Letting your teen get their license

[mickeysgal]

Did anyone hold back on letting their teen get their license when they turned 16? If you held off, was it because they were inexperienced drivers, not emotionally mature enough to handle the responsiblitity, or some other reason (such as grades or insurance affordability)?

 

[The Mystery Machine]

DD turns 15 in April. She will be allowed to get her permit.

Our deal is that she needs to be trustworthy and have good grades in order to get her license and then keep it up in order to continue driving.

I know she wants a part time job when she turns 16.

 

[Nancy]

My oldest wanted hers at 16, I said no, she was not responsible enough to drive. My middle turned 16 in December, she got her permit last week, she is more responsible and more mature at her age than her older sister was. The oldest will be 18, she still doesn't have hers, but now she doesn't want it... ...but I am forcing her to get it! Middle DD hasn't really driven yet, she wants to go but I keep saying no. I tell her I told her she could get her permit, I never told her she could drive!LOL!

Insurance is a big thing with me, I feel like we already pay a fortune. BUT I am tired of being a taxi driver..it will be so nice when they can drive themself.

 

[jcsbama]

My oldest sister has three kids, 20, 18, 16. They did not allow them to get their license until they turned 17. The youngest won't be able to get his until Nov. My sis and BIL wanted them to be a little more mature and responsible. Honestly though, I think my sister made them wait because she was a careless driver and had numerous and I mean numerous wrecks when she was a teenager. She doesn't want to go through what she put my parents through.

 

[jennyl772003]

I didn't get mine until I was 18.5. My parents wouldn't take us out to practice. My mom was too nervous and my dad, well, he is a "proffesional driver" and knew better then the instructors, so he stopped taking us.

I ended up learning from my BF (he was quite a bit older) and he took me for my license, 2 days after I graduated High School.

 

[horseshowmom]

DD got her permit 2 or 3 months after turning 16 (legally could have gotten it at 15 1/2, but we chose not to). She kept it until she was 17, and then got her DL. I wanted her to have her actual license for at least a year before starting college.

The cost of insurance was a factor. She was mature and had great grades, so that didn't factor in, but the high incidence of accidents with 15 and 16 year old drivers did.

Fortunately, DD was so involved with horse showing that we were out of town most weekends for shows or training, and she really didn't mind waiting for awhile to get the DL.

 

[ChristmasElf]

Our oldest didn't get his permit until he was 17. Florida has been toying with the idea of raising the age when the kids can get their permits from 15 to 17 and I am all for it and would be one of the first to sign the petition if it was up to me!

!5 is way to young to sit behind 2500+ pounds of metal and glass and go motoring down the highway. They don't have the maturity, nor the reflexes to respond quickly enough should there be a need. Add the blaring radio, cell phones and other kids as a distraction for passengers and it only spells one thing, accident waiting to happen.

And if they do get in an accident, and hurt or even possibly kill themselves or even someone else, they live with that the rest of their lives. Not worth it.

 

[Karista]

My oldest son didn't want his license. He took driver's training and had his permit, but wasn't the last bit interested in driving. That was fine to me, especially when it was time to pay the car insurance. Then, lo and behold, he met a girl and decided he didn't want to be driven to dates, so all of a sudden we had to hurry up and take the road test. We only let him drive to and from school and an occasional social event, but he's done just fine, even on our terrible Michigan roads. However, when my next son gets ready to get his permit this summer, I'm going to insist that he drive with us at least 6 months to a year before he even considers taking his road test.

 

[mickeysgal]

We live in a small rural town. He's been fine driving around town, but has no bigger city type experience. Added to that, I just don't feel he's mature enough to handle the responsibility. Of course, in his mind "everyone" has their license at 16 and "everyone" also has a car of their own at that age. Well, I'm not handing over a car and I certainly don't want the insurance liability of an immature driver on my head.

On a side note, whats up with all these kids having cars at 16? No wonder our kids expect this when this is truly what they see on a daily basis!

 

[OhMari]

We live in rural Wisconsin and you really need your license in our area. We have absolutely no other transportation. All my kids had their permits at 151/2 so they were able to get their license on their birthdays at 16. My youngest dd turns 16 on Valentine's Day, but the DMV is so overbooked we couldn't get in till March 8.

Their insurance runs around $60 a piece each month. They all pay 1/2 of their insurance. 2 are in college and now 2 in h.s. They all receive good student discounts too. The older 3 pay all their premiums in summer when they all work full-time.

 

[rascalmom]

My oldest dd got her permit at 15 1/2 & her license at 16. She's been driving for almost 2 years now and her confidence and driving skill has continued to improve over that time. We live in a suburban community and she really doesn't drive outside of our town. I'm glad she is getting the experience now where we have more control over where she is going & who she is driving with, rather than turn her loose in a college town with less driving experience.
She has gotten one (minor) speeding ticket & been involved in a "fender bender" (not her fault) and I'm glad those things happened while she is home under our "wings," so to speak.

She's a straight A student & older than a lot of her classmates. A lot of her friends have not been allowed to get their licenses at their 16th birthday. DD ends up doing a lot of the driving - which has turned out to be okay with her & us, as she is more responsible than a lot of the other kids.

My younger dd will not turn 16 until the end of her sophomore year. At 14, she is not yet showing the maturity that she will need to demonstrate before being allowed to take off in a car on her own. I expect she will be a better driver than her sister, but she is going to have to bring up her grades & start to build up some "trust points" with dh & I before we allow her to drive.

Point I guess I am trying to make is that each kid is different & you have to evaluate it based on that individual and the circumstances in which the child will be driving.

 

[mrsgus06]

My oldest son got his permit at 15 and had his drivers license before he was 16. He had a part time job after school and I had no desire to pile up 5 other kids to take him to or from work. He received his car at the age of 16. It was a Christmas present from his stepfather and myself. I don't see a problem with a 16 yo having their own car. He is 9 years older than the other kids and, therefore, had a totally different schedule and social interest than they did. If he drove my car all the time, how would I get the other kids from school, daycare and practice (for whatever they were in at the time)? Not to mention that I drove a conversion van and there was no way I was letting him drive that! My brother had one in high school and I know where he spent most of his time in it, and it wasn't in the drivers seat!

 

[Galahad]

We held off for DS#1 until he was 18. It was a mutual thing for him though. He was pretty intimidated by the whole driving thing so putting him on the road wouldn't have been smart. We also lived in Suburban D.C. when he was 16 so I can only imagine how that would have gone. We will not hold off on DS#2. Totally different kid with a bit more "common sense". He gets his licence in a few months.

 

[Pooh Crew]

When she turned 15, my step daughter started counting down the days until she could get her permit and then license. She would have slit her wrists if we had made her wait a day, much less any longer time. She was in driver's ed classes and had to do driving with an instructor for several months. Ugh! Letting her drive out of here alone that first time was soooooooo hard.

We found an online contract for teen drivers and then modified it to fit our family. She knows the specific consequences for any infractions and has to have the contract posted on her bathroom mirror. Our rules include no touching the cell phone while driving, no more than one friend in the car, grade average must be maintained, absolutely no smoking in the car by anyone, etc. I seriously doubt I would ever feel that she was mature enough to drive, but now that she has had her license for almost a year, she has done pretty good.

I plan to march on the capitol to have the age limit changed to 18 before my others are old enough to drive. Want to join me?????

 

[Tigger&Belle]

My DD was 17yo when she got her license. She then had problems parellel parking so she had to return a month or 2 later. My rule is that my kids have to have their permits for at least a year before they can try to get their license, much longer than Maryland says they have to have it. When my DD got her license MD only required the permit for 4 months--now I think it's 6 months. Personally I think a year is the minimum to gain enough experience. BTW, she was respeonsible, had good grades, good behavior, etc, so it wasn't a matter of any of those things.

My 15yo son is old enough to get his permit this June. He is not nearly as responsible as my DD was and his grades are not as good. I will let him get his permit, but he will have to pull things together before he is allowed to get his license, so who knows how old he will be. Then I'll have 2 more boys to go through this with! UGH!

 

[phisigprincess]

When I turned 16 my parents gave me a choice - I could either get my license or go to Paris with the French club in 2 years (since they were paying for my insurance and such). I could care less about driving after I heard that!! I didn't get my license until a little after my 18th birthday and I had an incredible 3 week trip to Paris.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

DS is 15 and will be 16 in August. I keep going back and forth. I really don't WANT him to have a liscense all that much, but being the Car Service for his Social Life is just killing me. I hate Saturday nights right now....having to stay up late and run and get him.

 

[malibuconlee]

We live in a small rural town. He's been fine driving around town, but has no bigger city type experience. Added to that, I just don't feel he's mature enough to handle the responsibility. Of course, in his mind "everyone" has their license at 16 and "everyone" also has a car of their own at that age. Well, I'm not handing over a car and I certainly don't want the insurance liability of an immature driver on my head.

On a side note, whats up with all these kids having cars at 16? No wonder our kids expect this when this is truly what they see on a daily basis!

I had a car at 16. I also had a job and paid for my car and insurance myself. It was in 1991, and the car was a 1978 Ford Mustang II that I paid $750 for.

There were lots of kids whose parents gave them cars. And yes, most kids had their license as soon as they were 16. I took drivers-ed my sophomore year and got my license about 2 weeks after I turned 16. Right after school got out and I got my certificate in the mail showing I had taken DE.

We were in a smaller rural town as well. I still remember the first time I drove on "interstate", it was on the way to our state quarterfinals for football game. It was about 2 hours away and it was myself and two friends who drove up for the game.

 

[NMAmy]

DD just got her permit at Christmastime--she's 15. Right now, we're just driving in our small town. I've even gotten her to get up early on the weekends so she can practice more city driving when there isn't so much traffic.

She's very mature and responsible and willing to listen to all my little driving lectures. When she stays with her dad in New Mexico this summer, she'll be able to practice a lot more highway driving with less traffic.

Although, right now, I can't imagine how I'll feel when she drives off without me, I know I've got to get over my fears so she won't be nervous. I've found that if she thinks I have confidence in her, she has more confidence in herself.

 

[Wish Upon A Star]

My DD got her permit at 16 (law in CT) in September, started driver's education class (30 hours/law in CT) and now is on her 6th hour of on the road time with her class instructor she should be testing for her license at the end of this month.

I have been taking her out driving in school parking lots on the weekends since the age of 15, and when she got her permit we started driving on the road. She is a great student and an awesome calm driver (so far).

She also has a part time job and earns her own money. She did receive my car (1992 Mazda) to drive when she receives her license. I'm not sure what the problem is with kids having their own cars? There will be restrictions on where she goes when she gets her license . . .school, work, etc . . She will also be paying for her own gas and half of her car insurance. I also had my own car at 16 (1967 Ford Mustang Baby!)

I'm glad I have another 3.5 years till my son has to drive . . .