Young people not getting drivers licenses
 

Many of us have seen this and similar studies over the past couple of years. Good to see it popping up in mainstream media.

http://video.foxnews.com/v/290770126...ver-licenses-/

I am car-free and I still have my drivers license. I think it's important to have a drivers license even if somebody doesn't own a vehicle. Drivers license is a good piece of ID, another thing to consider is that not having drivers license will limit your employment oppurtinities.

I've not got a driver's license yet. I might go and get one once circumstances and money allows. But for now, I'll remain with my bicycle. I'm saving an absolute fortune by not having a car... Now all I need to do is move to a more populated area!

It's the economy, student loans, and the availability of convenient urban mass transit that's driving down the incentive to own a car.

If employed people (including cyclists) live in a densely populated urban area that has efficient mass transit, why in the world would they opt to buy a car first, before paying off their exorbitant student loans and other accumulated debt? :rolleyes:

Of course, if they're unemployed, the situation already speaks for itself! :)

* While a driver's license is a great form of ID, most states also offer a common state ID that's acceptable too! :D

I drove* a Ballistic Missile Nuclear Submarine, before I got my licence to drive a car or M/C.

* Helm and planes control wheel/stick.

I'm car free and feel that not having a driver's license will keep me from giving up when the weather is monstorous.

I can't believe that guy is just using a flimsy cable lock and locking his bike to a chain link fence.

On topic, my daughter just turned 16 and has essentially no interest in getting a driver's license, even though my wife is trying to get her to do so.

I only got my license at 17 because it was annoying to find carpools to the XC races on sunday mornings :) I had already worked my landscape business with the bike and trailer for years. So far though, every other job since college has required on-duty driving so yes it's an important thing to have even if biking to work.

My sis almost had to be forced to get her license right before going off to college. She didn't actually own a car(or really drive) until she graduated though.

if one doesn't get a driver's licence, i would recommend a passport. it's relatively inexpensive and opens up the world. i don't have a valid US licence any more and the passport suffices in every circumstance. although i need to get pages added again :(

And it takes college and a long flight school to teach P-3 pilots to use the same controls.

My son had his pilots license before his drivers license. It seemed perfectly normal to him. We also live in NYC where you don't need to drive.

It's good news in a sense as far as it goes, but it's too early, or the data is inadequate to draw any serious inferences about major changes.

It could simply reflect some trendiness, or shifts in where people live, and the costs involved in owning/using a car. It might reflect delays in marriage. The bike is nice for singles living in cities, but let's see what folks do when they marry ans need to move families with infants around.

For now, I'll just be cautiously pessimistic (better because it's good to be wrong). I don't hope that folks give up driving, just that they treat it with more respect and drive less wastefully. I live in an area where people jump in the car and drive 3 blocks to pick up a quart of milk, and don't let their children walk anywhere.

My daughter is the same way. No real interest. We're going to have to force her to get a DL before she heads off to college, or she won't do it.

That area would be called the United States.:lol:

J/K (sort of)

I remember when I realized the golden age of the bike had left the building in Davis back in the early '90s. It was when I watched one of my neighbors do a "The Gods Must Be Crazy" maneuver by driving down his driveway to get his mail. Another passed me in his car on the way to the grocery store; we lived eight houses from the store and I got home before he did.

Back on topic, it's refreshing to see that our youth seem to be doing things more sensibly than their elders. I hope it's not just because they can't afford to operate cars but because they don't want to waste their money owning one and thus see no reason to obtain a license. I guess we'll know more in a few years, but I believe this trend has been going on for a while.

My favorite stupid driver event was when I watched someone drive to the store to pick up some milk, then drive to the corner, make a U-turn and park almost exactly across the street to pick up the morning paper, jump back in the car and drive about 1/2 block to pick up bagels. Parked 3 times and made one U-turn to visit 3 stores within about 50 yards of each other. Since he never parked exactly in front of the stores, he probably walked more then if he would have if he parked just once.

We know what can be done, the question remains if it will be done.

From what I've seen, the drop in licensing actually tracks pretty well with teen/twenty-something student debt and un/under-employment combined with increasing costs (purchase, fuel, insurance, etc) of auto ownership. As we used to say: Follow the money!

Any bike commuting content here?

We're discussing the possibility of new converts. By BF standards that's pretty on-topic.

As I said ---- cautiously pessimistic.

My brother is 19 and has almost no interest in cars. He lives in Chicago and is car-free there, and he drives one of our parents' cars out of necessity when he is home. I'm 25, love cars, but hate the associated traffic and expense. I don't see myself spending significant money on cars in the future either.

Somebody didn't watch the linked video in post #1 .

It's an interesting situation. I hope the trend keeps up and we get more focus on public transit. The bus system in Lancaster stinks for anything except getting into and out of the city.

I used to work in Leola. It took about 20 minutes to make the 8 mile drive (and later 30 minutes to make the 7 mile cycle). I looked at the bus routes and figured it would take over two hours to get there using the bus. Walk a mile to the bus stop, take the bus into Lancaster. Wait 45 minutes for the bus out to Leola. Take the bus to the nearest stop, then walk half a mile to the office.

The bus company was at an Earth Day event at work a few years back and I asked them if they had any plans for routes that would hit the satellite towns without going into the city. No funding and no demand, they said.

I've actually been wondering if at least some "road rules" issues are related to this. At least in my city, I think a large portion of young cyclists simply don't know the rules of the road and the conventions of safe road use. Without getting a driver's licence, how do young people learn some of the less obvious parts of road etiquette and safety?

I'm not trying to open a can of worms here, and I'm a commuter myself, it's just something I've been wondering a lot lately. How I drive (and learned to drive) I think informs my cycling, and is one of the reasons I've had so few incidents - I bike defensively. I've often wondered how my habits on the road (on my bike) might be different if I'd never learned to drive.

^ That's one reason I'd be okay with bicycle licensing. Restrict unaccompanied on-road riding to those over 12 and make them get a license. Wouldn't affect kids or people who just want to ride in the park or on trails, but would make on-road cyclists aware of the rules of the road and hopefully lead to happier roads for everyone.

Watch a video from Foxnews for facts or to learn anything? No thanks. Needless to say, none of the comments following post#1 discuss bike commuting. I suspect most bike commuters on this list do have driver's licenses and [shudder shudder] do drive cars.