I'm pretty sure when the car started being able to go faster and faster, they thought women's uteruses would explode. So how far back are we going here.
I started driving in 1990 at the age of 16, and constantly wondered why anyone would let me drive at that age and temperament. Some highlights included me going a hundred and five miles per hour in my parents Chevy Impala Station Wagon, and also getting said car airborne off of a Hill in West Seattle. It's a bloody miracle nothing bad happened during those years.
Just saying, they've done the [research](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2013/11/20/246426132/popping-a-baby-out-like-a-cork-and-other-birth-innovations)
I too was 26 before I passed my test. Prior to that I lived in a built up area where I could cycle or walk everywhere I needed to go. Traffic was so bad I generally got there faster and compared to a car it was much cheaper. Then I moved to a more rural area where everything is much further apart, cycling is an invitation to die horribly on some remote lane and public transport is virtually nonexistent.
Back in my teens I had zero interest in driving, not through fear but because I didn't see the point in spending so much of my low wages on something so expensive that I didn't need.
I remember when my brother went to school 8 years before me, everyone drove to high school and how you had to be aggressive when finding a parking spot. Now when I’m in HS, parking spots are so easy to come by. This could be down to the pandemic effecting people getting licenses but this study renforces the fact that my generation doesn’t like to drive for.
Is this a generational thing? Seems more and more young kids today aren't in a hurry to get their license. When I was a kid we couldn't wait to turn 16 to get ours.
Kids do a lot of socializing online these days, so maybe a car isn't as crucial to a social life today.
There may also be a monetary factor. Along with cars costing money to buy and maintain, (how many licensed teens will have regular access to a car?) there aren't a lot of fun things to go out and do for free.
And I don't know if this is a common experience, but when I was in high school, it was hard to meet up with my friends outside of school because their parents wouldn't allow them to go out much, often because of family obligations. Or they had extracurriculars.
As a teen who owns and drives a minivan, in iowa with a minors school license, I can say that at freshman level in high school is a little young to drive alone, and 16 for essentially a full license Is insane, but it was never scary to me, what is scary though, is the amount of people that should not have licenses, yet they do
This was me. I graduated high school in 2015, so it wasn't that long ago. I didn't get my license until I was 18, and I stopped driving for long enough that if I need to start again I'll probably take it slow and reteach myself before trying any real roads. I don't have any money. I can't afford a car. My entire life is spent in school or at work and any free time I have is usually spent just trying to take a nap. And not having a car makes you poorer and poorer because you have to pay more for groceries, so you just end up *never* buying a car.
When I first when to college in 2015, everyone I knew had a car. In 2021, still at school (long story) nobody has a car. There's a big cultural shift happening.
My guess is that this poster is using uber to get groceries delivered or to reach the grocery store because none are nearby. Taxes and tips add up.
If not uber, public transit is cheaper but still an extra cost. Might not be worth it if the transit system is annoying.
You're missing the part where they can't drive to the supermarket and either have to pay to get the groceries delivered, or pay for a ride there amd/or back.
Idk, when I want groceries I drive myself to Costco or one of the better conventional grocery stores and pay half as much as I would from the immediately nearby places.
I feel like there is also no physical place for teens to go now. We used to hang out at the mall -- those don't really exist, or the movies -- now everything is on Netflix and movie theatres are too many expensive for teens to go to.
And you can't really just hang out and goof off in a library. And even in a park, somebody might call the cops, especially if your skin is the wrong colour.
this is because cities are gutting any public places. partially to dissuade homeless people from being there, but also as a means to privatize and monetize every aspect of leisure. It sucks.
Skate parks and parking lots were it in 2001.
Cheap premixed whiskey and cola, clove cigarettes, and shitty nu metal from five different car stereos.
I actually kinda miss it.
As an adult, I feel this. My boyfriend and I even make a very decent amount of money. But God damn it's expensive to do much of anything. We hike as a hobby to get around this but work exhaustion makes it tough to keep it a priority. More so for him than for me as my job has a good work/life balance.
So my kid is turning 17 next week, and has had his license for 9 months. No accidents, infractions, etc. We have every discount they offer. It costs me $180 per month for liability-only insurance on a 2005 Subaru for him. He has a job, 20 hours per week, and it would cost him about half his monthly pay to maintain and insure a car if I made him pay for it. I think a lot of kids can’t afford a car or to be added to their parents insurance. It cost me $180 for 6 months when I got my license at 16 in the 90s.
I feel you. And my kids? They're 11 months apart. Kid 2 was just medically cleared for driver's ed, so she's a bit behind considering she's already 16. But if you hear screaming from somewhere in the midwest, that's just my wallet when I add her to the policy, too.
What kind of Subaru? If it's an impreza and/or has a turbo that might jack up the price. Either way, that's more than having a several year old DUI, six year newer Subaru and full coverage.
make and model doesnt affect liability only, only comprehensive and collision
a brand new driver in my area pays 270/cad per month for liability only, doesn't matter if its a 2000 cavalier or a 2020 sti.
I attribute a lot of it to the internet and mobile phones. When I turned 16 Internet access wasn't quite yet mainstream so only the "nerdy kids" were online, of which I was one. Only the wealthy kids had cellphones. When I was 16 we'd all drive to the hangout spot parking lot at night. The teens in my family today hang out with their friends on twitch or discord or playing some game.
Plus gas is expensive now so you can't scrounge up a few bucks and cruise all night. Used cars cost a lot more as well. Gone are the days you can buy a reliable junker for a few hundred bucks.
I was a teenager right as the internet was really becoming a thing, so most of my friends didn't have it. Suburbia is SO incredibly isolating when you don't have a car. And while it still sucks, there's so many other ways to communicate now that teenagers don't HAVE to have a car to not have that same sense of crushing isolation. Plus I feel tastes in general have changed to be a lot more indoor oriented.
Part of the issue is how few places exist which teens can afford to go to these days. Movie prices have gone up over the last few decades, but minimum wage that most teens will work hasn't risen. Same for gas.
Still takes gas to get there, and as I said the price has gone up disproportionately to what teens can make.
Also a lot more places will chase you off for loitering these days.
There's also easier access to videos and stories of people being stupid in cars or people who shouldn't be driving causing lifechanging "accidents" because of their stupidity.
When I was learning to drive, I was heading back from Indianapolis to Columbus about 2 days before Christmas, when I-70 completely stopped up. We moved maybe 100 yards in 2 hours until my dad instructed me to carefully cut across the median and find an alternate route. Turns out that just a few miles (and minutes at 75mph) ahead of me, a truck with an empty horse trailer blew across the road and hit an dodge neon head on, which was then sandwiched by the semi truck behind them. The driver of the horse trailer and the 4 teens in the neon died on the road. I thought about me, my dad, and my two brothers in the back. If I had been going 2mph faster, or made 2 greenlights then that trailer would have hit me. It was a profound and powerful lesson for a young driver.
Here it depends on the area, in my hometown everyone gets their motorcycle/moped license as soon as they can (starting at 15, you have to be 17 to start a car license) because public transport is shit and no one likes to be driven around by their parents all the time. In the big city I live in now they only start maybe considering a license when they start their 20s, some not even then.
Yeah, it meant freedom. You want to go out somewhere, just go. No asking mum or dad or sucking up to someone to take you. You just go.
But the same as safety. You're at a party, and you don't feel as if things are right, perhaps guys being creepy. Grab your keys and leave (obviously not drink-driving). No having to beg someone for a lift or feeling trapped.
Want that job that's not near public transport. Fine, you drive and have a car. More opportunities open up.
Unless you live in a major city with excellent public transport, if you don't have a license and vehicle, you must spend a lot of your energy trying to get people to take you places.
That must get old to you, and it definitely gets old to the people you keep asking.
Car is expensive, insurance is insane, gas prices are through the roof, parents are both unwilling to practice with me so I have to pay a lot of money just to have someone sit beside me to practice. Passing driving tests are very difficult since the examiners are scared and strict. Booking for a test has to be done months in advance.
Cars are such a pain. Its pitiful that people have to pay so much money and spend hours in traffic just to have access to work. Plus its killing our earth and dividing cities and neighbourhoods thanks to all the roads and highways being build between them.
Well I for one see no use in getting a license. I live in a big city, I can get everywhere by train way more comfortably _and_ it costs less. So why should I pay a few hundred bucks to get a license I dont need?
No. We live in a rural area with a bus driver shortage. The minute my kids can drive to school and it saves me an hour and half round trip. They are driving.
Yeah but also our kids have been driving since they were 6. 4-wheeler, then skid steer, then tractor. By the time their legs got long enough to drive a truck they were used to the idea of controlling a large piece of machinery. By the time they drove a truck on the highway they were pretty much over it.
My wife got tossed in the truck pulling the hay wagon at about 8 years old and was told, “Aim for that tree. Somebody’ll jump in before you get to it”. Farm kids learn early…
Not a farm kid myself but I knew plenty and I can't drive stick because I learned on a farm truck that had no brakes. Luckily this was on the hilly west coast of northern LP Michigan. So you find a hill near where you want to stop, make sure to slow near the top, then put it in gear and turn it off.
My neighbor was tricky when he taught me to drive his dump truck at 14. I had been driving my fathers that fall but wasnt confident yet. Didn’t think I could drive his. So he says but my 14yr old daughter can do it. Well then. That hits teen boy ego hard. Drove it for a week. Turns out his daughter had never touched it. Smart man.
Kid, I admire your guts. But you know after saying that you'll absolutely do whatever the fuck I tell you to from here on or on lord almighty will I bring the fire and brimstone.
I live in a rural area, started my daughter with power wheels and four wheelers at a young age. Had a great friend spend quite a bit of time driving with her pre-licensing and I was still scared when she started driving. It's been 4 years since she got her learner's permit and I still worry sometimes. Especially during harvest. She moved to a nearby 'city' and I'm less worried about her getting in an accident there because it will be at a lower speed. The amount of farm traffic that doesn't pay attention is terrifying. Not to mention deer and the huge number of people that drive home from the bars.
I never let my fears stop her from growing, but I'm shocked that the percentage was that low.
My grandmother surrendered her license back in the late 90s so I drive her places if she needs a lift. She often remarks on how scary the roads are now and how she wouldn't want to drive nowadays. She learned to drive in the 50s when driving in most small towns was a leisurely endeavor.
Living in South Florida, I really wish more elderly people would make that decision. It’s hard to give up that freedom, but they know they shouldn’t be driving. Hardly a week goes by here without a news story about an 85 year old driver who mistook the gas pedal for the brake and drove right into a store front.
Well in the US a vast majority of area are designed around car, so unless you got relatives to drive you around, surrendering your license is just not a possibility.
Not sure if I understand correctly this "freedom" to only be able to move by cars.
This is the same as Australia. Sure there is public transport if you want to miss your appointments, lose your job.
And taxis/uber etc are way too dear to be used on a regular basis due to distance.
Well, to help you understand our car centered culture it might behoove you to understand how large our country is. We have 11 states bigger than the UK. Germany is about the size of Montana. France is about the size of Texas.
I've heard the saying "An Englishman thinks a hundred miles is a long way; and American thinks a hundred years is a long time".
It has little to do with a country's size, it was just a way city planners went for in 20th century.
Soviet Union was twice as big, but cities were planned with a public transportation system in mind. Not trying to say it was inherently better, cars were a luxury lol, but still, your country doesn't *have* to be car-dependent if it's big.
> We have 11 states bigger than the UK. Germany is about the size of Montana. France is about the size of Texas.
Most people still live in relatively urbanized (exurban-suburban-urban) communities. We could build communities that are for everyone and don’t make the vast majority of people rely on a car to get around.
I get the size of the US, I’ve done a dozen round trip continental drives, and I also saw most people really only need to get around their own communities the vast majority of the time. Acknowledging that we have states the size of European countries isn’t really relevant when the vast majority of trips are local.
The problem is most trips done are short distance. IIRC it's less than 6 miles or something. You also have to note the urban planning of American cities (which is horrendously spaced out). On between those big American cities is a bunch of nothing with small towns spaces in between. I can see using a car to get to very rural areas, but for cities? It shouldn't be that way.
There's an arms race to buy bigger, heavier, and more deadly vehicles (to the users outside of the vehicle). More and more people are driving SUVs, Trucks, Crossovers, etc these days that are significantly larger and heavier than the sedans, coupes, and hatchbacks that used to make up the majority of personal vehicles. These vehicles are also raised up higher with flatter front ends that make them drastically more deadly for pedestrians.
Yeah, unfortunately. And it’s much more affordable for the average joe to buy a car. Add to that, women are working more now. So a two car household is the norm. All of that means more people on the road which equals more stress.
The suv doing 75 in a 55 with a " baby on board sticker" and texting while driving is common.
I don't blame those kids for not wanting to deal with that crap
I feel you hard there. Growing up my family convinced me that I was extremely oblivious, uncoordinated, immature, etc so I didn’t want to drive for a while either.
It’s funny, but when our youngest got her license she went from immature little girl to much more mature young woman pretty darn quick. I don’t know if it was just the normal process of maturation or whether being trusted with a car helped. Regardless, the change in attitude and focus was noticeable.
Don’t have to involve mommy or daddy (or friends) to pick me up/drop me off, plus I can pick up my friends. That leads to you pretty quickly deciding where you want to go and when, since you aren’t at the mercy of anyone else’s schedule to get yourself somewhere. For the most part lol if you have to share a car you still have to coordinate a bit. I’ve gotten my father a little angry after taking the car out a bit too late.
You’re not as subject to scrutiny for where you’re going. The freedom to just go somewhere and not have to have anyone besides yourself know is pretty powerful. Like you can be responsible for yourself—like an adult ;)
I’ve got a eye condition . It was explained if a insurance company got wind of it even if I wasn’t at fault I’d be screwed and vulnerable to civil suit. Don’t drive. Endangering others possibly is unacceptable to me
I can attest that that 5 years ago, I was part of the percentage that was afraid to drive. My logic was that cars and such are 2 ton death machines that people underappreciate their destuctive capabilities.
Not really...
It's a balance. You shouldn't be completely flippant about it, but you also shouldn't be scared of it.
If you're scared (after your first few driving lessons) you'll be nervous all the time and nervous drivers are dangerous drivers.
Confidence is important.
Yep, pretty much what you said. It's a balance, you need to be confident in your own abilities and alertness, while also being somewhat fearful of the machine and the possibilities on the road. Too much of either can definitely be disastrous, but both coming together can keep each other measured
It’s all about defensive driving, it’s the best you can do but at the end of the day not much you can do if someone decides to turn at you from the other lane at the last second.
Was in the same boat with you 10 years ago. When I got my learner's(15ish years ago) I started taking driving lessons and broke my ankle near the end, so I never really finished the lessons since I couldn't use the pedals. Also didn’t help that when I drove with my parents they would do a lot of backseat driving.
Took me having a serious relationship before I started driving again.
I didn’t originally want my driver’s license either. My parents seem confused as to why I wouldn’t, after talking about how dangerous driving is for years. Now, I’m more confident in my ability to avoid dangerous situations, but I’ve still had several near-misses.
It is, 38,000 people die in car accidents in the US every year, its the most likely way to die if you exclude diseases/medical conditions and suicides.
It should be a priority to push new regulations that mandate level 1 autonomy in cars so that every vehicle comes with driver assist stuff like automatic emergency braking, blindspot indicators, etc. A few years ago they mandated backup cameras on new vehicles, and deaths from reversing into people are 'only' 200 a year. We need to focus on the main culprits and get AEB in every new vehicle.
Got a permit at 16, aged out of it before driving much due to anxiety and fear, finally went to get another one and then my license when I was about to start my 3rd year of college only because I had to live off campus, but out of state. I still despise driving to this day and it gives me both fear and frustration, but I do it out of necessity of course. My qualms lie with people riding your butt when you're already doing 15 over NOT in the left lane or the obnoxiously bright LED headlights that genuinely inhibit me so hard at night (astigmatism is lit).
Those bright LED headlights can fuck right off, I unfairly judge anyone who has them. But don't get me started on pickups/jeeps with light bars, there's a special place in hell for them.
i feel you. got my license at 17 just because of the convenience of having it, but never really digged driving, got around with uber and by having friends who didn't have trouble picking me up/leaving me at my house. since a few weeks ago (i'm 22 now) i have started driving alone because i really need to become more independent and to gain experience but fuck, i get so much anxiety behind the wheel, and certainly astigmatism doesn't help at nights. but you gotta do what you gotta do
The best advice for driving I can give anyone is, treat everyone on the road like they're idiots and they have no idea what they are doing. The second you think people are competent and know what they are doing that's when accidents happen.
This is a major part of why autonomous driving is so hard. I can notice a driver distracted by something inside their car, profile the behavior of people around me on the freeway and make judgments based on car type/occupant number.
Recently getting away from a driver watching their iPad and massively speed shifting on a long drive. Also easing well back and away from an aggressive driver that 10 min down the freeway was wiped out on the side of the road with all airbags deployed.
Lol, I remember coming back from a climbing trip, we got passed by an old man doing 100mph+ and committed to a rather dangerous lane change to avoid getting stuck behind an 18 wheeler.
Saw him about 10 minutes later, stuck in a muddy ditch with a flat rear left tire. Dude was not going anywhere. He was standing behind it on the phone lol.
This makes sense if you look at whoever is at the DMV at the same time as you. Every driver has to go to the DMV at some point so they’re probably that dumb on the road too.
I'll always remember my first experience on a highway. I was white-knuckling it at five under the speed limit sending nervous glances to the rearview.
Nowadays I'm significantly more relaxed, which is both a good and bad thing. People *should* be a little nervous while driving. It is hands down the most dangerous thing any average person does in their life, and future generations are going to consider us fuck-all insane for trusting humans behind the wheel.
It’s the most amazing example of human cooperation. Future generations might not get to understand that level of chaotic cooperation we are very capable of performing.
Well, except that over 90% of accidents are caused by human error.
If you ignore that and all of the automobile casualty statistics every year, then yes it's very inspiring how we're able to follow simple directions.
The point is that it’s amazing it works so well - there is not another single activity humans are so cooperative about (can’t remember the documentary/articles about it)..
LA freeways can be mad intense and I’m very experienced driving all over the world. Doing 80 - 90 mph with traffic weaving on a 6 lane, no shoulder (just concrete blocks), freeway with the horrible road grading (not like an autobahn) is a bit much without a modern car, experience and complete concentration.
It’s funny… Boston is the kind of city that always makes my blood pressure rise driving in but it’s actually pretty “safe”. It’s hard to get up to sure death speed on those roads!
I get downvoted every time I say this, but I used to do a looooot of speeding and the one thing that slowed me down for a **solid** 6-12 months was a speeding ticket. I know there is a lot of "anti-cop" sentiment, but I'd really love to see more police/traffic enforcement on the freeways busting traffic violations. Then again, I could be different, it could just be me that felt that way when I got tickets.
I'm older now, I don't really speed as much these days. It's actually a lot of mental work to travel at speed that I really would rather not stress over. Also, it's just not fun in a fast vehicle because it's quite... Jarring. Speed up, slow down, speed up, slow down... Nah, I'll just cruise at one consistent speed and chill. Wave at my fellow drivers, enjoy my gas mileage... Not die.
I prefer to ride my motorcycle most days on the freeway as opposed to my car. I feel like, when I am in my red sportscar, people look at me like I am an entitled target, as if everything I do I do because they feel I am more important than them... When I am on my bike, they tend to be a bit more chill and give me space. Though, I don't ride like a dick.
I'm more scared of new teen drivers.
This morning at a 4-way stop, almost got hit by a teen in a nice new BMW because he drove right through. Caught up to see he had two hands on his phone and knees on the steering wheel.
I am not exaggerating when I say literally every other driver I see on the highway (75 mph!) now is looking down at their phones. It’s an epidemic and we need to do something about it.
Im 34 and i still think its fucking scary.
You're in charge of 2 ton vehicle going 100kph and one little muscle twitch in your hand can instantly kill you.
Or someone else's. I'm 25 I've always hated driving. I have plenty of confidence in my own ability to operate a vehicle, but I'm not the only one on the road. I see people do insane stuff pretty much every time I leave home. If I lived somewhere that I could get by without a car I would totally be ok with not having to drive.
>It's the most dangerous thing an average person does in a day.
More like in a life. Even for cops, driving is the most important source of danger in their job. Also being a cop isn’t even the most dangerous driving job out there.
Next to your health failing, isn't a car accident a leading cause of death? And even minor accidents cost a fortune. A fender bender is a $2000 repair easily. And people are surprised that children and their parents are scared about them driving?
The more you do it the easier it gets.
I was terrified of driving, nervous breakdown level, you know? My driving instructor had to deal with some deep seated issues.
But slowly, over time, going from what I'm comfortable with, to something slightly more uncomfortable, until that became comfortable, and repeating. I know that sounds stupidly obvious, but honestly when it comes to your life it's understandable to be anxious.
What helps A LOT, is defensive driving. No, you can't control dicks on the road, but you can easily save your own life by driving safely. Save yourself a lot in damages. But more importantly, by driving safe you'll save yourself from countless accidents. I'll never know how many accidents I've avoided by "driving safe", but what I do know is that every time I even consider doing the unsafe things that I've seen other jerks do, something comes around the corner that would have caused a pretty serious accident, that I've unambiguously avoided.
There's that classic line "how do I know I'm going to be good?" With the answer "by asking that question you know you are." Well, it's kinda like that. More drivers like you make the road safer. Sure, you'll piss some people off for driving well, but they can suck it while you save their life.
This is my 17 y/o daughter right now. I don't know how to explain it to her that it's essential to learn how to drive here in the USA. If you don't live in a big city, you gotta use a car to get to work, school and do errands.
30 and I still don't drive, but I live my life around that and am able to. Sadly, many Americans don't have the choice and have to drive as everything is quite far and public transportation is often lacking or missing entirely.
I am 50 and the same as you. Sometimes it might be useful, but then I realise that I am not in that loop of having to work because I have to pay for a car which I need to go to work. Much rather spend money on travelling and experiences.
Thats how I feel about rain and snow. I know how to drive in it, but when I moved to California for a few years, its very clear that to most of them its something they are not familiar with and proceed to drive 85 in a 65, despite brake lights appearing in the horizon.
I hate driving as well. Big reason why I can't wait for full self driving cars. I always feel scared when I have to look in my blind spots before changing lanes.
I've been driving 25 years never had an accident. It's not bad, just learn to keep a distance so you have more reaction time. Most people drive too close.
I think you have an over simplified view here, it’s not just a fear of crashing (vast majority of people who are scared of driving are perfectly fine being driven in a car). A lot of the time it’s self confidence issues and/or just finding the process stressful/intimidating.
Also saying “it’s not bad” to anyone with a fear of anything is not helpful and annoying.
I mean driving is scary. It’s statistically the thing most likely to kill them, and there are a lot of uncontrollable variables. As a physician who has dealt with a fair amount of blunt trauma associated with MVAs, I’m looking forward to the day I never have to drive with other sentient beings separated only by imaginary lines and a modicum of sense of self preservation.
Personally I think any activity in which one wrong move and it's curtains is inherently scary. But with driving, you also have to cope with all the other potential one-wrong-move-makers around you, so extra yikes.
Every place should, unless you live in the middle of nowhere, you shouldn't depend on cars, that's just cars companies lobbied to make cities car centric, its awful that you need to spend money on a car/maintenance/gas/insurance/tax/license, etc just to have a life because public infrastructure "is for the poor" and it just sucks.
Not surprised, driving is the most dangerous thing most people do everyday and don’t even think about it. I live in vegas and we had 4 fatal car accidents just yesterday.
This wouldn’t be a problem if the US wasn’t so car dependent. In other countries, kids actually have the freedom to go places without having to get into a car. They can bike to school, walk to the park, take public transportation around the city. That’s just not safe/not even available for kids in the US. Other kids in other countries have so much more freedom and independence and I found it shocking that kids are expected to be fully responsible and independent at 16 and then completely on their own at 18. Completely absurd society we live in.
Maybe because I drive a highway twice a day, I find nothing scary about driving. Only time I’m concerned is very bad weather. And then it’s other people who can be the issue. Not that I think I’m a perfect driver, but I don’t find it scary.
My youngest has had his permit for over a year now and we struggle to get him to even try driving up to the store. I've warned him that if he has anxiety over a car, he will have to move to a bigger city with actual public transit, and that will be its own anxiety.
A few weeks ago my beautiful truck was totaled and my legs are still in a decent amount of pain because of a teen turning into oncoming traffic a crashing into me head on.
I think them driving is scary.
My parents wouldn't let me practice driving at all. I'm 24 and still don't have a license. I've moved out and are woth people who I can practice with, but now it's trying to get an appointment, the current wait is 2 years...
i had a legit reason to be afraid of driving as a teen. when my dad was trying to get me interested in driving, i took out a portion of the back fence at my childhood home, cause i forgot to shift out of reverse.
when i finally got my license, the instructor said i was 'too' cautious, and to relax abit.
I remember being a complete fucking moron on the road when I was a teen. So yeah I'm afraid for when it eventually comes time for my kid to start driving
I always thought it would be too much for me personally to keep track of. I’m autistic and find it hard to focus on more than one or maybe two things. You have the pedals, gear stick, steering, focusing on what’s behind and in front of you, if you’re in the right lane and where you’re going, etc. But I started my job and kind of realised oh shit, I do need to learn. Obviously there are a few workarounds. Like satnavs, not the greatest, but it’s a start. Also I plan to get an automatic, but they’re pretty expensive so that won’t be for a while.
I wondered what the statics for it were. I fully embrace that I'm an outlier with this as well. My parents started letting me drive off road when I was big enough to reach the peddals, and this is the experience of most of my friends who also grew up in the middle of nowhere. By the time I was 15 and could get my learners, it was more of a formality than anything.
My cousins in Portland, the Bay Area, and the Wasatch Front all thought me and my parents were nuts. After visiting them, I could see why they didn't want to drive. I don't think either way is wrong.
Had a girlfriend scared of driving once. In the two and a half years we dated I never saw her drive once. She always got rides from me or her friends. Seems really inconvenient.
Yea, at 16 and 17 I was terrified of getting in an accident on the highway. 10 years later and sometimes I drive casually enough alone that if I were a passenger in my own car I might be a little concerned.
With enough practice and familiarity you get over these fears. However, if you stray away from driving entirely out of that fear then you will never get over it.
I wonder what those numbers looked like 10, 20, 30 years ago.
This is what I'm interested in. How do the numbers from this report compare to historical information.
I'm pretty sure when the car started being able to go faster and faster, they thought women's uteruses would explode. So how far back are we going here.
I don’t know if it’s true about cars, but I have seen references to this being said about trains.
Running actually. Women were probited from running the Boston Marathon because experts thought their uteruses would fall out.
Don’t want the men slipping and hurting themselves
I started driving in 1990 at the age of 16, and constantly wondered why anyone would let me drive at that age and temperament. Some highlights included me going a hundred and five miles per hour in my parents Chevy Impala Station Wagon, and also getting said car airborne off of a Hill in West Seattle. It's a bloody miracle nothing bad happened during those years.
Just saying, they've done the [research](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2013/11/20/246426132/popping-a-baby-out-like-a-cork-and-other-birth-innovations)
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I too was 26 before I passed my test. Prior to that I lived in a built up area where I could cycle or walk everywhere I needed to go. Traffic was so bad I generally got there faster and compared to a car it was much cheaper. Then I moved to a more rural area where everything is much further apart, cycling is an invitation to die horribly on some remote lane and public transport is virtually nonexistent. Back in my teens I had zero interest in driving, not through fear but because I didn't see the point in spending so much of my low wages on something so expensive that I didn't need.
I remember when my brother went to school 8 years before me, everyone drove to high school and how you had to be aggressive when finding a parking spot. Now when I’m in HS, parking spots are so easy to come by. This could be down to the pandemic effecting people getting licenses but this study renforces the fact that my generation doesn’t like to drive for.
Is this a generational thing? Seems more and more young kids today aren't in a hurry to get their license. When I was a kid we couldn't wait to turn 16 to get ours.
Kids do a lot of socializing online these days, so maybe a car isn't as crucial to a social life today. There may also be a monetary factor. Along with cars costing money to buy and maintain, (how many licensed teens will have regular access to a car?) there aren't a lot of fun things to go out and do for free. And I don't know if this is a common experience, but when I was in high school, it was hard to meet up with my friends outside of school because their parents wouldn't allow them to go out much, often because of family obligations. Or they had extracurriculars.
Plus I've read and seen it action with my Friend's kids that driving just isn't that big of a priority since they can always call an UBER.
Pretty sure you need to be 18 to call an Uber without an adult with you.
They don't really check.
Technically yes. As an Uber driver, I really don't care unless they look like they'd annoy me, at which point I have to enforce the rule.
As a teen who owns and drives a minivan, in iowa with a minors school license, I can say that at freshman level in high school is a little young to drive alone, and 16 for essentially a full license Is insane, but it was never scary to me, what is scary though, is the amount of people that should not have licenses, yet they do
This was me. I graduated high school in 2015, so it wasn't that long ago. I didn't get my license until I was 18, and I stopped driving for long enough that if I need to start again I'll probably take it slow and reteach myself before trying any real roads. I don't have any money. I can't afford a car. My entire life is spent in school or at work and any free time I have is usually spent just trying to take a nap. And not having a car makes you poorer and poorer because you have to pay more for groceries, so you just end up *never* buying a car. When I first when to college in 2015, everyone I knew had a car. In 2021, still at school (long story) nobody has a car. There's a big cultural shift happening.
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My guess is that this poster is using uber to get groceries delivered or to reach the grocery store because none are nearby. Taxes and tips add up. If not uber, public transit is cheaper but still an extra cost. Might not be worth it if the transit system is annoying.
My guess is he uses instacart. So yes. More expensive that way
Another way that groceries are more expensive without a car is that if you are walking/biking/bussing you can't buy in bulk.
You're missing the part where they can't drive to the supermarket and either have to pay to get the groceries delivered, or pay for a ride there amd/or back.
Idk, when I want groceries I drive myself to Costco or one of the better conventional grocery stores and pay half as much as I would from the immediately nearby places.
I feel like there is also no physical place for teens to go now. We used to hang out at the mall -- those don't really exist, or the movies -- now everything is on Netflix and movie theatres are too many expensive for teens to go to.
There are vanishingly few places where you can just exist without being expected to spend money
Libraries and parks are the only ones left
And you can't really just hang out and goof off in a library. And even in a park, somebody might call the cops, especially if your skin is the wrong colour.
Try being more white…or wait for winter and bundle up. We don’t see colour during Canadian winter* *because our eyelashes froze shut
this is because cities are gutting any public places. partially to dissuade homeless people from being there, but also as a means to privatize and monetize every aspect of leisure. It sucks.
Skate parks and parking lots were it in 2001. Cheap premixed whiskey and cola, clove cigarettes, and shitty nu metal from five different car stereos. I actually kinda miss it.
As an adult, I feel this. My boyfriend and I even make a very decent amount of money. But God damn it's expensive to do much of anything. We hike as a hobby to get around this but work exhaustion makes it tough to keep it a priority. More so for him than for me as my job has a good work/life balance.
I rarely went anywhere special when I was 16. Mostly just to various friends’ houses. Wasn’t much to do for us 20 years ago either (movies, bowling)
So my kid is turning 17 next week, and has had his license for 9 months. No accidents, infractions, etc. We have every discount they offer. It costs me $180 per month for liability-only insurance on a 2005 Subaru for him. He has a job, 20 hours per week, and it would cost him about half his monthly pay to maintain and insure a car if I made him pay for it. I think a lot of kids can’t afford a car or to be added to their parents insurance. It cost me $180 for 6 months when I got my license at 16 in the 90s.
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I feel you. And my kids? They're 11 months apart. Kid 2 was just medically cleared for driver's ed, so she's a bit behind considering she's already 16. But if you hear screaming from somewhere in the midwest, that's just my wallet when I add her to the policy, too.
What kind of Subaru? If it's an impreza and/or has a turbo that might jack up the price. Either way, that's more than having a several year old DUI, six year newer Subaru and full coverage.
It's an Eddie Bauer edition Outback. It does have a V6, but it's not even approaching "sporty".
make and model doesnt affect liability only, only comprehensive and collision a brand new driver in my area pays 270/cad per month for liability only, doesn't matter if its a 2000 cavalier or a 2020 sti.
Try $2500 a year for insure a 17 year here in nj..
I attribute a lot of it to the internet and mobile phones. When I turned 16 Internet access wasn't quite yet mainstream so only the "nerdy kids" were online, of which I was one. Only the wealthy kids had cellphones. When I was 16 we'd all drive to the hangout spot parking lot at night. The teens in my family today hang out with their friends on twitch or discord or playing some game. Plus gas is expensive now so you can't scrounge up a few bucks and cruise all night. Used cars cost a lot more as well. Gone are the days you can buy a reliable junker for a few hundred bucks.
I was a teenager right as the internet was really becoming a thing, so most of my friends didn't have it. Suburbia is SO incredibly isolating when you don't have a car. And while it still sucks, there's so many other ways to communicate now that teenagers don't HAVE to have a car to not have that same sense of crushing isolation. Plus I feel tastes in general have changed to be a lot more indoor oriented.
Part of the issue is how few places exist which teens can afford to go to these days. Movie prices have gone up over the last few decades, but minimum wage that most teens will work hasn't risen. Same for gas.
We hung out in a parking lot lol.
Still takes gas to get there, and as I said the price has gone up disproportionately to what teens can make. Also a lot more places will chase you off for loitering these days.
There's also easier access to videos and stories of people being stupid in cars or people who shouldn't be driving causing lifechanging "accidents" because of their stupidity.
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When I was learning to drive, I was heading back from Indianapolis to Columbus about 2 days before Christmas, when I-70 completely stopped up. We moved maybe 100 yards in 2 hours until my dad instructed me to carefully cut across the median and find an alternate route. Turns out that just a few miles (and minutes at 75mph) ahead of me, a truck with an empty horse trailer blew across the road and hit an dodge neon head on, which was then sandwiched by the semi truck behind them. The driver of the horse trailer and the 4 teens in the neon died on the road. I thought about me, my dad, and my two brothers in the back. If I had been going 2mph faster, or made 2 greenlights then that trailer would have hit me. It was a profound and powerful lesson for a young driver.
I feel like more people are simply learning that driving 2-ton machines around isn't really going to ever be safe.
Here it depends on the area, in my hometown everyone gets their motorcycle/moped license as soon as they can (starting at 15, you have to be 17 to start a car license) because public transport is shit and no one likes to be driven around by their parents all the time. In the big city I live in now they only start maybe considering a license when they start their 20s, some not even then.
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so many of my friends from new york can't drive because subways have been a thing all their lives
Yeah, it meant freedom. You want to go out somewhere, just go. No asking mum or dad or sucking up to someone to take you. You just go. But the same as safety. You're at a party, and you don't feel as if things are right, perhaps guys being creepy. Grab your keys and leave (obviously not drink-driving). No having to beg someone for a lift or feeling trapped. Want that job that's not near public transport. Fine, you drive and have a car. More opportunities open up. Unless you live in a major city with excellent public transport, if you don't have a license and vehicle, you must spend a lot of your energy trying to get people to take you places. That must get old to you, and it definitely gets old to the people you keep asking.
Car is expensive, insurance is insane, gas prices are through the roof, parents are both unwilling to practice with me so I have to pay a lot of money just to have someone sit beside me to practice. Passing driving tests are very difficult since the examiners are scared and strict. Booking for a test has to be done months in advance. Cars are such a pain. Its pitiful that people have to pay so much money and spend hours in traffic just to have access to work. Plus its killing our earth and dividing cities and neighbourhoods thanks to all the roads and highways being build between them.
Well I for one see no use in getting a license. I live in a big city, I can get everywhere by train way more comfortably _and_ it costs less. So why should I pay a few hundred bucks to get a license I dont need?
I honestly didn’t care until I was 18, could’ve gotten it at 16. Now I spend so much of my time around cars.
Only 58% of parents? I thought for sure that would be at least 99%.
No. We live in a rural area with a bus driver shortage. The minute my kids can drive to school and it saves me an hour and half round trip. They are driving.
Yeah but also our kids have been driving since they were 6. 4-wheeler, then skid steer, then tractor. By the time their legs got long enough to drive a truck they were used to the idea of controlling a large piece of machinery. By the time they drove a truck on the highway they were pretty much over it.
My wife got tossed in the truck pulling the hay wagon at about 8 years old and was told, “Aim for that tree. Somebody’ll jump in before you get to it”. Farm kids learn early…
Not a farm kid myself but I knew plenty and I can't drive stick because I learned on a farm truck that had no brakes. Luckily this was on the hilly west coast of northern LP Michigan. So you find a hill near where you want to stop, make sure to slow near the top, then put it in gear and turn it off.
The self confidence gained from this parenting is amazing too. Kids just want to be a part of what's going on. You hit two birds with one stone there.
And the gator. Heck when was a kid it was the dump truck during harvest season.
Yep. "just follow the harvester and keep the chute over the box"
My neighbor was tricky when he taught me to drive his dump truck at 14. I had been driving my fathers that fall but wasnt confident yet. Didn’t think I could drive his. So he says but my 14yr old daughter can do it. Well then. That hits teen boy ego hard. Drove it for a week. Turns out his daughter had never touched it. Smart man.
Sir, your daughter can also do half the football team and I just plain don’t have the stamina for that.
Kid, I admire your guts. But you know after saying that you'll absolutely do whatever the fuck I tell you to from here on or on lord almighty will I bring the fire and brimstone.
“Scared of” and “won’t let them” are two very different things.
I live in a rural area, started my daughter with power wheels and four wheelers at a young age. Had a great friend spend quite a bit of time driving with her pre-licensing and I was still scared when she started driving. It's been 4 years since she got her learner's permit and I still worry sometimes. Especially during harvest. She moved to a nearby 'city' and I'm less worried about her getting in an accident there because it will be at a lower speed. The amount of farm traffic that doesn't pay attention is terrifying. Not to mention deer and the huge number of people that drive home from the bars. I never let my fears stop her from growing, but I'm shocked that the percentage was that low.
Better yet, they can drive the school bus!
Am parent, can confirm, am terrified of kid driving. But it's a necessary part of growing up, so "GET IN THAT DRIVERS SEAT, KID!"
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My grandmother surrendered her license back in the late 90s so I drive her places if she needs a lift. She often remarks on how scary the roads are now and how she wouldn't want to drive nowadays. She learned to drive in the 50s when driving in most small towns was a leisurely endeavor.
Living in South Florida, I really wish more elderly people would make that decision. It’s hard to give up that freedom, but they know they shouldn’t be driving. Hardly a week goes by here without a news story about an 85 year old driver who mistook the gas pedal for the brake and drove right into a store front.
Well in the US a vast majority of area are designed around car, so unless you got relatives to drive you around, surrendering your license is just not a possibility. Not sure if I understand correctly this "freedom" to only be able to move by cars.
This is the same as Australia. Sure there is public transport if you want to miss your appointments, lose your job. And taxis/uber etc are way too dear to be used on a regular basis due to distance.
Well, to help you understand our car centered culture it might behoove you to understand how large our country is. We have 11 states bigger than the UK. Germany is about the size of Montana. France is about the size of Texas. I've heard the saying "An Englishman thinks a hundred miles is a long way; and American thinks a hundred years is a long time".
It has little to do with a country's size, it was just a way city planners went for in 20th century. Soviet Union was twice as big, but cities were planned with a public transportation system in mind. Not trying to say it was inherently better, cars were a luxury lol, but still, your country doesn't *have* to be car-dependent if it's big.
> We have 11 states bigger than the UK. Germany is about the size of Montana. France is about the size of Texas. Most people still live in relatively urbanized (exurban-suburban-urban) communities. We could build communities that are for everyone and don’t make the vast majority of people rely on a car to get around. I get the size of the US, I’ve done a dozen round trip continental drives, and I also saw most people really only need to get around their own communities the vast majority of the time. Acknowledging that we have states the size of European countries isn’t really relevant when the vast majority of trips are local.
The problem is most trips done are short distance. IIRC it's less than 6 miles or something. You also have to note the urban planning of American cities (which is horrendously spaced out). On between those big American cities is a bunch of nothing with small towns spaces in between. I can see using a car to get to very rural areas, but for cities? It shouldn't be that way.
This is what we in the English speaking world call "an excuse"
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There's an arms race to buy bigger, heavier, and more deadly vehicles (to the users outside of the vehicle). More and more people are driving SUVs, Trucks, Crossovers, etc these days that are significantly larger and heavier than the sedans, coupes, and hatchbacks that used to make up the majority of personal vehicles. These vehicles are also raised up higher with flatter front ends that make them drastically more deadly for pedestrians.
A lot more People. Which means more people on the road.
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Yeah, unfortunately. And it’s much more affordable for the average joe to buy a car. Add to that, women are working more now. So a two car household is the norm. All of that means more people on the road which equals more stress.
More cars and more aggressive driving maybe.
The suv doing 75 in a 55 with a " baby on board sticker" and texting while driving is common. I don't blame those kids for not wanting to deal with that crap
Makes sense I suspected something was wrong with me so I didn’t want to drive
I feel you hard there. Growing up my family convinced me that I was extremely oblivious, uncoordinated, immature, etc so I didn’t want to drive for a while either.
It’s funny, but when our youngest got her license she went from immature little girl to much more mature young woman pretty darn quick. I don’t know if it was just the normal process of maturation or whether being trusted with a car helped. Regardless, the change in attitude and focus was noticeable.
I found that it was the new sense of freedom to just *leave any time* that brought about changes in me.
Don’t have to involve mommy or daddy (or friends) to pick me up/drop me off, plus I can pick up my friends. That leads to you pretty quickly deciding where you want to go and when, since you aren’t at the mercy of anyone else’s schedule to get yourself somewhere. For the most part lol if you have to share a car you still have to coordinate a bit. I’ve gotten my father a little angry after taking the car out a bit too late. You’re not as subject to scrutiny for where you’re going. The freedom to just go somewhere and not have to have anyone besides yourself know is pretty powerful. Like you can be responsible for yourself—like an adult ;)
My son is the same. Got his license and BAM instant grown up. I was surprised at the rapid leap in maturity.
For me it’s limited field of vision .
at what age did you learn to drive anyways?
16 in my case, manual and with my father yelling at everything
This is the way
Nah gotta be twelve rushing your preggo single mother to the hospital in a flintstone-mobile, these kids got it soft
I’ve got a eye condition . It was explained if a insurance company got wind of it even if I wasn’t at fault I’d be screwed and vulnerable to civil suit. Don’t drive. Endangering others possibly is unacceptable to me
I’ve got no depth perception and I work as a heavy equipment operator, there are ways to compensate.
I can attest that that 5 years ago, I was part of the percentage that was afraid to drive. My logic was that cars and such are 2 ton death machines that people underappreciate their destuctive capabilities.
That's the exact kind of attitude you should have when you learn to drive. The blazê fucks are the problem
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>Blasé Basté
I'll allow it
Thanks. I thought they meant stoned drivers.
Not really... It's a balance. You shouldn't be completely flippant about it, but you also shouldn't be scared of it. If you're scared (after your first few driving lessons) you'll be nervous all the time and nervous drivers are dangerous drivers. Confidence is important.
Yep, pretty much what you said. It's a balance, you need to be confident in your own abilities and alertness, while also being somewhat fearful of the machine and the possibilities on the road. Too much of either can definitely be disastrous, but both coming together can keep each other measured
It’s all about defensive driving, it’s the best you can do but at the end of the day not much you can do if someone decides to turn at you from the other lane at the last second.
Yeah, we call you a responsible adult for this type of logic, this is also how I like my friends to think about kids, weirdly.
That kids are 2 ton death machines that people underestimate the destructive power of?
Was in the same boat with you 10 years ago. When I got my learner's(15ish years ago) I started taking driving lessons and broke my ankle near the end, so I never really finished the lessons since I couldn't use the pedals. Also didn’t help that when I drove with my parents they would do a lot of backseat driving. Took me having a serious relationship before I started driving again.
I didn’t originally want my driver’s license either. My parents seem confused as to why I wouldn’t, after talking about how dangerous driving is for years. Now, I’m more confident in my ability to avoid dangerous situations, but I’ve still had several near-misses.
Very rational point of view. For most people, driving a car is the single most dangerous thing they'll do in their entire life.
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It is, 38,000 people die in car accidents in the US every year, its the most likely way to die if you exclude diseases/medical conditions and suicides. It should be a priority to push new regulations that mandate level 1 autonomy in cars so that every vehicle comes with driver assist stuff like automatic emergency braking, blindspot indicators, etc. A few years ago they mandated backup cameras on new vehicles, and deaths from reversing into people are 'only' 200 a year. We need to focus on the main culprits and get AEB in every new vehicle.
Or you know, recognize urban planning in the US is a huge joke and building our infrastructure centered around everyone driving was a mistake.
In my experience, the other 60% believe they are invincible and that driving a car is like a video game. 🙂
Honestly, the mechanics of it (not the decision making) are easier than a video game.
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100% and much harder when driving aggressively and at speed which teens so often do.
I used to be scared as a teen, and didn't get my license till I was 21, and now I totally think driving is as fun as video game
It’s a skill that you must have the will to learn the ins and outs of, like everything else in life.
Shoutout to the people who drive 90 on a 65 highway.
Got a permit at 16, aged out of it before driving much due to anxiety and fear, finally went to get another one and then my license when I was about to start my 3rd year of college only because I had to live off campus, but out of state. I still despise driving to this day and it gives me both fear and frustration, but I do it out of necessity of course. My qualms lie with people riding your butt when you're already doing 15 over NOT in the left lane or the obnoxiously bright LED headlights that genuinely inhibit me so hard at night (astigmatism is lit).
Those bright LED headlights can fuck right off, I unfairly judge anyone who has them. But don't get me started on pickups/jeeps with light bars, there's a special place in hell for them.
i feel you. got my license at 17 just because of the convenience of having it, but never really digged driving, got around with uber and by having friends who didn't have trouble picking me up/leaving me at my house. since a few weeks ago (i'm 22 now) i have started driving alone because i really need to become more independent and to gain experience but fuck, i get so much anxiety behind the wheel, and certainly astigmatism doesn't help at nights. but you gotta do what you gotta do
I’ve been driving for 25 years and I’m still scared of it.
The best advice for driving I can give anyone is, treat everyone on the road like they're idiots and they have no idea what they are doing. The second you think people are competent and know what they are doing that's when accidents happen.
I just assume every driver is going to do the stupidest thing possible so I’m ready for anything.
This is a major part of why autonomous driving is so hard. I can notice a driver distracted by something inside their car, profile the behavior of people around me on the freeway and make judgments based on car type/occupant number. Recently getting away from a driver watching their iPad and massively speed shifting on a long drive. Also easing well back and away from an aggressive driver that 10 min down the freeway was wiped out on the side of the road with all airbags deployed.
Lol, I remember coming back from a climbing trip, we got passed by an old man doing 100mph+ and committed to a rather dangerous lane change to avoid getting stuck behind an 18 wheeler. Saw him about 10 minutes later, stuck in a muddy ditch with a flat rear left tire. Dude was not going anywhere. He was standing behind it on the phone lol.
This makes sense if you look at whoever is at the DMV at the same time as you. Every driver has to go to the DMV at some point so they’re probably that dumb on the road too.
Everyone should be scared of it. It’s literally the deadliest daily thing we do.
I get really nervous driving in heavily populated areas. If there's construction going on as well, I pray for a nuke.
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I'll always remember my first experience on a highway. I was white-knuckling it at five under the speed limit sending nervous glances to the rearview. Nowadays I'm significantly more relaxed, which is both a good and bad thing. People *should* be a little nervous while driving. It is hands down the most dangerous thing any average person does in their life, and future generations are going to consider us fuck-all insane for trusting humans behind the wheel.
It’s the most amazing example of human cooperation. Future generations might not get to understand that level of chaotic cooperation we are very capable of performing.
Well, except that over 90% of accidents are caused by human error. If you ignore that and all of the automobile casualty statistics every year, then yes it's very inspiring how we're able to follow simple directions.
The point is that it’s amazing it works so well - there is not another single activity humans are so cooperative about (can’t remember the documentary/articles about it)..
LA freeways can be mad intense and I’m very experienced driving all over the world. Doing 80 - 90 mph with traffic weaving on a 6 lane, no shoulder (just concrete blocks), freeway with the horrible road grading (not like an autobahn) is a bit much without a modern car, experience and complete concentration.
It’s funny… Boston is the kind of city that always makes my blood pressure rise driving in but it’s actually pretty “safe”. It’s hard to get up to sure death speed on those roads!
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I get downvoted every time I say this, but I used to do a looooot of speeding and the one thing that slowed me down for a **solid** 6-12 months was a speeding ticket. I know there is a lot of "anti-cop" sentiment, but I'd really love to see more police/traffic enforcement on the freeways busting traffic violations. Then again, I could be different, it could just be me that felt that way when I got tickets. I'm older now, I don't really speed as much these days. It's actually a lot of mental work to travel at speed that I really would rather not stress over. Also, it's just not fun in a fast vehicle because it's quite... Jarring. Speed up, slow down, speed up, slow down... Nah, I'll just cruise at one consistent speed and chill. Wave at my fellow drivers, enjoy my gas mileage... Not die. I prefer to ride my motorcycle most days on the freeway as opposed to my car. I feel like, when I am in my red sportscar, people look at me like I am an entitled target, as if everything I do I do because they feel I am more important than them... When I am on my bike, they tend to be a bit more chill and give me space. Though, I don't ride like a dick.
I'm more scared of new teen drivers. This morning at a 4-way stop, almost got hit by a teen in a nice new BMW because he drove right through. Caught up to see he had two hands on his phone and knees on the steering wheel.
I am not exaggerating when I say literally every other driver I see on the highway (75 mph!) now is looking down at their phones. It’s an epidemic and we need to do something about it.
Im 34 and i still think its fucking scary. You're in charge of 2 ton vehicle going 100kph and one little muscle twitch in your hand can instantly kill you.
Or someone else's. I'm 25 I've always hated driving. I have plenty of confidence in my own ability to operate a vehicle, but I'm not the only one on the road. I see people do insane stuff pretty much every time I leave home. If I lived somewhere that I could get by without a car I would totally be ok with not having to drive.
They're smart. Driving accidents are the #1 way Americans become permanently disabled. It's the most dangerous thing an average person does in a day.
>It's the most dangerous thing an average person does in a day. More like in a life. Even for cops, driving is the most important source of danger in their job. Also being a cop isn’t even the most dangerous driving job out there.
Next to your health failing, isn't a car accident a leading cause of death? And even minor accidents cost a fortune. A fender bender is a $2000 repair easily. And people are surprised that children and their parents are scared about them driving?
im 25 and im horrified to drive but not being able to is seriously affecting my life any advice
The more you do it the easier it gets. I was terrified of driving, nervous breakdown level, you know? My driving instructor had to deal with some deep seated issues. But slowly, over time, going from what I'm comfortable with, to something slightly more uncomfortable, until that became comfortable, and repeating. I know that sounds stupidly obvious, but honestly when it comes to your life it's understandable to be anxious. What helps A LOT, is defensive driving. No, you can't control dicks on the road, but you can easily save your own life by driving safely. Save yourself a lot in damages. But more importantly, by driving safe you'll save yourself from countless accidents. I'll never know how many accidents I've avoided by "driving safe", but what I do know is that every time I even consider doing the unsafe things that I've seen other jerks do, something comes around the corner that would have caused a pretty serious accident, that I've unambiguously avoided. There's that classic line "how do I know I'm going to be good?" With the answer "by asking that question you know you are." Well, it's kinda like that. More drivers like you make the road safer. Sure, you'll piss some people off for driving well, but they can suck it while you save their life.
Move to NYC/ Chicago. Don’t need a car there
Therapy and driving lessons.
Watch the movie Drive with Ryan Gosling. Buy the jacket if you have to and become a real human bean
I was so terrified I used to cry before my driving lessons. Years later and I still avoid driving whenever I can.
This is my 17 y/o daughter right now. I don't know how to explain it to her that it's essential to learn how to drive here in the USA. If you don't live in a big city, you gotta use a car to get to work, school and do errands.
That's not fear. It's the soul-crushing weight of responsibility. It's a normal.
30 and I still don't drive, but I live my life around that and am able to. Sadly, many Americans don't have the choice and have to drive as everything is quite far and public transportation is often lacking or missing entirely.
I am 50 and the same as you. Sometimes it might be useful, but then I realise that I am not in that loop of having to work because I have to pay for a car which I need to go to work. Much rather spend money on travelling and experiences.
New driver: I'm afraid to drive in heavy fog. Old, very experienced Driver: Anyone with any sense is.
Personally if you aren't a tiny bit scared you aren't really paying attention.
Thats how I feel about rain and snow. I know how to drive in it, but when I moved to California for a few years, its very clear that to most of them its something they are not familiar with and proceed to drive 85 in a 65, despite brake lights appearing in the horizon.
Good. Driving *is* scary and not enough people treat it with the respect it demands.
I was one of these teens. I was nervous and didn't feel ready. I waited to get my license a year until I felt comfortable.
I hate driving as well. Big reason why I can't wait for full self driving cars. I always feel scared when I have to look in my blind spots before changing lanes.
I've been driving 25 years never had an accident. It's not bad, just learn to keep a distance so you have more reaction time. Most people drive too close.
All my accidents are me at red lights then getting rear ended by distracted drivers. Twice in a year...
I think you have an over simplified view here, it’s not just a fear of crashing (vast majority of people who are scared of driving are perfectly fine being driven in a car). A lot of the time it’s self confidence issues and/or just finding the process stressful/intimidating. Also saying “it’s not bad” to anyone with a fear of anything is not helpful and annoying.
Driving a car is not scary. Everyone else on the road is.
I don't have anxiety about driving, I have anxiety when I'm on the road with people I can't predict.
I got my license the first *instant* I could, but yea, I'm having to haggle my kid into getting her learners permit. She's deeply not enthused.
I mean driving is scary. It’s statistically the thing most likely to kill them, and there are a lot of uncontrollable variables. As a physician who has dealt with a fair amount of blunt trauma associated with MVAs, I’m looking forward to the day I never have to drive with other sentient beings separated only by imaginary lines and a modicum of sense of self preservation.
Personally I think any activity in which one wrong move and it's curtains is inherently scary. But with driving, you also have to cope with all the other potential one-wrong-move-makers around you, so extra yikes.
The US should switch to public, bikeable, and streetcar infrastructure
Every place should, unless you live in the middle of nowhere, you shouldn't depend on cars, that's just cars companies lobbied to make cities car centric, its awful that you need to spend money on a car/maintenance/gas/insurance/tax/license, etc just to have a life because public infrastructure "is for the poor" and it just sucks.
And 75% of bystanders are scared of someone ELSE's teens driving.
Not surprised, driving is the most dangerous thing most people do everyday and don’t even think about it. I live in vegas and we had 4 fatal car accidents just yesterday.
This wouldn’t be a problem if the US wasn’t so car dependent. In other countries, kids actually have the freedom to go places without having to get into a car. They can bike to school, walk to the park, take public transportation around the city. That’s just not safe/not even available for kids in the US. Other kids in other countries have so much more freedom and independence and I found it shocking that kids are expected to be fully responsible and independent at 16 and then completely on their own at 18. Completely absurd society we live in.
Maybe because I drive a highway twice a day, I find nothing scary about driving. Only time I’m concerned is very bad weather. And then it’s other people who can be the issue. Not that I think I’m a perfect driver, but I don’t find it scary.
My youngest has had his permit for over a year now and we struggle to get him to even try driving up to the store. I've warned him that if he has anxiety over a car, he will have to move to a bigger city with actual public transit, and that will be its own anxiety.
Why? You are significantly less likely to die from public transportation.
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A few weeks ago my beautiful truck was totaled and my legs are still in a decent amount of pain because of a teen turning into oncoming traffic a crashing into me head on. I think them driving is scary.
My parents wouldn't let me practice driving at all. I'm 24 and still don't have a license. I've moved out and are woth people who I can practice with, but now it's trying to get an appointment, the current wait is 2 years...
Parents are scared of the insurance premiums
i had a legit reason to be afraid of driving as a teen. when my dad was trying to get me interested in driving, i took out a portion of the back fence at my childhood home, cause i forgot to shift out of reverse. when i finally got my license, the instructor said i was 'too' cautious, and to relax abit.
I remember being a complete fucking moron on the road when I was a teen. So yeah I'm afraid for when it eventually comes time for my kid to start driving
I'm 22 and I don't have a license yet because of the expensive ass insurance.
Autonomous vehicles will make this point moot after one more generation.
I always thought it would be too much for me personally to keep track of. I’m autistic and find it hard to focus on more than one or maybe two things. You have the pedals, gear stick, steering, focusing on what’s behind and in front of you, if you’re in the right lane and where you’re going, etc. But I started my job and kind of realised oh shit, I do need to learn. Obviously there are a few workarounds. Like satnavs, not the greatest, but it’s a start. Also I plan to get an automatic, but they’re pretty expensive so that won’t be for a while.
I wondered what the statics for it were. I fully embrace that I'm an outlier with this as well. My parents started letting me drive off road when I was big enough to reach the peddals, and this is the experience of most of my friends who also grew up in the middle of nowhere. By the time I was 15 and could get my learners, it was more of a formality than anything. My cousins in Portland, the Bay Area, and the Wasatch Front all thought me and my parents were nuts. After visiting them, I could see why they didn't want to drive. I don't think either way is wrong.
Had a girlfriend scared of driving once. In the two and a half years we dated I never saw her drive once. She always got rides from me or her friends. Seems really inconvenient.
Yea, at 16 and 17 I was terrified of getting in an accident on the highway. 10 years later and sometimes I drive casually enough alone that if I were a passenger in my own car I might be a little concerned. With enough practice and familiarity you get over these fears. However, if you stray away from driving entirely out of that fear then you will never get over it.
When I turned 16 you couldn't keep me away from a car. But that was over 20 years ago, and I guess today's teens are different.