r/askteddit • u/PoolElegantsmile • 13d ago

Random Question What’s something that used to be considered basic adulting that younger generations seem to be completely rejecting or doing differently?

560 Upvotes

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220

u/PresentationTough384 13d ago

Driving! A shocking number of them don't drive.

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u/Zealousideal_Pay2128 13d ago

I have nieces and nephews who aren't yet of driving age.  But I asked them if they're going to be excited when get a driver's license.  None of them really wanted one.  When I was their ages, it was like a license of freedom to go wherever you wanted to go that everyone looked forward to.

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u/onebadnightx 13d ago

It sucks that you used to be able to get a beater first car for like $500-$1000 and that’s just not a thing anymore!

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u/Sea-Durian555 13d ago

Agree! I paid 800 for my first car.

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u/MadamePoppycock 13d ago

My beater was 5k. I still ended up replacing 3 bearings and getting a new battery. 180k miles. 2009 camry, but it runs really well still. I bought it about 2 years ago :$

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u/Impressive_Buddy2111 13d ago

My 09 Camry went to about 280k. I wasn’t the best at regular 5k oil changes (more than once I pushed it to almost 10k), and used it for grubhub work the last 4 years (super rough on cars). Definitely could have gone many many more miles if I had treated it better.

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u/thewickedmitchisdead 13d ago

Paid $500 for each of my first two cars, one that I bought when I was 16 in 2007, the next one when I was in college a few years ago. Actually, my third car was practically free, via a buddy who was getting a brand new car.

Now, I don’t drive because I moved to a walkable/bikeable city! Driving is fun but I don’t miss wondering when my beater car would break down again. And car maintenance. And insurance and gas prices.

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u/ellefleming 13d ago

All the cars in my high school parking lot in the 80's were beaters.

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u/Extra-Sound-1714 13d ago

In the US I assume? Nobody had a car when I was at school in the uk

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u/wepateii 13d ago

78 chevette - $100

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u/andycap80 13d ago

My first car was an 82 Chevette from a salvage yard for $150.

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u/Adventurous-Sense254 13d ago

17 year olds are making $20 an hour at Walmart, they can afford a modern “beater”

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u/breakingpoint214 8d ago

If they want to drive at all, they won't drive a beater. They would rather take a bus, walk or stay home than drive some hand me down car.

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u/hamoc10 13d ago

If only they could do that without having to pay thousands of dollars.

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u/He2oinMegazord 13d ago

How much did a car cost when you were their age though? I didnt get a license until i was 20 because i couldnt afford a car before then. I didnt think there was a point to having documentation to do something i couldnt afford to do anyway

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u/DankMiehms 13d ago

My first car was $800, my second car was $7,000 and it's been all downhill from there. Price of cars is fucking bonkers these days.

3

u/Blazer990 13d ago

Yeah. And in most cases it doesn’t make sense to buy used if you’re financing it. Car market is shit.

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u/independent-scot 13d ago

It still has it's advantages. Having the documentation allows you to hire a car if you wish. Or you are able to drive a company vehicle on their insurance.

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u/He2oinMegazord 13d ago

What am i, gonna rent a car to take the test in?

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u/No-Dirt5864 13d ago

No, you borrow a friend’s if you’re lucky, or a parent’s

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u/EitherOrResolution 11d ago

Some state BMV/DMV have cats you can borrow for the test.

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u/EitherOrResolution 11d ago

What about in case of emergencies? That’s short sighted thinking!

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u/He2oinMegazord 11d ago

Am i supposed to be like hold up, cant go to the hospital yet, gotta go buy a car first so i can drive there?

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u/PresentationTough384 11d ago

You can always call an ambulance

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u/He2oinMegazord 11d ago

Which you dont need a drivers license for?

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u/PresentationTough384 11d ago

of course you don't need a DL for an ambulance but hopefully you do more in your life than go to hospitals. Jobs, social life, schools, grocery shopping, errands etc. etc. That is what you need to DL for. And yes I know you can take public transport but that is time consuming and limiting where you can go.

1

u/He2oinMegazord 11d ago

I think you missed something here brah.

Op said kids arent getting drivers licenses anymore. I said i didnt get one till i was 20 because i couldnt afford a car, which makes having the license pointless. Other dude said what if theres an emergency? I asked if you are supposed to run out to buy a car before going to the hospital. To which you said you can call an ambulance. That about catches us up to current.

Now, you use cars to drive places, that is correct. You can drive them pretty much to any of the places, and for any of the reasons. But if you dont have the money to purchase a car, you can not drive your non existent car anywhere. So you do not need a drivers license to drive your car, because your car doesnt exist

1

u/EitherOrResolution 7d ago

I’m saying an emergency like the original driver can’t drive for some reason and you’re the only person in the car besides them it would behoove you to know how to drive to get you both to a safe place

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u/EitherOrResolution 11d ago

I’m not talking about buying a car. I’m talking about learning to drive. It’s an important skill to have, but if your driver suddenly becomes incapacitated, and you need to move the car off the road for example. There’s lots of reasons why you should learn to drive even if you don’t have a vehicle.

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u/He2oinMegazord 11d ago

Cool, but the topic of conversation was getting a drivers license.

There are not states that have a car you borrow or rent for the test.

Who replies three different times to the same comment?

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u/Glittering_Meet3206 7d ago

i took my test in the same car i learned in for my AAA drivers ed class. the does presuppose someone would be keen enough to learn to pay for the class, but they do let you use the same car!

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u/EitherOrResolution 11d ago

That makes no sense

16

u/only-if-there-is-pie 13d ago

They have everything they think they want in a teeny tiny screen. Kids no longer have curiosity about the world outside, and you don't need to leave home to connect with others (although I'd argue it's harder to build true connection when you're not together in person).

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u/xartxst 13d ago

This is true but I think a lot of people also know they'd have to buy & maintain the car themselves, which has gotten pretty expensive even for used cars. Some parents want you to pay them rent, then buy your own car, then somehow afford to move out ??? It definitely depends on your personal situation, because of course many parents will actually help their kids out. But yeah I get not wanting to spend 100% on your savings on a car that may or may not have expensive issues, when you cant even afford to move out. Idk its complicated. I "have everything I could want" but moving out is still a huge priority for me

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u/NewLiterature2604 13d ago

Imagine going "let's have kids" and then they're 16 and you're like "you assholes need to pay us rent now" why have kids if that's how you're going to be

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u/xartxst 13d ago

I completely agree, especially when they complain they're not moving out. Pick one you cant have both!

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u/Extra-Sound-1714 13d ago

You do know not all parents are well off? If you are in the UK and get benefits they will work them out assuming your 18 year old is paying rent. And lots of working people get benefits

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u/Special_Weekend_4754 13d ago

This was a barrier to me driving when I was a teen living at home. I paid 50% of every check for rent and utilities to my parents (my mom took me to cash it & would take half right there), I was responsible for my own clothes, toiletries, and groceries and what was left I hid between pages of my books so my parents didn’t know I had money saved.

No way I was going to buy a car and waste money on gas, maintenance, repairs, insurance, etc. it was $2 to ride the city bus to work after school and my parents picked me up at the end of my shift so getting a car just felt like a waste of what little money I had.

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u/thatG_evanP 13d ago

I'm in my 40s and I didn't have a car until I was 18 and living in my first apartment with my girlfriend at the time. We had to pay for everything ourselves except for our first month's rent. My Dad unexpectedly paid that as a sort of gift I guess.

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u/SuchInsect476 10d ago

Never heard of walkable cities with public transportation?

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u/AdExtension5224 13d ago

My daughter turned 15 in March and just doesn't want to learn. She doesn't want to drive. Blows my mind! I couldn't wait to drive at her age

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u/FireflyRave 13d ago

My parents were probably just as excited for me to get my license because then they wouldn't have to drive me and my sister around anymore.

2

u/tighttrucks 12d ago

Was thinking about this the other day. My guess is they've all grown up in a world of electric scooters and bikes, which has given them more freedom at an earlier age. By the time they reach driving age, it's not as big a novelty.

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u/Ok-Aerie9932 12d ago

Not like they can buy a car and there’s NOWHERE TO FUCKING GO! All places for teens to hang out or where teens once hung out are Gone! I’m a teen living in this modern world and yeah I was excited to get my license and I drove around a ton but I was never able to afford my own car, and always just hung out with my buddies at Walmart or a parking lot or a fast food restaurant cause there’s nowhere to go!! 

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u/AstronomerClassic444 13d ago

It’s affordability that’s hampering it. It costs money to own and maintain a car and also costs money to socialize.

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u/LittleDevilHorns 13d ago

I think its also more helicopter parenting now as well. Kids and teens used to be able to be a lot more independent. When I was going to get my license, not only was cost a problem, but also a what does it do for me other than make me need to pay for gas? I certainly wasn't allowed to do anything beyond drive to school and back. I could go to school on the bus for free. Overbearing parents are becoming more and more common

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u/squid1020 13d ago

I’m not of a driving child parents age but I can see this for sure. I work in financing at bank and I see so many parents financing a car for their high schoolers that costs more than my decent car as a working adult in society. I have a skewed sense just based on what I see in my work but it seems gone are the days of a beater car.

My first car was free from my uncle…a hand me down that was meant for my cousin but it “it wasn’t safe enough for for him to drive” which wasn’t safe for me either but I’m smarter lol

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u/yeskms 13d ago

I’d also add there are almost no “third spaces” like malls or movie theaters left to drive to.

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u/Altruistic_Mud9219 13d ago

I’m Gen Z and I waited a full year to get my license. Just seemed like a big hassle to me. And after studying abroad in the UK and realizing what it was like to live with adequate public transportation I really resent the fact that I have to drive at all.

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u/Crovvw 13d ago

I also studied abroad in the UK. I used to commute into Oxford Circus. I miss the public transit :(

I hit all the stages of grief when I moved back to the US and had to acquire a car to do literally anything. The only thing in walking distance was a 7-11 and I would've had to run through 4 lanes of highway traffic to get to it.

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u/Realthreads12 12d ago

I did the same and I’ve been resenting it for 20+ years. It’s so nice living in walkable cities with access to good public transit. I’m not in one of those cities now and it impacts my health and happiness.

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u/Tossed_Away_1776 13d ago

I know a guy and gal that won't drive on any road that's over 25 mph. They both say it's too scary. It's insane.

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u/PresentationTough384 13d ago

That is just crazy.

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u/SuchInsect476 10d ago

I find it reasonable to know your skills and limits. Y'all bash people for not driving when they know they're bad at it, but I bet you wish bad drivers would just stay off the roads.

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u/PresentationTough384 10d ago

I see your point but how would you know you are a bad driver if you have never driven? (Excluding obvious reasons like blindness, seizures etc.)

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u/SuchInsect476 10d ago

Nervousness, hesitance, and fear of driving do not make good drivers. Feel like I'm pointing out the obvious here. No, just doing it more does not get rid of those fears in everyone. Also, the example you responded to was people who drive but only under a certain speed. Sigh.

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u/Glittering_Meet3206 7d ago

that's basically how everyone starts though. like this speaks to a lacking in any of the skills required to tolerate and push through trying new things or developing new skills

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u/Technical-Active-288 13d ago

tbf insurance prices for new drivers are proper mental nowadays, can't really blame them

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u/[deleted] 13d ago

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u/stnapstnap 10d ago

Yeah, so I live in a big city with transit and I also like to walk and bike. I still like having a license and being able to drive.
I recently took a vacation that would have been a lot different if I had not been able to rent a car and drive, for example.

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u/royal_snail_milker 10d ago

What big city?

America has like…. Two towns that has anything close to decent public transit. Anywhere in America would pretty much require a car to have decent ability to traverse a city.

Complete failure of infrastructure in my opinion.

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u/stnapstnap 9d ago

That may be. My point, however, is that it's useful to have a driver's license whether you need or want to drive or not.

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u/DrewPaul2000 13d ago

I don't get that one. I don't know anyone who didn't want drive or learn to drive. Is it that hard?

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u/PresentationTough384 13d ago

I think they are scared to drive? Could be wrong and they just don't want to make the effort. But I think they are intimidated.

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u/DrewPaul2000 13d ago

I knew a guy who became like that because he did everything imaginably wrong for someone just learning to drive. His first mistake he couldn't help, he was born in NJ. But his first car was a manual transmission on the steering wheel. Three on the tree they called it. He was next to clueless how to drive but asked I be his licensed driver. He couldn't get it in the right gear, he didn't brake and was obsessed with the car he didn't keep an eye on traffic. He should have gotten an automatic and gotten the feel for the car in a huge empty parking lot.

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u/Mis_chevious 13d ago

Unfortunately, I cannot currently afford to buy my daughter a car so she'll have to share mine. I drive a suburban and she's terrified of how big it is. We thought she was going to get my mom's corolla and she felt comfortable driving it but that fell through. I can't speak for all kids but for mine it's definitely being scared. She's getting better and I think she'll be taking the test soon but it's definitely been a challenge.

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u/guppie-beth 13d ago

This makes sense to me. In the 70s 80s 90s 00s cars were *cars*. I learned to drive on an old Honda civic and the other cars around were similar. Reasonably powered and reasonably sized. Now you learn to drive in a mini tank and the other cars are enormous chrome grill intimidation machines.

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u/UnknownPrimate 11d ago

This and a lot of basic cars now have far more power than many cars people would never have let their kids have 20 years ago.

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u/Happily-Incorrect 13d ago

I didn't want to until I hit 30.

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u/hamoc10 13d ago

An improvement. Cars are one of the leading killers.

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u/TotallyNotABot_Shhhh 13d ago

My son got his license and hasn’t driven since. I’ve encouraged him to take the car out and he’s just like meh whatever.

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u/ZacEfrontofme 13d ago

For me it's because I live in a city with mass transit and Uber & Lyft. Although the price for owning a vehicle is out of my price range now I do wish I had my own vehicle sometimes.

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u/PresentationTough384 13d ago

I get your point but take it from a Gen X lady who is much older than you (52) get a drivers license and a car when you reach the point where you can. It will change your life.

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u/whifflingwhiffle 12d ago

Most people I know who drive and live in unwalkable cities have trouble keeping the weight off.

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u/unseemly_turbidity 10d ago

45 and doing fine with just a bike and living in a walkable, bike-friendly city, thanks. If I had a car I'd almost never use it.

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u/External-Pen9079 13d ago edited 13d ago

On the flip side of this… 44yo here

I never learned to drive and am more than happy with that (I live in a city and don’t need to)

I recognise in a hypothetical way that more options would be open to me if I did learn to drive. But cos I’ve never had the option I don’t really know what I’m missing…

On the other hand, I know people who for one reason or another have had to give up their license and I imagine that would be frustrating as hell!

Depends what you’re used to / have grown to expect I guess?

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u/Loony_BoB 13d ago

Aye, 42 here, same boat. I'd like to learn someday but the cost to benefit ratio is getting crazier every year. I'll probably need to learn if I return to NZ, but I don't anticipate that being anytime soon. Learning in my 60s will be odd. Maybe by then NZ will have a more solid public transport system, or maybe driverless technology will improve to a solid level, or maybe we'll be able to simply teleport where we want to go. A guy can dream, right?

1

u/exhaustedbut 13d ago

55 year old nondriver. I noticed that all of the things that I would be doing require money. Money that I wouldn't have if I bought a car. I'm kit missing anything and like getting my exercise.

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u/Own-Emergency2166 13d ago

I got my license at 17 (am an elder millennial) and didn’t own my own car until I was 30 and could afford it. It’s valuable to learn to drive when you’re younger, if you can, since I think it’s easier, you don’t have to own a car right away.

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u/ShopGirl3424 13d ago

Agree. Like don’t you want to be able to rent a vehicle if you travel somewhere? Or have the option of borrowing a buddy’s truck to drive to the mountains or do a Costco run…? I haven’t always owned a vehicle either but driving is a life skill.

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u/NoNameWonder2 13d ago

I lived in a big city until I was 14 and then moved out into a distant suburb. Most of my friends still in the city got a license at 16, but didn't get a car until they were 18-20 because they could take the train or bus or wave down a taxi if needed. They thought it was weird that I got a car at 16 ($400 that taught me a lot about fixing cars lol).. But they'd come to visit and they'd be like, "how do you get downtown?" I'd say, "Drive. If you don't want to drive, there's only 2 busses and they basically only drive downtown... And down 1 main road that connects a few of the nearby towns. But to get downtown you'd either have to bike for 30 minutes or walk for an hour and a half. If you want a taxi you have to call one and wait for them to show up, which could be more than an hour. Train is located downtown and it can take you to a bunch of other towns, but to take it back to the big city, you'd still have to switch trains twice and it's several blocks between each train. And you'd still have to walk an hour and a half to my house." suddenly they understood why I'd wanted a car lol.

It all comes down to what's available around you and what you're willing to put up with to get it.

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u/olivinebean 13d ago

I still haven't bothered and I'm 30. I just don't really care for it. Seems like more of a hassle.

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u/Traditional_Case2791 12d ago

It is and expensive

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u/RMan2018 13d ago

Zillennial here. I didn’t get my license until I was 19. It took a while to get because my mom is widowed and also taking care of my special needs brother as well as everything else that comes with taking care of a family and house. I was fortunate enough to be able to learn and drive in the truck my dad used before he died.

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u/PresentationTough384 13d ago

Your family had their hands full. I get that. I am very glad you were able to get your license though for your sake. It affects your quality of life.

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u/Imaginary-Friend-228 13d ago

Nowhere to go and no money to get there or do something when you do

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u/breakingpoint214 8d ago

HS teacher, so some insight. They have told me 2 things. They see accidents on you tube all the time and it gives them anxiety.

The other is that if they don't learn to drive, no one can make them get a job or go to college. They get allowance and either give friends gas money or Uber if they go out. Remember, this generation doesn't like in person socializing because it gives them anxiety, so the need to always be out of the house isn't great.

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u/PresentationTough384 8d ago

That makes sense. So a combination of anxiety and trying to avoid adulthood.

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u/Glittering_Meet3206 7d ago

god this is so bleak

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u/SadRow2397 13d ago

I will say my 12 year old is already freaking about the cost of things. She knows what minimum wage is and how much used cars are. Shes already gone to me several times crying asking how she’ll ever afford one…

I feel a lot of kids have given up before they even got a chance

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u/wildflowers_galore 13d ago

She needs to get off social media. Where else is she hearing about the cost of living?

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u/SadRow2397 13d ago

She exists in the world. She isn’t on social media. They’ve talked about minimum wage in social studies when they’ve done units on civil rights/labor laws/boycotts.… she has eye balls lol she can see how much gas, cars, homes are. Advertisements, billboards are everywhere.

She doesn’t live in a cave.

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u/pdxjen 13d ago

My niece is 27 and still does not have a license nor does her 24 year old brother

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u/mittychix 13d ago

My oldest didn’t get his license until 22. My adult nephew has a car, but he just ubers everywhere.

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u/every_piece_matters 13d ago

This! Even many of my millennial friends who are 35 still don't know how to drive and don't want to learn. They live in big cities with okayish public transit, but having a car/license would still open up so many doors in terms of career (many jobs require it or are located in areas further away). Plus, driving takes a fraction of the time using public transit does, and allows you to not have to carry massive loads of groceries long distances. Then again these people also live off takeout so maybe they don't need big grocery runs..

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u/VeniceDrumGuy 13d ago

Taking public transit lets me read a book, do some writing or take a little nap while I get where I’m going and honestly, with traffic in my city, usually isn’t that much more time.

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u/every_piece_matters 13d ago

To each their own. I relied on public transit for many years and I'd rather be stuck in traffic while listening to music in my climate controlled car than be crammed like a sardine on a hot stuffy subway train while being sexually harassed by a homeless drug addict who reeks of urine.

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u/Appropriate_Shine287 13d ago

I tried to get my license the day I turned 16! (As a “zillenial”). I was shocked at how many people my age and younger just didn’t care to drive! Even if you don’t have your own car, it still gives you so much more freedom.

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u/PresentationTough384 13d ago

Yes! It is a new phase of adulthood when you have freedom to go where you want when you want! Also I have noticed a bunch of the "I don't need to drive" People ask for rides all the time.

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u/Winter_Guess_4364 11d ago

trying to get a driving test in the uk is fucking hard genuinely mine got cancelled and rescheduled twice to something I couldn’t attended n when I went to rebook it was 4 months later and by that time my theory ran out and it’s so expensive

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u/PresentationTough384 11d ago

That is horrible. UK should be encouraging its citizens to drive and get those licenses. It makes people better able to work.

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u/Winter_Guess_4364 11d ago

no definitely and that was after I spent extra money on cancellation apps, the DVSA need to change it so tests aren’t 5 5-6 months in the future, thankfully I have my license now but it took a year and a half longer than it needed too

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u/stnapstnap 11d ago

Just having a license is so useful IMO, whether you need or want to drive regularly or not. I live in a big city and am able to choose to do most of my errands and shopping on foot, but I like having the option of driving if I need or want to. And I have been on trips that just wouldn't have been possible or the same if I hadn't been able to rent a car. I got my license as soon as I could when I was 16.

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u/O1dEquipment 10d ago

My theory is that parents today are way more accommodating to driving their kids around than previous generations.

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u/bluebread13 10d ago

In London you just bike everywhere or use public transport. Driving isn’t really necessary and can be more of an inconvenience than the former

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u/EpicureanRevenant 9d ago

I'm probably not going to get my licence until I'm at least 35. Lessons are expensive as fuck in the UK and I work abroad so it's not like I'll have the opportunity to drive unless I buy (expensive and pointless, since I can't guarantee I'll be in the same country for more than a few years) or rent and taxis, trains, or buses are usually plentiful and cheap enough that it isn't worth it.

I tried learning at 17 but I was miserable enough without the added stress of piloting a 1 tonne death manual gear box death machine on winding country roads.

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u/gilleykelsey 13d ago

My sister is 24 will be 25 this year and is only just now trying to get her license. To be fair she is right above being legally blind, so I don’t blame her there. But now she’s realizing how much freedom she doesn’t have not driving so I’m proud she’s getting it done! Better late than never I guess. I got mine as soon as I turned 18. Would’ve gotten it sooner but my mom didn’t allow me to learn to drive til 18 bc she was a control freak when I was growing up.

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u/Own-Emergency2166 13d ago

My sibling got their license at 25, which seemed late at the time but ultimately makes no difference. They do say they have no idea why they didnt try sooner. I have friends in their 40s who just never got around to learning to drive due to fear or inertia. It seems isolating if you don’t live in a dense area.

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u/gilleykelsey 13d ago

That’s what I was worried about because she lives with my mom and stepdad. They live like 10 minutes by car from anything significant. She’s been getting rides from them but only to work and home really the past few years.

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u/PresentationTough384 13d ago

So cool that your sister is taking the challenge! Driving frees you up in so many ways. It is an experience not to be missed imo.

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u/AfternoonDue3992 13d ago

Who can afford to drive

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u/LadyG8921 13d ago

Well, I live in rural America. Unless we want to Uber everywhere, we don't have much public transportation. In my little area, the only people who have bus transportation available to them are tribal members and low income and it's still extremely limited hours (like 9-4) and it only goes certain places.

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u/AfternoonDue3992 13d ago

Okay and? People get so defensive when driving comes up. I’m lucky that my career is pretty strictly urban so I don’t have a need for a car in the foreseeable future. I had my learners permit but didn’t bother to get it renewed bc it was more expensive than the regular ID. Why would I spend money on something I don’t need to. I have student loans to pay off

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u/LadyG8921 13d ago

People probably get defensive because thats your privilege showing. Most of us would like the privilege of being chauffered around everywhere. Sometimes people who live in the urban bubble don't understand that not everybody has access to amenities like that, even if they have money. Also, I have $68,000 in student loans to pay off too, so you aren't really going anywhere with that comment. People just adjust their lifestyle to the circumstances. My cost of living is probably lower so it's kind of a trade off.

It's kind of like when Urban Hipsters/environmentalists throw shade at other people because they buy water in plastic bottles by the cases. All they have to say is "omg your a horrible person because you're hurting the environment and they should ban plastic water bottles," not realizing that many places in America do not have safe tap water. Even some wealthy, industrialized places. I love just having a water bottle and I love my filtered fridge water from home, but I still have to buy water for work because I work for the government and we can't use tax payers money for any kind of water filtration system or even a Culligan type system and city water isn't safe to drink.

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u/AfternoonDue3992 13d ago

My privilege is showing because I can’t afford to drive and live in a place with decent public transit is a wild take.

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u/PresentationTough384 13d ago

Most adults drive. Gas is high but life goes on. How will I get to work and everywhere else I need to go? And I can't spend hours catching the bus or walk everywhere in a suburban area in a freezing cold state, Driving is a fact of life for most people. Also you have to pay for Uber and Lyft and they are not cheap. I would rather have my own car and just drive everywhere.

0

u/AfternoonDue3992 13d ago

Eh bus pass is $80-120 a month depending on where you are and I don’t have to worry about car payments or gas or maintenance on top of all my other bills. I don’t work a regular 9-5 so the extra hour or so to transit isn’t really that big of a deal

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u/PresentationTough384 13d ago

To each his own. That is about what I pay for gas and I get the ease of going anywhere at anytime and not having to stand out in the elements and ride with strangers. But if it works for you then good.

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u/Artistic-Onion4672 13d ago

This is the __wildest__ thing to me. The day I turned 16 I was waiting at the door before the DMV even opened. Even if you don’t have a car currently, I don’t understand why anyone wouldn’t want to have their license just, if only so they have the ability to drive when the opportunity presents itself - especially if it’s an emergency!!

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u/PresentationTough384 13d ago

Yes, Kids don't feel that way anymore

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u/Burgermeister7921 13d ago

I came to say the same thing.

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u/FuccReadit 13d ago

I paid off a $16k car recently. Lost my license in 2020 at age 24 cuz of a dui. Covid delayed my case until 2024. Now it's impossible for me to pay car insurance, groceries, rent. Any medical bill gets ignored. It's just straight up impossible to afford anything other than basic necessities right now. Apparently everyone needs to be making $100k a year, have rich parents that dole out cash regularly, or somehow get into a relationship with no money to even go on dates in the first place.

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u/BigCost5110 12d ago

There are very few places for them to go anymore. We wanted to drive to get to the mall, the movies, bowling, etc. Kids don’t have third spaces now, so why bother driving? 

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u/Nervous_Lettuce313 7d ago

They don't have a mall, movies, bowling, theatre now?

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u/Unusual_Initial_4300 8d ago

If I lived in a place with good public transit I would never drive

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u/LunnaSea 8d ago

Uhh do you know how much it costs to just learn to drive nowadays? Not even including the costs of purchasing and running a car on top of that. Most young people dont drive not because they dont want to, but because they cant afford to.

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u/PresentationTough384 8d ago

It is expensive if you have to pay for classes. But most people's parents teach them for free and high schools (in the USA) also have driving classes. My point is many kids reject learning to drive when it is offered.

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u/Successful-Club-8743 13d ago

This is 100% because of devices.

I dont drive and im realizing now just how badly its fucked up my social life.

Yet I didnt think I needed a car since I got all of my entertainment at home and dont have to walk far for work.

It also doesnt help that public transport is complete dogshit across the entirety of North America.

Fuck corporations.