Earlier this week, my BFF texted to ask me if I could pick up her oldest son and take him to his summer Spanish class on Thursday. She was going to be out of town at an event with her daughter, and her husband would be at work. Of course, I agreed to do so, and planned on leaving this week's curriculum work for a few minutes to help them out.
Her oldest son is 16 years old. She has told me a few times that she would really like him to get his driver's license so he is able to take himself where he needs or wants to be as well as help out with running the other kids around if needed. Unfortunately, he is not nearly as interested in getting that license as the rest of his family is. In fact, she has told me that most of his friends feel the same way. We laugh about how we could not wait to get our licenses and have some freedom. She believes that teenagers, at least the ones in her son's circle, are kind of afraid of driving on their own (Could that be a product of helicopter parenting?). Also, with them all having cell phones and being active on social media, they don't "need" to actually see their friends in person so that motivation to drive isn't there. It's probably a combination of both, but regardless of the reason, he doesn't have his license so I picked him up on Thursday and took him to his class.
During the ride, I brought up driving with him. He has his permit which allows him to drive with an adult, but has not taken the driver's training which is required to test for a license. Back in the olden days when I was 16, driver's training was offered in school. However, due to budget cuts, it isn't any longer and it is up to new driver (and family) to take the classes on his own time and dime. He told me that he just hadn't had the time to take the classes as he's been very busy, which made me chuckle. I would have moved mountains to gain the independence of a driver's license.
It got me thinking about the driver's training I took through high school. THAT also makes me chuckle. The instructor was our school's head football coach. My high school was/is a high profile football school having won many regional and state championships and groomed numerous college and NFL players. Needless to say, driver's training was not the head coach's top priority. The course was a half of a semester and broken up into three parts - lectures and movies on the rules of the road, simulated driving, and driving practice in an actual car. The first part was a joke. I learned more about the rules of the road from the DMV's booklet than I did from anyone's lectures. Both the simulated driving and the road practice were a bit more helpful, but make me laugh out loud when I think about them.
The simulators took place in a large trailer at that back of the school. Inside was made up of maybe 20 "driver's seats" outfitted with a steering wheel, gas and break pedals, even a seatbelt. In the front of the trailer was a large pull down screen where they showed the view from a moving car's front window on a film projector. We had to practice driving in various scenarios and our actions in the "driver's seat" were recorded and graded. It was like a very low-tech driving video game. Watching everyone lean right or left, and duck, and look over their shoulder, and turn the wheel, and pump the brakes to this old-school film was really quite funny.
So was the road practice. Three goofy teenagers and an old crabby driving instructor are a fun mix. One of us would drive, while the other two sat giggling in the backseat. The instructor sat in the passenger seat with her own foot brake. If someone got too unruly on the road, she had the power to stop that car on her own and give us a talking to. It was a weird feeling to have someone else braking the car while you drove. Even back then, I had a bit of a lead foot, so driving with her was no fun at all.
As soon as that training was over, I made an appointment with the DMV to take my driving tests on the day I turned 16. It never would have occurred to me not to.
three on thursday
5 hours ago
Like you, we couldn't wait to get our licenses and our freedom. Same for my kids. In fact, my middle child (for reasons I won't go into here) obtained her hardship license and was officially on the road at 14, totally unrestricted! That sounds so young, but trust me... she was responsible enough (unlike our other two). The laws have changed here and now I think it's a graduated license of sorts, maybe not even being totally unrestricted until 18. I'm just not sure.
ReplyDeleteSeems like the majority of kids who took driver's ed in my day did it for the break they could get on their insurance. I didn't take it, though, and can't remember any of my close friends doing so, either. I do know I always stay alert when I see a car labelled "student driver"! :D
Ha ha! Right!?!? Since I started driving, driver's training has been a requirement for getting a license, but it's just been in the last maybe 5-10 years that it stopped being offered in schools. We were able to get our permit at 15.5 and could drive with an adult in the car. At 16 and with a license, there were no restrictions. Insurance wasn't based on training since we'd all have it. But there were discounts for good grades.
DeleteNow, though, it is definitely more restricted. Kids can still get their license at 16, but can't drive any other kids around (except members of their own family), and they have a driving curfew. That's for a year or until they are 18, whichever comes first.
Due to a late bday, I was almost a year younger than the rest of my classmates so my friends had their licenses first. It was a long wait for my freedom. :)
I had a late bday, too. Besides the driving business, it was longer before I could see M-rated movies, too. My mother always told me the day would come I'd be happy to be younger than all my friends!
DeleteYep! I had the exact comverstions with mine as well...driving, voting, drinking were all milestones I had to wait for. The last one was the worst as I couldn't get into most of the places my friends were able to when they went out. Although they all turned 40 before I did too! ;)
DeleteAh yes... drinking. We won't discuss the things we did that weren't legal, but when I left for college the drinking age was 21 in AR, but 18 in LA (where I went). How convenient! ;) Isn't it 21 nationwide now?
DeleteYes, it's been 21 nationwide for quite sometime. I think even before I was of legal age.
DeleteBoth cars and insurance together with petrol pushes car ownership beyond the range of most until after university here in Ireland.
ReplyDeleteThey have some sort of delusion that a car is a luxury not a requirement, and belonging to the very wealthy. It's truly beyond the pocket of most families to put a car under a kids arse here.
Yes, I'm sure the gas alone would make it hard pressed for a kid to afford a car. It was 99cents a gallon when I started driving.
DeleteI must correct Kelly and say that SOME of her close friends, including this one, took drivers ed (she and I grew up together). I took it as a summer class, much as you describe, taught by a coach with classroom time that was laughable and a simulator. I had little interest in driving but much interest in freedom and independence and would have never thought of not having my license by the day I turned 16. My older two had theirs by that time too but my youngest was not quite ready. By 16 and a half, he was. I never thought about cell phones and constant communication being a reason not to get your drivers license, bit makes sense. Kind of sad.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the cell phones. It may just be that I'm old, but it seems as if kids do have a more difficult time communicating orally. Even with my 2nd graders, we are now required to teach them how to have conversations and speak in complete sentences...no one talks to each other (especially their kids) anymore.
DeleteIt's interesting the differences in requirements from state to state. A friend of mine who is originally from Kansas said she got her license (for farm work) at 14 and the kids can get a permit to drive to school at 15...all without required driver's training. We really can't get a license for anything here without training attached to it.
Truth be told I was a reluctant driver. Back in Pakistan driving is very aggressive.. not fun plus our family had a driver so I never really needed to. But after moving here driving is essential to life.. and so I had to get a license and now I drive more than M does..
ReplyDeleteIt does have a lot to do with where you are when you are learning to drive. Our public trans is mostly awful so that is usually not an option and we are so spread out that walking isn't really either. You have to drive. I do love going to places that don't need a car, either because things are close enough to walk to or the public trans is so easy. I could definitely live my life without a car...just not here. :)
DeleteI know a lot of kids like that--I took driver's Ed in the summer--it was a deal to keep coaches (almost all the instructors were also coaches) employed in the summer months.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting the correlation between coaches and driver's training. Ours also "taught" health/sex ed.
DeleteJust to add. When Ireland trains the kids to drive. And then insures all cars with 3rd party. Then lowers the tax and VAT on all fuel is when out economy will release the energy from the people that they release outside in other countries now. I think that sensible attitude to transport is one of the reasons your country is so resilient to shocks.
ReplyDeleteIf an area has suitable, accessible, economical, and reliable public transportation, the idea of making car ownsership more expensive to encourage public trans use makes some sense. Correct me if I'm wrong, Ireland isn't known for its quality public trans systems. :). I would agree with you that making it cost prohibitive does a disservice and keeps people from participating in "society". While it's very expensive here, it's clearly not prohibitive as is evident by the traffic on the road 24-7. We couldn't function without cars here.
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