Posted on 02/16/2026 7:48:48 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
As a mom of three kids, Christina Mott had been counting the days until her oldest son, Colton, got his driver's license.
It falls on her to drive each of them — age 10, 12, and 16 — to three different charter schools every day, and then to extracurriculars and social outings. "Having him able to drive himself would free up a lot of time," she says. If only.
While out one day on his learner's permit, Colton rolled through a red light and a stop sign. He panicked and decided to put his license on hold indefinitely. "Getting in crashes, that's something that scares me a lot," Colton explains.
That means his mom is still chauffeuring three kids around their Northern California suburb. Christina, who's 46, says a lot of her fellow parents are going through the same thing: Teenagers are slamming the brakes on the time-honored rite of passage of getting a license at 16, either out of fear or because they're put off by the process or the costs. And that means a lot of Gen X parents are stuck behind the wheel longer than they bargained for.
Even so, she admits Colton doesn't feel quite as ready for a license as she was at 16. "He's not very observant and tends to live in his own world," she says. "I don't think, without GPS, that he would even know how to get to the grocery store from our house that we've lived in for eight years. So, the idea of him dealing with traffic lights and other drivers makes me nervous, too."
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Those 80s were great bikes. You could bump start them backwards.
In the mid to late 80’s, I had 2 that couldn’t wait and one who was kind of “meh” about it. My “meh” is our youngest, she finally got her license at about 18. She is turning 52 TODAY (happy birthday, love!), and she’s still not excited about driving.
Yeah. And it presents a problem. But it can also be dealt with. You can have an internet life and a physical life. You can have friends from all over the world thanks to the internet and get together with you local friends in person. It doesn’t have to be either or. Also remember kids turning 16 now were 11 when the world turned off March of 2020. These kids probably see physical reality as something far more ephemeral and easily taken away than internet reality. Why would they want to drive when all the places to drive to could be ordered closed at a moment’s notice? Everybody is a product of the times they grew up in.
If you’ve got nothing but insults then you aren’t worth having any discussion with. Have a nice day.
I taught my kids to drive....dtr at 16 and son at 17....
“Wow, what a beauty. “
You forgot the /s.
Kids a couple of years older were storming Utah Beach in ‘44.
“I couldn’t afford a car and insurance either, so when I got my learners permit in 1965 at age 15 1/2, which allowed my to legally ride a motorcycle on the street, I bought a Yamaha 80.”
If I remember correctly, Florida was only 50 cc or less.
We had a Honda 50 bored out to 80.
In NYS it can cost thousands to insure a teen driver.
How many families can afford that.
“Instead, mama has successfully put all her fears into him, turning out yet another soi-boi.”
Exactly. And that said, *I* don’t want the ‘Coltons’ of the world driving, either!
Have you seen the cost of insuring a 16 year old male driver? That alone puts a damper on things.
“You know, the half of the parent duo that would teach him about how to handle risk.”
And how to drive a stick.
Nah, it’s pretty....now. Not a big girl magnet in the old days, that’s true.
While out one day on his learner's permit, Colton rolled through a red light and a stop sign. He panicked and decided to put his license on hold indefinitely. "Getting in crashes, that's something that scares me a lot," Colton explains.
Colton is what we call a "pansy" back in the 70's. Here's an idea, Colton: don't get into crashes.
Yeah, I do like both types of connecting. We are all able to stay in much better immediate touch with people far away now. Though many get too tied up with just the phone, imo.
That's because car insurance has largely turned into a "white people tax" --something that white people pay for but nobody else seems to bother with.
And premiums are priced accordingly.
Yeah, my premiums went through the roof when I added my son but he deserves to drive (and I rely on him to drive) so I coughed it up.
But yes, at some point, we should address the rising costs of auto insurance.
there is a world of difference between the two dimension and the three dimension brain in brain development.
“Who in the everlovin’ phooook thinks this is somehow normal?”
I had three teen step-sons, 1 year apart. We limited them to ONE school activity each. We lived out on a farm, so there were some ‘rides’ given during their HS sports years; Basketball, Football and Soccer, but the sports were spaced out through the year at least!
However - if they wanted to just go hang out with friends or whatever, they needed to check MY schedule (or their Dad’s) as to who was going into town next so they could bum a ride...and then had to find a way home, LOL! That made them pretty creative, as well.
They and their friends spent a lot of time at our house because their friends had parents that would cart them anywhere at any time like the (dumb) lady in this article.
I grew up in inner-city Philly in the 50’s. What? Have mom drive us to an activity?
If we couldn’t walk, get there on public transport ( paid for by me), or find a ride, the activity didn’t happen.
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