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."
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
My God. I really hope this is a one-off situation and not a broader indication of the psychology of 16 year old boys in America. Scared to drive? Wants mommy to drive him around? When is he going to grow the F up? Roughy age 14 through early 22s is the process of maturing from a child to an adult. Our society has conditioned kids to avoid the risks that are necessary to do that. Its OK to be scared of driving. What is going to happen to our country when the Coltons take over?
“I was driving a John Deere tractor at 10 years old pulling peanut trailers.”
Same here. Not peanut trailers, but tractor.
Also, starting about 13 would drive our 30 year old Land Rover Defender (with its ~85hp 4 cyl diesel engine) into “town” to get whatever. Mind you, DL age in Israel is 18. Speedometer was broken, but I suspect its top speed was 80kph, downhill.
I was (and am) still beyond scared driving in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, and I was flying jets at 20.
Traffic has become marketedly worse in the USA, as well, with imported driving practices from China and South of the Rio Grande.
He has his own debit card as well so it's nice to send him on grocery runs and then just pay him back.
But the article isn't wrong and I'm seeing this far more frequently in the military, with young people arriving to their first duty station without a drivers license. They've never driven a car before. And because of this, they are unable to stand duty driver watches.
You should be required to have a drivers license to join the military. Driving is an essential task.
I have a young relative, 25 years old, never learned to drive. I wonder if her elder siblings will ever have kids. The country has changed for the worse in too many ways.
Here in SE Michigan where there is so much traffic, I can't imagine having to take driver's training here then actually going out driving. It would be very intimidating.
This is unbelievable. When I was a teen, I and everyone else my age could NOT WAIT to get our driver licenses, car or no car. It was a coveted right of passage.
I’m sure there were some timid teens, but they were in the extreme minority. I had almost NO experience driving before driver’s ed, but was excited to do it nevertheless.
My birthday is in May and sometimes falls on Memorial Day. I got my driver’s license the day after I turned 16. There was 1 week of 10th grade left. I rode the school bus before I got my license but drove to school after. My Dad gave me a 1969 red VW bug which he bought for $500. I kept it for 8 years and put over 100,000 miles on it.
He taught me how to drive the VW Bug with a stick shift/clutch on the empty roads around Napa County Airport where his 1963 Cessna 150 was tied down. I already knew how to drive when I had 10th grade Driver’s Ed in an automatic.
When I was a teen, 60 years ago, kids could get a “school permit” at age 14 which allowed them to drive to school unaccompanied during daylight hours. You could also get a learners permit at 14 that allowed you to drive during daylight when accompanied by a parent or responsible adult. I lived in a rural state where many of these kids were driving tractors on the family farm when they were about 12 so many already had basic driving skills.
When our kids were teens our son voluntarily did not want to get a drivers license at 16 and waited until he was 18 we also made our daughter wait to get a license until she passed a drivers education course offered during the summer. Both our kids took drivers education classes.
I agree that the current generation is too tied to looking at screens which is a big problem since modern automobiles seem to all have big screens that control many features even the temperature. However, some cars have features that allow parents to monitor their young drivers by a phone app which would help, but not solve the problem of lack of attention. Even as an adult I find the screen in my car distracting so even if a young driver were not permitted to have a phone while driving, there is enough distraction.
Add to that the number of seniors who have eyesight issues. I had both cataracts removed last year, it was a game changer.
“””16 is the new 8. Do we really want them driving?”””
It’s safer to stay in the basement playing video games. Any many of these kids are fine staying there forever and the parents go along with it.
Too true. Also online p$&n instead of actual girlfriends.
He’ll hide behind the big Anxiety. Scrolling is an addiction. When they can’t do it, it puts them on edge. Besides, he has someone to drive him around.
Then its obvious you didnt properly parent for the preceding 16 years.
Kids nowadays are lost in electronic technology. When I was a kid we already knew how to get everywhere from riding our bikes around, walking long distances to get places, watching the scenery while riding in the car etc. We dreamed of getting our drivers licenses. It was freedom.
Now kids just expect their parents to drive them everywhere. My mother wouldn’t lift a finger to take me to school. I was lucky if she volunteered to pick me and my best friend up from after school athletics once a week. The rest of the time we had to catch a ride or ride a bike. 😏
The definitive 1st world problem. I was a teenager in the 60s and most of us didn’t have cars at 16. Too expensive for insurance. I solved it by getting a Honda 90. Got me and my gf around.
My children are not quite driving age but for several years I’ve been occasionally giving driving advice. One recent one was to stay back a bit when you are the first car in a left turn lane. Often the left turners coming from the right will clip the corner of your lane. Just then a police car did just that.
The dopamine effect.
I used to teach High School Sunday School. When I would tell them that HS seniors drove the school buses, they would freak out. They can’t drive with another teen in the car until they are 17.
Yes that drivers license was a major step to responsibility and maturity. Anyone that wanted freedom wanted that license.
With regards to my up bringing, I had to work to pay for my first car as well as the insurance not to mention gas, oil, tires etc. So along with this new freedom I also learned financial responsibility.
Today’s kids sorely miss out on all of this. I suspect this kid is one of many that are afraid of everything and really do not want to let go of mom’s overprotective apron strings. I doubt it if he’ll ever be a Seal Team or Special Forces member. He will be walked on his whole life.
I was driving our 1946 Willys CJ2a at 10 on our Ranch. My kids both got their licenses ASAP which is 17 in New York. Can’t be under 18 without a 50 hour NYS approved course. I’m not sure if other states have raised their ages, but it’s not possible have anything other than a learners permit under 17 in NYS.
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