Driving

[Thumper]

The Kid is 16. She's been in the process (it seems like forever) of getting her driving license. In talking with friends and the parents of her classmates, it's seeming like "kids these days" just aren't that interested or motivated to get their licenses. I've got a buddy who's 18 year old daughter is now a freshman in college but hasn't yet tried to get her license.

With luck The Kid will take her test next week and get her license. It'll be a little dicey. Her temps expire on Thanksgiving. If she fails either part of her driving exam, she has to wait some amount of time before she can retest, not sure the length. But she could be at risk of having her temps expire then having to retake her temp exam (and pay for it again).

I got my temps within hours of being eligible. I took extra classes, and got extra driving sessions in during lunch so that I tested and got my full license, again, within hours of being eligible. That just doesn't seem to be common these days.

I was thinking a little bit ago about the logistics of The Kid driving herself to school then driving herself home at night after practice or other extracurricular activities. That scared me given the distances, freeways etc. And I realized, at some point, she'll get into a car completely alone and drive away. It's funny, I have absolutely no memory of my first "Solo."

[SciFiFisher]

I have one daughter who almost never drives. It took a very long time before she actually got her drivers license. I think it was partly the anxiety about the whole experience of being tested. She actually was a pretty fair driver for a beginner.

[geonuc]

I learned how to drive and started driving in Australia in an area where licensing seemed optional. I actually had my first wreck before being licensed.

I guess I'm not surprised that today's kids aren't as enthusiastic, although I have no direct experience.

[SciFiFisher]

I was driving when I was 14. One of the first vehicles I drove was a 1950's Chevy pick up truck. I hauled manure and other farm stuff in it for the farmer I was working for. I had more fun on the tractor.

I couldn't wait until I could "legally" drive anywhere. But, I have noticed that there seem to be a lot of younger people who do not seem to be in a hurry to get a license. Or they don't bother to get one at all. Anecdotally, it seems like more females than males in the latter category.

Apparently, having a license and being able to drive doesn't evoke that feeling of freedom and power in as many people as it used to.

[Thumper]

Grampa's '48 Ford 3-spd for me. I think I was 14 when he let me do more than just shift the gears for him. Mom would take me out "into the country," actually not far from where I now live, to let me drive the '73 Malibu around before I had a license.

In discussions, we came to one conclusion that with the kids linked up 24/7 with their social media platforms, getting out of the house, away from the parents and hanging out, isn't a necessity anymore. Sorry, I liked zoomin down the boulevard with the radio playing much more than sitting holed up in my room with my face in the phone. Call me silly or old fashioned. To me the world is still OUTSIDE my bedroom door.

[Rommie]

In PA you could get the permit at 16, then after six months get the license. I didn't get mine until I was 17 though because my parents only wanted to teach one of us at a time, and my brother got the car to drive to school as my mom was tired of driving him as his school had no bus. (I did take advantage if my dad was away on business to drive to school though, as the bus ride was long and sucked!)

I think ultimately I wasn't big on driving and still really am not to this day, but did it at the time because my parents (rightly, IMO) pointed out it's a skill best gotten when still in high school as it can be a pain if you suddenly need it later but never learned.

[Swift]

I'm sort of in the middle of this distribution.

Growing up in New York City, it was quite common for people not to drive and never even getting a driver's license - my mom never did. The driving age was also higher; if I remember correctly, you couldn't get a learner's permit till you were 16, and that was only if you took driver's ed.

I took driver's ed in the summer; I think it was the summer after my junior year. I got my license, but since I lived in The city through my undergraduate college, and I didn't own a car, I hardly ever drove. I drove a little more in grad school (mostly the vehicle of the EMS squad I was on) and then was in France for a year (so no car and no driving). It wasn't till I came back to the states and took a post-doc at UNO that I owned my own car (my 1984 Chevy Chevette) that I really started driving a lot.

[SciFi Chick]

I got my license at 16. My first solo drive was to the grocery store. I got my first car when I was 17. I felt so free... Damn... first time in years I wish I was back there. But, this too, shall pass.

[Thumper]

I was thinking about the "need" to drive and how that would influence one's desire to get a license. I came of driving age living in a bedroom community. I walked/biked to school and could get to most everything I wanted to do the same way. My first two jobs were paperboy and DQ associate, so no car needed there. I walked or biked my paper route depending on the weather and wasn't old enough to drive anyway. But since then, I've needed to drive for my job. I've driven hundreds of thousands of miles on the clock working for the state. A basic driver's license is one of the universal requirements for all ODOT jobs. I also have a CDL which gets me on the list to drive a 50K lb dump truck, plow some snow each winter and suck up some good OT pay.

I'm tired of driving, yet I've needed to do it for my entire adult life to provide for my family. Maybe that's why I'm so critical of other drivers and don't really care to drive anymore. The only driving I really appreciate is scenic vacation driving (which I rarely get to do) and performance driving, preferably on a closed course (which I rarely get to do). My uninformed obviously biased opinion is that most drivers do not have the skill set to safely and courteously drive with others, are completely unaware or distracted while driving in public, are willfully trying to be a pain in the @ss to other drivers, or all 3. Others do better than me, but that's what comes from 30,000 hours behind the wheel.

[Rommie]

Yeah, scenic vacation driving or driving in the country in general is definitely something I enjoy. In a city or even a strip mall type thing, just shoot me now.

Haven't owned a car in over six years now, and I'm pretty happy with that. My wallet is happy too.

[SciFi Chick]

I enjoy that in Australia. Where I am now? Not so much. I have to be so vigilant on the roads around here, because - and I'm not exaggerating - every time I go out, I see someone on the wrong side of the road. Very stressful.

[SciFiFisher]

I was thinking about the "need" to drive and how that would influence one's desire to get a license. I came of driving age living in a bedroom community. I walked/biked to school and could get to most everything I wanted to do the same way. My first two jobs were paperboy and DQ associate, so no car needed there. I walked or biked my paper route depending on the weather and wasn't old enough to drive anyway. But since then, I've needed to drive for my job. I've driven hundreds of thousands of miles on the clock working for the state. A basic driver's license is one of the universal requirements for all ODOT jobs. I also have a CDL which gets me on the list to drive a 50K lb dump truck, plow some snow each winter and suck up some good OT pay.

I'm tired of driving, yet I've needed to do it for my entire adult life to provide for my family. Maybe that's why I'm so critical of other drivers and don't really care to drive anymore. The only driving I really appreciate is scenic vacation driving (which I rarely get to do) and performance driving, preferably on a closed course (which I rarely get to do). My uninformed obviously biased opinion is that most drivers do not have the skill set to safely and courteously drive with others, are completely unaware or distracted while driving in public, are willfully trying to be a pain in the @ss to other drivers, or all 3. Others do better than me, but that's what comes from 30,000 hours behind the wheel.

Where I am option 3 seems to be a strong motivation. Just today I had a driver force his way onto the freeway by cutting me off. It was raining and I was doing 75 MPH. He acted as if he just didn't give a fuck if I plowed into him as long as he didn't have to stop or slow down getting onto the freeway. I couldn't get over as there was traffic in the left lane. He deliberately speeded up as he came onto the freeway so that I was forced to tap on my brakes and drop my speed by 20 MPH or plow into his rear end. The general attitude here seems to be "I'm driving and it's YOUR responsibility to make sure I don't have an accident with YOU".

I truly understand road rage. I think too many assholes mistakenly get road rage for the wrong reasons. But, when people force me to choose between allowing the accident they are trying to cause or endangering myself to prevent the accident it makes me see red, black, and homicide blue.

Sure, I could have slammed on my brakes and gone into an uncontrolled skid on the wet pavement. But, I am of the opinion that it should be legal for me to ram him.

And I know damn well there is a triangle shaped sign on his ramp that said YIELD.

[Thumper]

So after 6 weeks of me asking her if she'd like to practice her maneuverability and 6 weeks of her brushing me off: at 10:00pm Friday night she asked if we could practice at 7:00am Saturday morning. Oh her test was scheduled for 10:00am Saturday morning. So I got up early, loaded the cones, poles and tape measure into the car and we headed to the nearest parking lot. She sucked at first but got the hang of it. We headed home and she and Mrs. T headed out to the testing location. They came back very quickly and The Kid ran straight into the house.
Apparently failed maneuverability miserably: Ran over the cones repeatedly.
Luckily, I'm not an "I told you so kind of guy."
Thankfully, she is scheduled to take only the maneuverability portion again in one week. We'll see if she practices between now and then...

[Rommie]

Haha, yeah, I confess I'd be nervous for the drivers of Ohio if practicing for like two hours before the test was enough to pass.

Do you have to parallel park too as part of the exam? I remember that was the really hard part in PA to do, as you had to be within a foot of the curb and never touch it, so I was shocked to learn my friends in California didn't have to learn it as part of the exam at all (fewer old streets I guess?).

[SciFiFisher]

Haha, yeah, I confess I'd be nervous for the drivers of Ohio if practicing for like two hours before the test was enough to pass.

Do you have to parallel park too as part of the exam? I remember that was the really hard part in PA to do, as you had to be within a foot of the curb and never touch it, so I was shocked to learn my friends in California didn't have to learn it as part of the exam at all (fewer old streets I guess?).

Or an acknowledgement that no one parallel parks anymore if they can possibly avoid it.

[Swift]

Haha, yeah, I confess I'd be nervous for the drivers of Ohio if practicing for like two hours before the test was enough to pass.

Do you have to parallel park too as part of the exam? I remember that was the really hard part in PA to do, as you had to be within a foot of the curb and never touch it, so I was shocked to learn my friends in California didn't have to learn it as part of the exam at all (fewer old streets I guess?).

Or an acknowledgement that no one parallel parks anymore if they can possibly avoid it.

I parallel park, and don't have any trouble doing so, though I know people who will go to incredible lengths to avoid it.

My feeling is if you don't keep doing something like that, you'll lose the skill.

[Thumper]

We haven't had to parallel park in Ohio in quite some time. The Maneuverability Test Requirement is what we have to do. It requires a similar skillset as parallel parking. I don't think I've tried it in 30 years. IF The Kid does decide to practice before next week, maybe I'll take a shot at it.

On a different note, I think this is a valuable lesson for her. The Kid doesn't stumble or fail often. Things come easy for her and quite honestly, she does work quite hard. When things don't come easy or she fails, she gets really frustrated and has a hard time dealing with it. This is a non-mission critical time where she can fail (at least temporarily) and learn to deal with those feelings so that she better handles similar situations in the future.

If that doesn't work, I'll put her back in a standard shift vehicle.

[Thumper]

On the way home from a movie last night, just the 2 of us, The Kid brought up practicing maneuverability before her next test. She was even open to suggestions from me about what would help. Apparently she was taught a formula or "trick" of how to complete the task in her driver's ed car. The trick doesn't work well in Mrs. T's car because the rear visibility isn't as good (looking over your shoulder). And she wasn't taught to use her mirrors. So backs over cones because she's not looking at them in her mirrors. Not sure I'm going to be able to teach her about rear steer, using your mirrors, and the opposite effect, all in one brief practice session. I said, "You've successfully completed this many times so you know how to do it. She said she just guesses and hopes. So I guess it's almost like she's doing it blindfolded.

That's comforting. After she passes the test, looks like we still have some practice and training to do.