In the U.S. the age of first-time drivers license receivers has risen from 16 to 19
By Marlena Chertock
He’s a junior in college, but doesn’t have his driver’s license. He’s tried to get it several times. It’s that darn parallel parking that’s tripped him up.
“I haven’t gotten my license yet for one simple reason: parallel parking,” said Josh Axelrod, who attends the University of Maryland. “I’ve taken the test an embarrassing number of times and have yet to get past the parallel parking portion. It’s pathetic.” He didn’t take the test until he was 18 because he was afraid to get behind the wheel.
Axelrod is part of a growing number of 16 to 24-year-olds across the nation who are getting their driver’s licenses at older ages. There are fewer younger drivers on the road today, and older drivers are keeping their driver’s licenses for longer, according to a study released in January 2012 from the Transportation Research Institute at the University of Michigan.
Rushing to take the driving test at age 16 is not as common in America as it used to be. In 1988, 44.7 percent of 16-year-olds in the U.S. had their license, compared to 2008 where only 30.7 percent did, according to The Washington Post.
Countries that experienced an increase in the age of first-time license-receivers
View Location where number of licensed drivers aged 16-19 decreased from 1980-2012 in a larger map
Researchers at the University of Michigan found that the overall number of licensed drivers from ages 16 to 19 dropped drastically from 1983 to 2008. Only 60 percent of Americans ages 17 to 19 now have a license. Thirty years ago, 80 percent of teens were licensed drivers, according to the study.
Other countries have also experienced similar trends, according to another study by the same researchers at the University of Michigan. These countries include Canada, Germany, Great Britain, Norway, South Korea and Sweden.
The age of first-time license receivers is going up. For the past decade, first-time license receivers have been 19-years-old on average, according to the MVA. And since the age of first-time drivers is increasing, these older new drivers are getting into more vehicle accidents than 16-year-olds, who are not immediately getting their licenses, according to 2009 data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
At the same time, the percentage of older people with driver’s licenses has increased, in part because people are living longer. In 2008 about 78 percent of people age 70 and over had a driver’s license compared to 55 percent in 1983, according to the study.
There are also fewer older teens with driver’s licenses in the U.S., according to the study. The number of 17-year-olds with driver’s licenses dropped from 65 percent in 1980 to 45 percent in 2010; 18-year-olds from 75 percent to 61 percent; and 19-year-olds from 80 percent to 70 percent.
Modes of transportation people take to work
Farah Mohamed, a senior at the American University in Washington, D.C., still does not have her driver’s license. She waited to get her driver’s license for various reasons.
“Initially, I just wasn’t particularly interested in driving,” she said. “I didn’t have that intense interest, believing that getting my license suddenly makes me independent or an adult.”
She took driver’s education in the summer of 2008, got her permit that summer and then academics took over. “High school and the college application process was much more important to me at the time,” she said. “And with academics and extracurricular (activities), I really didn’t have the time or the energy to devote to learning how to drive.”
Mohamed realized the downside of not having a license because she lives in the suburbs, in Wellesley, Mass. “I often had to rely on my parents to get me into the city to meet friends,” she said. “It’s something I know I need to get, but it’s become the perpetual target of the excuse ‘I’ll get around to it next time.'”
Young people are also increasingly moving to cities like New York and Washington, D.C., where public transportation is readily available, according to 2012 census data. They are using public transportation more instead of driving. People have become more comfortable taking public transportation, according to Pecoraro. His kids take the Metro to school every day.
When she is at school, Mohamed uses the Metro and buses to get around mostly everywhere. “I use public transportation all the time and as a result there are very few times when I find myself wishing I had a car or a license,” she said. “I definitely think being in a city and at college most of the time have been major factors in me not getting my license. At home, I initially could rely on others to drive me places … At college, most of my friends live in walking distance and almost everything, school, internships and restaurants, are accessible by Metro or bus.”
The University of Maryland-College Park campus has Metro buses and University of Maryland Department of Transportation Services (DOTS) shuttle buses. The Metro is only a five-minute bus ride away and many students walk, use bikes or motorized scooters to get to class.
Josh Logue, a junior at the University of Maryland, also does not have his license. “It never felt absolutely necessary,” he said. “I’ve always been within walking distance of where I need to go, or had friends with cars or had fairly easy access to public transit.”
This trend is not missed by car companies. Fewer younger people are buying cars, according to CNNMoney. So carmakers are adding gadgets to cars in the hopes of attracting younger buyers, according to an article on Bloomberg.com. These features include MP3 player capability, Bluetooth technology and more.
Within the past few months, car companies have started seeing increased interest in younger buyers, ages 18 to 24. “Sales in November were up,” according to Carly Schaffner, the business communications manager for Toyota. “Younger buyers are coming back into the market. There’s a lot of pent up demand out there. There’s old vehicles so people have to at this point buy a new car, whether it be new or used. And interest rates are actually better.”
While some city-dwelling teens choose to never get their driver’s license, other young people will continue to take the driver’s test and receive their license at older ages. Logue said his friends and family are getting fed up with driving him around. So he took driver’s education last summer and plans on taking the driver’s test next semester.
Why teens are getting their driver’s licenses at older ages
Teens face more obstacles now before they can get their license, or even take the driver’s test. Most states have implemented graduated driver licensing (GDL) programs which require young drivers to first get a learner’s permit for a set amount of time, varying by state; the next step is taking the driver’s test to receive an intermediate or provisional license; and the final step is exchanging the provisional license after a few months, the time depends on the state, for a license with full privileges, according to data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
“We’ve kind of seen a delay,” said Tom Pecoraro, the president of the I Drive Smart driving training program. “They take a much longer time to get their license. They start driver’s education when they’re 15. They’re sometimes college freshmen coming back to take their test.”
Pecoraro also gets many calls for students to get a tune-up lesson before they take their test, even after they finish the I Drive Smart program. This is a $275 purchase outside of the normal I Drive Smart program, called Driver’s Test Support.
Provisional licenses come with various restrictions, like not being allowed to drive passengers other than family members or not being allowed to drive past midnight, until young drivers receive their full license. And they need to have 60 logged hours of driving with an adult before they are eligible to take their test in Maryland.
Pecoraro, who got his license in 1980, doesn’t remember these requirements. “I remember the first day I was eligible to take the test I was in the MVA,” he said. “When I was growing up, driving was really a focus because that was the main social networking tool we had as a teenager. We didn’t have cell phones, Facebook, computers, all the things my kids have now.”
There are many reasons for delayed licensure among teens: the Internet and other technology, the lack of a car for them to practice and drive in, cost of fuel and insurance, parent availability to practice driving with them, and the availability of other modes of transportation, according to a 2010 survey of 15 to 18-year-olds by The Allstate Foundation.
Rising insurance and fuel costs make it difficult to own and maintain a car, according to Pecoraro. In 1983 the national average cost of a gallon of gas was $1.24 and in 2008 it rose to $3.27, according to the University of Michigan study. The mean annual expenditure for buying a vehicle, gas and insurance for people ages 18 to 24 for 2009 was $5,100, according to the study. The required driving education before teens can take the test is also costly. Driving schools in Maryland cost about $250-599.
New driving test procedures have also kept young drivers from passing the driver’s test and receiving their license. Since Maryland added an on the road portion to the test in 2009 the passing rate has decreased, according to Pecoraro. And if teens fail the driver’s test, they have to wait two to six weeks, depending on the state, to retake the test.
Even making an appointment to take the driver’s test has become harder. The test is now scheduled online and since so many people take the test, they have to sign up months in advance. “If you don’t have your test scheduled in the spring for the summertime, you’re not going to be able to take your test,” Pecoraro said. “Some people drive to other parts of Maryland to take the test.” Space in the driver’s education programs is also limited.
Over scheduling also keeps teens from taking the driver’s test when they first become eligible. They have school, homework, sports, after-school clubs and jobs. “There’s a lot more at a child’s disposal now,” Pecoraro said. “They don’t have the time to get it done.”
Increased Internet usage coincides with fewer licensed drivers
Teens are using technology like text messaging and Facebook to stay in touch instead of driving to see their friends. “People are more connected,” said Buel Young, the spokesperson for the Maryland Vehicle Administration (MVA). “They can be in touch via the internet so it’s not as important to be face-to-face. Those are things we just hear, we don’t know if there’s any truth to that.”
But the Internet is one of the main reasons teens are waiting to get their licenses, according to the University of Michigan study. The trend of fewer younger drivers has coincided with the increase in Internet usage. The Internet can take users anywhere. Teens may not drive as much to see their friends because they can easily use Facebook, Skype or other social media. Nearly half of 18 to 24-year-olds would choose access to the Internet over owning a car, according to the Gartner Research Lempert Report.
Teens now have more ways to connect to friends than past generations of drivers. Technology like social media and text messaging has made it easier for teens to socialize without the need of a car. Americans ages 18 to 24 sent or received an average of 50 texts per day, compared to people ages 45 to 54 who sent or received an average of six, according to a 2011 Pew study. This generation of drivers, or fewer younger drivers, is instead an online and texting culture, according to Time magazine.
“I think the face-to-face vs. online communication debate is less about having a license and more about the evolution of communication and friendships in today’s society as a whole,” said Mohamed, a senior at American University who does not have her driver’s license. “To a certain degree, I find that the Internet has enabled me to maintain friendships even when schedules don’t match up or when physical meetings aren’t possible. At the same time, I do not think these virtual hangouts can replace physical hangouts, and I do still make a point to visit family and friends in person whenever possible.”
Mohamed uses the Internet to organize meet-ups with friends and transportation to them. “If I need to get to a place not accessible by public transportation, then these are the tools I use to find someone who can give me a ride,” she said.
Even with other methods of communication, Axelrod wants to be able to drive. “I really wish I was able to drive,” he said. “As soon as humanly possible I’m getting my license. I want it.”