At what age did you learn to drive?

[jess_g]

My daughter is 15. At age 16 she can start learning to drive. I am so not ready for this. I did not start driving until I was 26 and it took me a while before I would say I was a good driver. I am wondering what age others learned to drive and if you think that 16 year olds should be driving? I am realy hoping that we can wait until she is 17 (or even 18) before she starts to drive. Actualy right now there is no room in the driveway to park another vehicle so hopefully that will solve everything for me for a while.

Jessica.

[DietCokeLover]

I got my restricted drivers license when I was 15. I could drive alone during daylight hours.

[jse107]

I got my learners permit the day I turned 16. After 8 months of driving with my parents and a drivers ed. class, I got my license. I was still 16. I didn't have my own car and no one had cell phones to be distracted by, but I was still 16!

[BabyBearsMom]

Learners Permit at 16, License at 16.5

[KpbS]

I learned at age 16 1/2. We didn't have an extra car for me to learn to drive and it wasn't a priority for me to learn until then. Is driver's ed offered at her school/summer program?

[billysmommy]

I got my permit and took driver's ed when I was 15 and got my license on my 16th birthday.

[lizzywednesday]

I got my 1st Learner's Permit at 16, I think it was "good" 'til 18. It was the final exam for my in-school drivers' ed course (Sophomore year of high school's "health class" unit, which meant 1 marking period of whatever semester you were scheduled for.)

Dad tried to teach me how to drive, but didn't realize that using your mirrors to back up was a "fail" point, so failed the road test on that, parallel parking and steering. (Dad was too afraid to let me steer myself.)

I had no desire or need to get a license until college.

I got my 2nd Learner's Permit at 21; passed road test after taking in-car instruction paid for by my ex-boyfriend's parents. (Long story.)

I got my first car the winter after I turned 21.

[Dr C]

I got my permit at 15 and my license when I was 16. It took me a year or so to become what I'd consider a good driver.
I would argue that the younger you learn to drive, the better you are able to learn--like learning a language at an earlier age. I have absolutely NO data to back this up! But we'll probably get both my kids into Kart racing as soon as they can reach the pedals for this very reason.
Also, if you let your DD learn to drive while she's still in the house you can (at least theoretically) supervise her more and teach her more. I have mixed feelings about 16 year olds on the road in general and am all for limits on licenses for kids that age. But assuming your DD has a good head on her shoulders, wouldn't you rather she be the one driving instead of one of her friends?

Finally, just because she gets a permit and, later, a license, does not mean she needs to get her own car!!

[egoldber]

I did not get my license until I was 18 and I did not drive any significant amount of time until I was 21. (I did not have my own car, we only had one car because my mother did not drive.)

I think that her learning to drive with you and when you control her access to vehicles and can supervise her driving time is a good thing. Driving is a learned skill that you can only acquire through practice. I would rather my kids did that with me vs when they are more on their own.

[Twoboos]

Learners Permit at 16, License at 16.5

:yeahthat: Had to take driver's ed in order to get license at 16.5 though. It was 17 w/o driver's ed.

[babyonway]

I got my learners permit at 14. Which meant that I could drive with an adult whenever. Then a restricted licnese at 15 which meant I could drive to and from work and school by myself, with an adult at other times. Then the restricted license turned into a standard licnese at 16. I live in the midwest and the majority of the popultation is farmers (although I live in the city) I think the age limit was so young to benefit farmer's familys. I don't know if it is still this young or not.

Compared to all my friends I was a late starter because I had a late bday.

I did not get my own car until after I graduated from college and bought it myself.

ETA: It is still this young to get a learners permit!

[MontrealMum]

I took driver's ed the summer I was 15 and drove on my learner's for a year until I was 16 the following summer and got my license. I hear you about thinking that that's too young now, though! Maybe if we lived in a city where the drivers were sane I'd feel differently, but I'm terrified to think that DS could be driving at 16.

But if you think 16 is young, get this...my uncle got his driver's license at 14! Back then if you needed to drive for work, you could get one at a younger age. His family owns a car dealership so that was the work. You can bet he was doing more with that license than just driving cars around the lot - scary!

[cvanbrunt]

Learners permit at 15, license right around my 16th birthday. I'm from the days before restricted licenses.

[weech]

Learners and driver's ed somewhere around 15. Got my license a day or two after I turned 16. I was a good driver - still am! :D

[KrisM]

Lerner's permit at about 15.75 and a license on my 16th birthday. I wish my parents had done a private school to learn. I used the classes offered through school and they were during the summer I was 15. Well, my birthday is Sept, so I got my learners permit in August and my license in Sept.

Just because she's driving doesn't mean she has to have her own car :).

[twowhat?]

Learners permit at 15. License at 16. I'd say I wasn't a good driver until I was 21, mainly because I didn't drive much.

IMO I don't think the age matters (I know plenty of people who started learning as adults and are still bad drivers). The two things I think are important are:

1) maturity level - does the teenager understand the importance of obeying traffic rules and laws and have common sense and knows how to make good judgements?

2) practice, practice, practice. You simply won't get to be a good driver without practice.

[Pennylane]

I learned to drive when I was 11 , got my learners at 15 and my license the day I turned 16.

Ann

[MoJo]

Learner's permit at 15 1/2 (could drive whenever wherever with a related licensed adult); license at 16 (no restrictions besides curfew, which applied to all teens regardless of whether they had a license.) My dad taught me, and he definitely allowed me to steer!

I didn't have my own car 'til my senior year of college, never drove (or rode with) friends . . . but I drove my younger siblings all the time starting at 16, and my parents loved not needing to take us to/from school, not needing to take me to/from work or activities when I was in high school, and that sort of thing. My mom would rather stay home than play chauffeur, and I don't think she got any complaints from me!

My sister (the baby in the family) didn't get her license until she was ready to leave for college. And then she went from a super-easy-to-drive small town to Phoenix, and was NOT prepared at all for that type of driving since she had so little experience behind the wheel.

[egoldber]

Here is some good info:

http://www.cdc.gov/parentsarethekey/

[Pear]

I didn't get my license until I was 16. I could have gotten a restricted license (drive alone to school and work) at 14, but my parents didn't like that idea. They said I could get my license at 15, but then it turned out they didn't have my birth certificate and in pre-internet days it took a long time to get a replacement.

[JoyNChrist]

My mom and grandpa started teaching me to drive around 11 or 12 (back roads and in fields). I used to drive the truck and trailer (manual transmission, at that) for my grandpa while he loaded hay in the summer. Of course, that was in hay fields, so no traffic to worry about.

I got my learner's permit at 15 and started driving heavily with my mom then. Full license at 16 and drove all over after that. I got my own car my senior year of high school.

I'm giving DH the driving instruction duties when our kids are old enough. Even though I've been driving for a long time and consider myself a good driver, I hate to do it.

[Pear]

I'm a big fan of getting kids driving early. I want DD to be driving while she is still under my supervision. She will know that my wrath will great if she doesn't take driving seriously. I think it's a good thing that she wI'lli have some time where I can revoke driving privileges for infractions that would barely be a blip on the radar to the DMV. If she doesn't get a license until 18 then I won't have that power.

[HIU8]

learners permit at 15 and 9 months. license at 16. Although until 17 the law was that I could not drive between 12 and 6 am.

I'm really hoping they change the law to at least 17 or 18 here, but who knows.

[Babymakes3]

Learners permit at 15 and my license at 16.
I didn't do the drivers ed at school bc you get very little actual instructed driving time so my parents hired me private, outside instruction to learn the basics and get me comfortable with taking the driving test.

[Moneypenny]

I was able to drive out in the country when I was 13 (never alone, only across fields or on back roads, etc). I "officially" started driving at 15 1/2 and got my driver's license a couple of days after my 16th birthday.

[smilequeen]

I was 16.

I think with my own kids, we'll step through the driving even though the law is currently just plain 16.

Like, only during the day for x amount of time. No friends in the car for x amount of time. And evaluate freedom based on showing responsibility. I think I'm already more scared b/c I have boys and while girls tend to have more accidents, boys tend to have more serious accidents.

[kijip]

I was 24, just short of 25.

[Melaine]

I think I got my permit at 15.5 but I really was just learning on backroads with my parents in the car at that point. I didn't test for my license until I was almost 17 IIRC.

I don't care what the law is, if we don't think they are ready, they won't be driving.

[MommyAllison]

I got my permit and took driver's ed when I was 15 and got my license on my 16th birthday.

Me too. I think it was a good thing to have my permit for a full year, since I was able to practice a lot and experience driving in snow, ice, rain, wind, etc.

[crl]

20. I was pretty intimidated by driving even though I was not in a city then.

Catherine

[Tondi G]

got my permit @ 15 and my drivers License on my 16th Birthday!

[AnnieW625]

I took in the class drivers ed. right on schedule in my sophomore year of high school, but by the time I finally did the behind the wheel class, passed my permit test, and got experience driving I was 17 yrs. old, and three weeks shy of turning 18. We lived in a small city so while a drivers license would've been nice it wasn't 100% necessary.

[SnuggleBuggles]

15.5 and got my license a bit after 16 (failed 2 times). I see 16yos and think, "boy, that is young to be driving!" but I think it is a very, very important life skill. The longer people go without learning the less likely they are to do it, ime. It's just nice to get it over and done with, imo.

Beth

[wencit]

I was around 17-18 (I was in no hurry to get my driver's license because we only had 1 car and lived within walking distance of high school). Didn't drive all that much until I was 22 and got my first job out of college.

[KLD313]

I got my permit when I was 15. I turned 16 in March and had my license by May.

[LMPC]

Learned to drive on country roads when I was about 13-14...but legally got my permit at 15 and real license (no restrictions) at 16.

[newg]

I got my learner's permit at 15.5 I think and was driving by my 16th birthday.....but like pp mentioned, no cell phones to distract. I did not have my own car 'till I was a sophmore in college....I borrowed one of my parent's cars if I wanted to go anywhere.
I don't think getting a car when you learn to drive should be a "right". I've already told DH that when the DDs learn to drive, they will be borrowing the family car not getting their own. (he got his own junker car at 16)

My parents made sure I drove it all sorts of conditions before I was allowed to drive alone.....and I don't think I had more than one or two friends in the car at one time 'till I had been driving for a while.

At 16 I was ready to learn how to drive. My parents told me it was a privilage to drive, not a "right", and I took it that way. My Bff in highschool did not want to learn to drive at all. The whole idea terrified her. She got her liscense, but I did all the driving for over a year before she felt comfortable driving with anyone in the car........so if a kid isn't ready I don't think they should be pushed to drive.

[salsah]

learned to drive at 15, got my permit at 15.5, and my license at 16 (on my birthday, of course).

[BabbyO]

I got my Learners' permit at 16 (or just before) and my license at 16.5. However, I could have gotten my learners' permit at 15.5 by our state law at the time.

I certainly won't say that I was a great driver...but I wasn't terrible and my parents somewhat restricted where and when I could drive (not downtown on the freeway without an adult, etc). However, buy the time I got my license my parents couldn't wait because they were sick of carting my butt to and from practice and my part-time job. They were constantly needing to work around my schedule as well as their own schedules and my siblings schedules.

[Indianamom2]

I got my learner's permit when I was 15 (took driver's ed the summer before I turned 16 in November) and started driving myself and anyone else who would ride with me at 16. I drove myself to work and myself and my younger sister to school and back everyday.

I think it totally depends on the maturity of the teenager as to when they should drive. I was a very dependable mature teen and very calm...but I cannot imagine my own DD (who is very anxious and exciteable) being able to drive at that same age. It could happen and she could certainly do a lot of maturing (she'd have to!) but if my child isn't ready when the state says she should be....I'd have no problem holding off. On the other hand, if she's mature and responsible, then I suppose I'll have to let her go....

[mommylamb]

In the state I grew up in, back in the day, you could drive at age 15 without a license so long as you had with an licensed adult over the age of 18 in the car, and you were eligible to get your license as soon as you turned 16 with no restrictions after that. That is what I did. Now, I think they don't let you drive at all until you're 16 and you can't get your license until you're 16.5.

While I am frightened by the prospect of teenagers (especially 16 year olds) driving, I know that I am a much more confident driver because I started so early, as compared to my DH. He didn't learn to drive until he was 32, when he first came to the U.S. right before we got married. I taught him to drive. While he has now been driving for a decade, he still refuses to drive in the city and I am our primary driver pretty much all the time, with the exception of quick trips in the immediate vicinity of where we live.

[TwinFoxes]

I got my permit and took driver's ed when I was 15 and got my license on my 16th birthday.

Same here.

I think the restricted licenses they have nowadays are a great idea. A lot of states don't allow teens to drive with more than one passenger, or after certain hours. I think that is very smart. 16 seems young now (of course!) but a lot of 16 year olds have jobs. My parents were happy to have me drive, because then they didn't have to worry about me taking the late school bus home if I needed to do extracurriculars.

I also think (based on nothing but my own opinion) that if people wait too long to drive, it ends up being a huge, scary deal. I had two friends who didn't learn to drive as teens, they both tried numerous times as adults. Finally they gave up. Another friend tried as an adult, but failed. He then moved overseas to a country where there was no real test, got a drivers license, and when he moved back here, was able to get a license by showing the one he got overseas (this was before 9/11). He was a baaad driver.

ETA: I was posting the same time as Mommylamb...great minds! ;)

[hellokitty]

I would argue that the younger you learn to drive, the better you are able to learn--like learning a language at an earlier age. I have absolutely NO data to back this up! But we'll probably get both my kids into Kart racing as soon as they can reach the pedals for this very reason.
Also, if you let your DD learn to drive while she's still in the house you can (at least theoretically) supervise her more and teach her more. I have mixed feelings about 16 year olds on the road in general and am all for limits on licenses for kids that age. But assuming your DD has a good head on her shoulders, wouldn't you rather she be the one driving instead of one of her friends?

Finally, just because she gets a permit and, later, a license, does not mean she needs to get her own car!!

I agree with a LOT of this. I got my permit a little after 16 and then got my license when I was about 16.5 yrs old. My brothers waited until they were almost 18, and not only had to take their driver's test 2x, but one got into several accidents within a few yrs. We've known other ppl who did not want their kids to get their driver's license until they were older and watched these, "kids" (college graduates), get into car accidents within months of getting their license. My parents really did not set any limits for me with who/when I could drive. However, for my own kids, I do plan to have them complete an extra # of hrs of drive time with either DH or I with them, even after they earn their license and there will be a no driving friends rule too, just b/c I think that young ppl get too distracted by passengers and other things going on inside the vehicle.

[okinawama]

Back when I learned to drive, I was able to get my restricted at age 14 (without a single drivers ed class). That meant that I was able to drive without an adult from the hours of 7am-9pm. At age 15 I got my regular license and was able to drive whenever/wherever.

I believe that the law in that state has changed to 15. I can't imagine having my son drive at age 14 but my parents encouraged me to.

[jgenie]

I got my permit and took driver's ed when I was 15 and got my license on my 16th birthday.

:yeahthat: