Remember when as soon as you turned 17 (for NJ residents), you ran to your local DMV and got your freedom? Yes, freedom. When you got your driver’s license you got the feeling that you can do anything and no one was going to stop you. Reality then hits and you realize that you have curfews to follow but it didn’t stop you from feeling like a grown up. Now times are changing and the number of teenagers running to the DMV to get their license are dropping.
Researchers at the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute studied data from 1983 to 2014. People from ages 20 to 24 years old have gone from 91.8 percent having licenses to 76.7 percent. When it comes to 16-year-olds, the percentage of those with licenses went from 46.2 percent to 24.5 percent. Another reason for young people not being in a rush is because they don’t have the time or they can’t afford a car and insurance.
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Nowadays teens and young adults are not in a rush to get their driver’s license. Some don’t find it necessary to get it because they have friends with cars and they also have technology at their fingertips. We live in faster times so mobile apps such as Uber and Lyft make it easier for young people to request a ride. But not only are mobile apps one of the causes for the number of drivers dropping. Online communication is also a part of it, more people are able to work from home which reduces the number of daily commuters. The Atlantic magazine mentions how the ease of Amazon, the rise of teleworking, and the endless entertainment provided by the Internet may be leading people to stay home more.
Research also found that people who are the age of 70 and older are much more likely in 2014 to have a driver’s license than they were in 1983. The number increase from 55 percent to 79 percent. These numbers keep increasing, people who are 70 and older are a huge population of elders who keep driving. People are living longer than they were in 1983.
Parents of course are happy about this new study because it means less car accidents caused by teenagers. A big of percentage of teens getting into car accidents was caused because of texting and driving. Since the number of teen drivers are decreasing, what does this mean for car sales? Some reports are already saying that car sales are also going down and so as gas prices.
If we look for the silver lining, these can be a good thing. Young people are taking their time to get a driver's license which means the older the wiser. When they decide to get a license it would mean that they would driver safer than they would've done when they were younger.
