in having to renew my temp permit! A lot of teens our age are at the DMV the day they turn 16 to get their permit, and are there to get their license on the first day they are eligible.

[tabbycat31]

64. I have not parallel parked since my driving test

And I am 33 (got my license at 18). My mom (63) has not parallel parked since her road test as a teenager.

[Fumesucker]

70. I taught my next door neighbor to parallel park in about a half hour

A young mom with a baby who had never been licensed before and needed to drive now to get the baby around to doctor's visits and so on.

She passed the test with flying colors!

[PD Turk]

36. My, how times have changed

When I was a youngster we could gt a motorcycle license or bikes up to 125cc at 14, I had my license a few days after my 14th birthday. I worked all summer on a neighbor's farm to earn enough to buy my first street bike. It was a Honda CB175, but I put side covers from a 125 on it so the local cop would think it was 125 lol. He knew what it was but never said anything.

I got my car license on my 16th birthday, my first car was a 1962 Chevy Nova with a 283 and a 3 speed stick. Good times

[Proud Public Servant]

39. I haven't owned a car since 2006, and my daughter

never learned to drive (she's now 23). We get away with it because we're committed urbanites; it's kind of nice to know we're also not freaks.

[MineralMan]

48. I don't know. I live in a city. I like to leave the city from time to time.

Also, I go places I can't go on public transit on a frequent basis.

I suppose if I lived in a place and never had any desire to travel beyond that place, I wouldn't drive, either, but that's just not me. Cities are great places to live, but there's a lot out there to see that requires traveling to places the bus doesn't go.

[Proud Public Servant]

57. Well, I still have a license

But what I find is that renting a Zipcar (for trips to the 'burbs, like my Costco run this weekend) or a car from Avis (for out-of-town trips) is still cheaper than actually owning a car.

As for my daughter, she'll learn to drive eventually -- probably next year, if she goes to grad school (except for Columbia University, I don't think she's considering any schools in major cities).

[MineralMan]

60. Sure. That would work. I've rented a lot of cars for longer trips.

Mostly because a lot of the cars I've owned weren't trustworthy for long trips.

[AngryOldDem]

41. Couple things at work here:

1) Younger people want mass transit. Plus, they want to live in urban areas where things are within walking distance. I have no problem with that. It eliminates the entire hassle of car ownership, cuts down on traffic, and cuts down on pollution. It can also mean the revitalization of urban areas.

2) Some states have convoluted requirements before you can take the test for a license. My son, for instance, has to have x-number of daytime hours and x-number of nighttime hours, that he must keep in a log, before he can even apply for a permanent license. While I see the sense in this, for some kids, it just isn't worth the hassle, especially if they've got other things going on. If they have transportation, there's no need to immediately get a license. Then there's my daughter, who just doesn't want/like to drive. She will get a license, but she's in no hurry.

But if I had to guess, 1) is the main reason why young people are choosing not to get their licenses as soon as they reach legal age. I don't necessarily see a "GOP strategy" at work here. If I didn't need it, I wouldn't have a car either.

[Liberal_in_LA]

46. better to learn to drive while young.

[notadmblnd]

47. It's funny that no one listed the lack of affordability for the classes.

When I went to school here in the 70's drivers training was included in the high school curriculum. It changed in the 90's. Now it cost about $300.00 for driver's training classes if you are under 18. After 18 one only has to pay for the road test which takes it down to about $50.00 plus license costs.

[JimDandy]

53. Darn...beat me to it.

And that has been the actual answer from all the young non-drivers I know.

[Politicalboi]

55. The price of gas

The price of insurance. The rules that make it so you need an adult in the car till 18. I got my license 06/03/1977. Went to see the opening of Rocky and haven't looked back since. When I got my license, gas was about 48 cents, insurance wasn't a requirement, and kids didn't have phones growing out their ears.

[exboyfil]

56. My daughter will be 18 in January

She is still on her learner's permit. The insurance eats you alive. Unless she has a job to go to she will continue on a learner's permit I for a while yet. I actually came off my parent's insurance and gave up my license while in college to save money. I did have some difficulty getting auto insurance when I graduated and purchased a car 8 months later.

[woodsprite]

61. My daughter is 20, has a license but hasn't driven much at all since getting her license.

Really only when we make her drive. She does not like driving but is going to have to do it because now her internships are going to require she be on a different schedule than her friends and family. We told her we would make payments for a better car than our old bomber (still used though) but she would have to come up with the gas money and insurance payments (once she's a primary driver, rates will rise). Pretty much all of her work has been unpaid internships and have been requirements for her curriculum, so she's been trying to put that off as long as she can. What money she does make comes from babysitting or tutoring. She's been trying to find a job on campus, but so are lots of other kids.

[CK_John]

65. A day or so ago there was a pbs news story about driverless cars, all tested and ready to go..

The kids know this, so why learn to drive. The only problem is changing the laws and how to advertise them without having the public freakout.

[KamaAina]

69. Google cars should work like cabs

you'd just signal for one from your smartphone with something like Uber, then it would take you where you were going, and then pick up the next person.

Think of it. No more parking lots, garages, driveways, etc!

[all american girl]

66. My son turns 20 this month, and he does not have a license.

Here in VA, when you turn 19 and one month, you have to take the written and driving test, but he could care less. When he is at college, he doesn't need a car. This summer he has a job, so I take him to work some days, and others he rides his bike. If he wants to go into DC, we drop him off at the metro.

My son is lucky, in that, he has a passport, a military ID (hubby in the Army), and a school ID.

When we retire, retire I want to find a walkable community on the East coast so I doen't have to drive as much.

[liberal_at_heart]

68. My daughter is almost 19 and doesn't have one yet. She rides public transportation.

Maybe this is what we need to get public transportion back. If we have an entire generation that would rather ride public transportation than drive cars that could put a lot of pressure on the politicians to fund it.

[steve2470]

74. My son could care less and I had to figuratively twist his arm to get his

It shocked me, but yea, the answers look familiar plus with Twitter and Facebook, there is no "need" for face to face sometimes.