How old were you when you got your license?
@chromecowgirl37 (283)
United States
February 11, 2007 11:59am CST
I always thought the normal age was 16. That it was a rite of passage. I could not wait to turn 16 and get my license. But it seems these days, people are waiting until they are adults. I have quite a few friends who were in their twenties before getting their licenses. One really good friend of mine was married before she got her license. My husband is taking one of his friends from highschool for a driving lesson as we speak, she is 25. My sister was 18 before getting hers, my other sister will be 20 this year and doesn't even have her permit. Why are people waiting so long? How old were you when you got your license?
9 people like this
69 responses
@Radicalpatriot (665)
• United States
11 Feb 07
You raise a very interesting and crucial point. My daughter was 19 before she ever drove, and she had to come up with her own car before I would allow it. My son became entangled in legal issues as a youth and was simply barred from drviing. He just turned 19 and is just now learning the rules of the road. Safety, granted, is a big issue, and younger teens simply have no concept of safety. Compounding this attitude problem is the fact that driving has become infinitely more dangerous in the 21st century than in the decades before. There are more cars on the road. Trucks are lethal and their drivers careless. Unlicensed drivers, mostly undocumented workers, infest the roadways. Your married friend's situation is typical. It is just too dangerous -- and expensive -- to be a young teen driver. In 1972, the Ford Pinto sold for less than $2,000. An average car along those lines goes for $15,000 today. Insurance is astronomical, and gas costs 10 times what it did in the mid-1970s. It is no wonder people are forced to wait before they drive. That is a good thing since careless young people and their cell phones are kept off the roadways.
@tokyotiger4242 (82)
• United States
11 Feb 07
I got my permit when I turned 15, and got my liscense when I turned 16. I was like you, it was a rite of passage. Now, looking at the way things are... I think more kids should wait until they are older to start driving. They are much more careless than I was when I was that age. In the past MONTH I have been hit two times, both by teenage drivers (both times completely their fault). I know when I was younger I couldn't wait for my sweet sixteen, but now I'm thinking that kids (and the legal systems) should look into waiting longer to allow new kids to drive.
@chromecowgirl37 (283)
• United States
12 Feb 07
My only concern about this is that we may be just postponing the inexperience and carelessness. I think the best solution would be that no matter what age someone is, they should still have to take driver's ed. I think that is a large part of why more people are waiting until they are 18, because they no longer have to take driver's ed.
1 person likes this
@scorpiobabes (7225)
• United States
11 Feb 07
I was 17 at the time (the legal age in NJ) before I got mine (on my birthday!). My sister failed 3x and my mom (growing up in Philly) didn't have a need until she was 21; same with my boyfriend's older son (also a Philly native). Pretty much everyone I grew up with got their license at 17 (in NJ) because public transporation in this part of the state stinks! I have heard that Florida's age is 15 and many states are 16.
In NJ now, you can't drive without restrictions until you're 25 I think--more and more people are finding it easier to wait I think until 25 because insurance rates go down.
@chromecowgirl37 (283)
• United States
11 Feb 07
It's a great feeling, isn't it?
1 person likes this
@jhrcsr (348)
• United States
12 Feb 07
I was 14 when I got my school and farm permit. That allowed me to drive to and from school then around our farm for business purposes. I was 15 when I got my work permit, which allowed me to also drive to and from work. I was 16 when I got my full liscence. By that time, I had LOTS of driving experience in everything from cars to pickups to grain trucks and tractors. *L* It made it so that getting my liscence wasn't a big deal actually.
1 person likes this
@jhrcsr (348)
• United States
16 Feb 07
Yeah, the experiences were great!
I'll never forget driving a dual cab pickup with a 37 foot fifth wheel trailer through Cherry County Nebraska! I was only 15 and my dad thought I needed extra experience pulling trailers, so we left on a vacation, he pulled over about 20 miles from home and said drive. So I drove. I did pretty good until I hit Cherry county. Mind you, there is NOTHING in Cherry county except two small towns....in 150 miles of back roads. We went into the county with 1/2 tank of gas, I didn't think anything of it...BUT a BIG pickup pulling a HEAVY trailer up and down these really long hills, thought something of that. We ended up sitting in one of those small towns for three hours because the owner of the only gas station had shut down to "run into town". The largest town was over 100 miles away and he wasn't back yet. We had to wait the three hours for him to get home and his neighbor to have him come up to the gas station to get us enough gas to go on further! *L* It's sure funny now, but it definately was not funny then. My dad was ssoooooooo mad.
However, I did learn to drive it well and then could really drive more of the farm equipment well too.
1 person likes this
@chromecowgirl37 (283)
• United States
12 Feb 07
It also probably made you a much more responsible driver as well. If only everyone could get that much practice before they actually got their drivers license.
@madtownsweety (418)
• United States
12 Feb 07
I didn't get my license until I was 23 and for that I truly regret it. I felt like I lost out on part of my freedom. I didn't have the means to get them until I was that old. I already had my daughter when I took my driving test. I kick myself everyday for this and wonder if things would have been different if I would have gotten them sooner. :o(
1 person likes this
@chromecowgirl37 (283)
• United States
12 Feb 07
Look at it this way, you probably only really missed out on a few extra speeding tickets. Although, it might have been easier to get around with the little one.
@mjgarcia (725)
• United States
12 Feb 07
I was seventeen. My oldest son is 16 and will be getting his this summer, he's in drivers ed now. But our state has passed a new law and my youngest two children will have to wait until they are 18 to be able to get a license. My daughter will graduate before she's eligible to drive.
1 person likes this
@chromecowgirl37 (283)
• United States
12 Feb 07
At least you have your oldest son to cart them around for you! I think that is the only reason that the 18 law bothers me, because some kids are 17 when they leave for college, and I really could not have imagined starting college away from home without a drivers license.
@babystar1 (4233)
• United States
12 Feb 07
I was 14 years when I got my learning permit.I took drivers ed. I got my license when I was 16 years old. But I heard that they want to change the driving age to 18.
1 person likes this
@minerc (1373)
• United States
12 Feb 07
I was 15 when I got my permit and 16 when I got my license. Theres a new law here that you have to be 16 for the permit and then wait a year for the license. I don't know if all states are like that or not. I think for me it would of been awful cause I couldnt wait to drive.
@EdwardF (431)
• United States
12 Feb 07
I was 16 when I got my license. I couldn't wait. In fact I didn't. When I was 15, I was driving to school and to the store without them.
My nephew on the other hand is now 18 and he doesn't have his. He has a job and his Dad has to take him to work and pick him up. I don't get it. It seems to me it is a responsibility to get them as part of the job. Having a way there and back.
@smithabittu (84)
• India
12 Feb 07
I am an Indian. So by Indian law the least age to get the lisence is 18 years. so I got the four wheeler lisence at the age of 18. But one joke happened... the vehicle inspector was still had a doubt that i completed 18 years of age.. because he said i looks like more younger than that.
@Starline (681)
• United States
12 Feb 07
I get the impression that it's more expensive for Swedes to get a licence than for other people whick is why we sometimes wait longer if we don't have parents that are willing to pay. My licence cost somewhere around $2200, pretty average sum here, one class of 40 min is around $45. It's really difficult to get everything right, you wouldn't pass if you made a single mistake here.
@chromecowgirl37 (283)
• United States
12 Feb 07
Wow! That is a lot of money even when you take into consideration the exchange rate. That is crazy!
@joesnowmobiles (19)
• United States
12 Feb 07
I had to wait until I was 18 just because I didnt have the cash for driver's ed. That said, I have paid my share of speeding and traffic tickets, and gone to enough classes that probably made up for my skipping Drivers Ed. I think its better to wait until you are older to get your license, because the older you are the more responsible you should be.
1 person likes this
@mom23bs (2)
• United States
12 Feb 07
I was most definitely **16** isn't that the magic number? I couldn't have waited another day to get my license!!! I was ready to experience freedom! I don't really understand the reasons for waiting. For my family, it was almost a matter of necessity! There were too many kids with too many outside activities to attend and simply no way we could have all bummed rides or waiting for our parents to get us there! It was survival of the fittest!
1 person likes this
@beyonce03 (2331)
• Canada
12 Feb 07
I'm 25 and I still don't have my liscence (I didnt pass the other day but gonna go pass it again in march)
I wait that long because I didnt have the money to take the lesson and my parent didnt also. When I really start to work I was already in a appartement and paying for school also. lso my mom or my ex boyfriend didnt had any car so I wouldnt had the chance to pratice.
Now I have the money, I have a boyfriend I can practice with and I also already have my own car (that I can't drive alone grrr)
1 person likes this
@eli_atu007 (1)
• Nigeria
12 Feb 07
I had interest in cars as well as driving but I believed i was too young. I then asked older ones the rightful age to start driving. I was told that it depends on my interest to drive. I started driving long distances at the age of 12 because I taught since my uncle started driving crosscountry at the age of 9 i believed i could.
1 person likes this
@krebstar5 (1266)
• United States
12 Feb 07
I was over 17. Since I was involved with so many school activities, I was not able to get all my driving hours done in time. This means that I had to get my permit renewed and then took my test about a month after that. I also have a friend who is on her 20s and still has yet to get her license. Her reasoning is that she doesn't really want it or need it.
1 person likes this
@aerialitis (104)
•
12 Feb 07
Got first licences at 17 in uk early fifties and motor cycle, later heavy goods licence,in those days it was a pleasure to drive,roads quite quiet,seem to know most people in the other cars locally, we all use to give friendly waves,even the AA men use to salute us,now the only salute I get is the one finger.
@AnnaB87 (761)
• United States
12 Feb 07
I was nineteen and very pregnant. I think they were afraid I would come back because I messed up badly on a lot of things but they gave me my license any way. LOL
I was really huge.
I have never had an accident have had my license now about 18 years.
1 person likes this
