Anyone elses kid not want to drive?

I kinda started this in my response to another thread involving a kid and a fire hydrant, but thought to ask directly:

My daughter and as far as I know, none of her friends, drives or has any interest in ever driving.

I've demanded a paternity test cause its just to hard to believe that any child with an iota of my DNA would not want to drive!!!!

I have read a few editorials that speak to this trend, but thought I would ask the collective what their experience is with their own kids. I mean, if this group has a generational die-off of automobile consumers, what hope is there in the average household where the tradition never existed in the first place?

As a follow up discussion, if the driving demographic does decrease, what will the financial fall-out mean to those that remain? Will driving become cheaper again or will the survivors need to shoulder the entire infrastructure cost?

Revers psychology. Kids need to rebel against their parents. Think of how many children of hippies went on to become financial managers.

If you avoided having cars, your kids would be all over them.

Kids aren't driving because they get to "hang out" with their friends on social networking. I know it's stupid, but that's how they think.

I wanted to get my license because I wanted to be able to hang out with my friends without mommy or daddy driving me there.

When I was a teen I had to buy my own car ($250, lulz) and pay for my own insurance and gas. I don't see how a kid with a minimum wage could do that today. Certainly not with an $80 smartphone bill, anyway.

If someone else is always there to pick them up and deliver them to their destination without their being involved (or even looking up from their phones) why should they go through the effort of learning and mastering a new skill?

When I turned 16 I COULD NOT WAIT to get my license to drive. It meant freedom and the ability to get off the farm.

My understanding of the phenomenon is that today's kids want what all teens want. Which is to hang with friends. In the past that meant going somewhere to meet them. Now some studies suggest that there is enough virtual hanging out done by kids such that they are OK with getting together less often or simply have friends too far away for even driving to help get together.

On the day to day level, driving gets in the way of hanging out.

My oldest only sees driving as a way to get ready for a summer job and attending University.

I actually didn't want to drive to be around friends. I needed to drive my brother and myself to school. It was a duty.

Then-

I was sick in the hospital for a few weeks and during that time there was some channel they had that showed the BTCC series, two races everyday and I watched that and Sara Moulton's cooking show. So I left the hospital with a passion to cook and race tin tops!

EDIT Julia Child not Sara Moulton.

Step #1, refuse to drive them ANYWHERE.....probably a good thing I lack kids(that I know of) as they'd walk towards the car to get a "Oh no, we aren't taking you, why don't you drive yourself....OH WAIT.....BURN"

Probably doesn't work in Cannuckistan though, since you guys are socialists does that mean you have a subway station in all of your basements yet?

My daughter didn't want to. I didn't give her a choice. If she wanted to go anywhere, she had to drive. Dad doesn't run a taxi service. Once she started she liked it. She's been driving my Super Coupe for the last couple of months.

My younger sister was like this, she didn't really drive much until she was 18 or 19 went to college and HAD to. This was shortly before the social media explosion, Myspace was probably around, but FB hadn't happened nationally yet. She just never wanted to, she had friends that had cars/drove. Our aunt is a teacher in the highschool we both graduated from, she usually drove my sister to school and back. I never understood it. When she finally set off on her own she regularly scared the crap out of me when behind the wheel.

I'm 5 years older, and was driving tractors at 7 or 8 years old, on dirt roads in cars/trucks by 10, on the highway by 14, learners permit at 14, salvaged a derelict Grand Prix form our pasture so I could have my own wheels, always wanting to drive. When I was in high school I usually drove my aunts car and all three of us to school and back, until I got my own wheels.

I never have figured out why she could basically care less, and I was always wanting to drive.

• Lee

My nephew is 15 and has seemingly no interest in getting his learners permit. I couldn't wait. I got my learners permit the day I was eligible, and got my DL the day I turned 16. Did my first solo burnout/brake stand with my dad's truck later that day...

It's weird, he likes hanging out and talking about cars with me, and plays all the driving video games, but has no desire to incinerate tires in real life.

Easy. Drivers license or Bus Pass. Choose one.

I do not ink I will have this problem. My daughter is 5 and she just said "it is not raining now. You can teach me how to drive now."

FSP_ZX2 wrote: Easy. Drivers license or Bus Pass. Choose one.

NOHOME wrote: I kinda started this in my response to another thread involving a kid and a fire hydrant, but thought to ask directly: My daughter and as far as I know, none of her friends, drives or has any interest in ever driving.

What I find interesting about all of this is, who are these parents that drive their kids everywhere? And then why do we get surprised ones that drive their kids everywhere that they have no interest in getting a DL and car?

I will have to agree that the too much transportation support from family could play a part. I our case, there are grandparents who will drive an hour each way to take her to the corner store if she asked. (Not that she does............ much)

National trend - 87% of 19 year olds had a license in 1983 compared with 70% in 2010. And about 15% of folks aged 18-39 do without a license today according to a Washington Post article on the subject from last fall. Reasoning seems to be in line with what's being said here - driving takes too much time from their (virtual) social lives. Someone in my field of transportation said the other day that today's youth feels that driving gets in the way of their texting, not the other way around. Just not as important to today's youth apparently.

my little sister didn't learn to drive till she was almost 30. She said she had 'reoccurring dreams of crashing into a tree' but I think it was a case of "I don't want to"

More and more it seems that kids run the household instead of parents. (not saying that's the case with NOHOME) Many of my friends have kids that do no chores, get rides wherever they want to go, and basically dictate the schedules of everyone else in the home.

If they want to go somewhere--- let them, but let them figure out how to get there on their own. Whenever we'd ask my Mom to take us somewhere her standard reply was "What.....you crippled?" I know--- not the most P.C, but true.

We walked or biked the mile to school (yes, even in IL Winters), to friends houses.....everywhere. When the weather was really terrible, we may relent and take the bus--- but not often. When it came time to get my DL---- damn straight I was ready! ( I actually had a calendar where I counted off the days....365...364..363...etc.)

Too many parents today are raising their kids because of what some "expert" said to do in a book-----instead of asking their own parents and grandparents for advice.

As mentioned: Stop being their chauffeur, the problem will fix itself (unless maybe you live in Manhattan)

The number of kids (including high school) that are transported to school around here is insane.

Joe Gearin wrote: More and more it seems that kids run the household instead of parents. (not saying that's the case with NOHOME) Many of my friends have kids that do no chores, get rides wherever they want to go, and basically dictate the schedules of everyone else in the home. If they want to go somewhere--- let them, but let them figure out how to get there on their own. Whenever we'd ask my Mom to take us somewhere her standard reply was "What.....you crippled?" I know--- not the most P.C, but true. We walked or biked the mile to school (yes, even in IL Winters), to friends houses.....everywhere. When the weather was really terrible, we may relent and take the bus--- but not often. When it came time to get my DL---- damn straight I was ready! ( I actually had a calendar where I counted off the days....365...364..363...etc.) Too many parents today are raising their kids because of what some "expert" said to do in a book-----instead of asking their own parents and grandparents for advice.

And not to change the topic, but I had a conversation with my sister the other day about a similar topic. She's the dean at a college, and has been a dean or a college professor most of her 35 years in teaching. The trend recently is that when "Johnny" gets in trouble or fails a class, it's no longer what did "he" do wrong, it's I paid my money why isn't he getting an A. The mindset from parents as well as students has changed drastically in the past 5 to 10 years in particular. But it's been a slow slide.

And back on topic, the number of students driving to college these days is also dropping according to her. The request for student parking permits is down quite a bit, but enrollment is staying somewhat steady.

My buddies kid is almost 16, he has no interest to get his learners let alone his full licence. It baffles me, I couldnt wait to get a car, to get girls, go really fast and have freedom. He would gladly spend money and time on some computer game, minecrafting or something, rather than learn how to drive.

I can't drive now. It berkeleying sucks massive sweaty shiny happy people.

Being unable to go anywhere on my own is pissing me off so much.

My kids don't have a choice and know it. You learn to cook. You learn to do laundry. You learn to pay bills. You learn to drive (which includes changing tires and basic maintenance)
I constantly have the conversation with my kids, mostly my son, that my job is not to make them happy, it is to teach them to be good productive human beings. Part of that is to teach them skills that give them the most choices in life. If you can't drive, you immediately give up a lot of career options and places you can live.

I have two boys. The eldest has a pretty funky Sidekick as his DD, an S10 project truck with 4.3/5spd, a super clean 84 Chev pickup, and a Swift autocrosser. My youngest son has a Fiat 500 sport, and a pretty quick RSX project car.

No such problem here.

Neither of the boys wanted to drive, and it was over a year past their 16th birthday by the time we forced them to get their license. My step daughter turned 17 last month and still doesn't have her license, part of that was due to us needing to get a copy of her birth certificate, but she really didn't have much desire to pursue it.