Reluctant road warriors: Teens not itching to drive

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Dan Doyle, 15, backs out of a spot while driving with his Drivers ed class at Naperville North High School on Tuesday, January 31, 2012. | Brian Powers~Sun-Times Media

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Updated: March 11, 2012 8:01AM

Waubonsie Valley High School sophomore Manual Quay turns 16 in July. Surely all the teen can think about is getting his driver’s license — sliding behind the steering wheel and driving as far away from his parents as possible — right?

Nope.

“Driving is really not that big of a deal,” Quay said, after his mom drove him to school recently. “I’m in no rush.”

And neither, it seems, are plenty of other American 16-year-olds.

In 1983, about 46 percent of Americans that age had a driver’s license. By 2008, only 31 percent had one, according to a recent study by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.

Before he started teaching driver’s education, Humberto Gonzalez had never heard teens hesitate to take their road tests and get their hands on the car keys.

“It was always just rush, rush, rush to get their license,” said Gonzalez, 27, now in his third year as a driving instructor at Naperville North High School.

Although there are always kids anxious to get behind the wheel, he said the urgency seems less unanimous now.

“A handful of kids will flat-out say, ‘I don’t care if my permit expires, I don’t want to drive,’” he said, surmising that it could be because their parents are available and willing to transport them, or because driving is a bigger responsibility than they want to take on.

No hurry

The trend isn’t limited to the youngest potential motorists; older teens are also driving less. The number of 18-year-olds with licenses fell from 80 percent in 1983 to 65 percent in 2008, while the number of 17-year-olds on the road dropped from 69 percent to 50 percent.

In fact, the number of drivers all the way up to 29 has dropped, according to the study, which is based on data from the Federal Highway Administration.

Jeff Peterson has seen some of that in his former students at Naperville Central High School.

“We do have students that, unfortunately, they really don’t want to get a driver’s license,” said Peterson, who thinks there is sometimes a fear factor at work. “They do sometimes take my class, and a year goes by, I’ll ask them if they have a license and they’ll say, ‘No, I’m still kind of relying on Mom and Dad or brother and sister to drive me somewhere,’ so they’re not quite ready to do that.”

He related that a coworker at Central has a daughter in college who still has no desire to drive — but he is encouraging her to learn how.

Study coauthor Michael Sivak says the Internet may be a big reason for the drop in the drive to drive.

“Virtual contact through electronic means reduces the need for actual contact,” Sivak said, adding jokingly, “My favorite characterization of the social-media explanation (with some anecdotal evidence for it) is that ‘driving interferes with texting.’”

Gonzalez sees some validity to the assertion of social media’s role, though.

”It is a lot easier to communicate with friends these days than it was before,” he said. “I’m not sure if that’s their reasoning, but they spend a lot of time on their cell phones and on Facebook.”

Driving factors

Concerns about preserving the environment, the recent economic downturn and a migration of young people to the cities — where public transportation is more readily available — likely are all contributing to the lack of interest in driving, Sivak said.

The costs involved in driving, of course, are a major factor for many teens and their families.

Several area high school driver’s ed teachers said school districts in recent years have increased fees to $400 or more for the behind-the-wheel portion of the class.

Car insurance isn’t exactly cheap for teen drivers either, and that leads some parents to delay the process.

“Teenage car insurance is expensive and even more expensive in urban areas,” Naperville North driver’s ed teacher Mike Cluver wrote in an email to The Sun. “Family budgets may force them to wait for that license.”

And then there’s the ever-rising price of gas.

That sobering reality is part of Gonzalez’ lesson plans, coupled with discussion of working to buy that fuel. He points out that when he was in high school a dozen years ago, gas cost about $2.20 a gallon, yet hourly wages were about the same as they are now.

“I tell them gas (costs) almost half of what you make, after taxes,” he said. “Not everybody works full time, especially during the year. A lot of time the cost of gas takes their whole paycheck.”

It’s not always about money, though. Cluver, who has been a driving instructor for 25 years, sees a variety of other factors that might also be responsible for the dip in the youngest drivers, particularly in more densely populated areas.

“The (Graduated Driver Licensing) program has given parents more time and control over their child’s acquisition of a license, which I believe allows for both parties to better evaluate their ability,” he wrote. “Having taught in both a rural area and an urban area, I feel there are different levels of need for a driver’s license. Teenagers in a rural situation have a greater need due to the distances that they have to travel to see friends, hold jobs, school, shopping. They have less access to public transportation. Rural schools have fewer students, thus fewer friends that have a car and can give them rides to destinations. Urban students typically have shorter distances to travel and can walk to friends, jobs. School, shopping. They have a larger friend pool to get rides from.

“Urban driving is significantly more demanding and some students realize that their skill level is NOT to the level that is needed to obtain a license and drive SOLO.”

The slow lane

Headphones on and bundled up tightly, Waubonsie Valley senior Malik Spikener walked to school recently, bracing himself for the winter cold.

When he turned 16, Spikener said he was determined to get his license, but that didn’t mean he was free to roam the roads.

Without a car of his own, Spikener said it’s a lot more difficult to get around. Gas and insurance costs, on top of snagging an affordable vehicle, are obstacles standing in this senior’s way of road trips and relaxing summer time drives.

“It’s the recession,” he said. “We don’t have a second car, but when I turned 16, I said, ‘This is what I’m going to do.’”

Another Waubonsie Valley student, freshman Tom Roy, has just 10 months to go before he turns 16, and earns the privilege to jump behind the wheel. But this teen is in no hurry to do so.

“I haven’t really thought about (getting my driver’s license),” he said, hopping out of his parent’s car.

“I’m really nervous,” he said about the big day. “I really want to get used to (driving) before I take on anything hard.”

He said the rise in social media as a way to keep in contact with friends didn’t play a role in his reluctance to get his license.

Quay began driver’s education this semester, and with his parents footing the steep bill, he’s not worried — yet — about the monetary costs that come with the privilege.

In the long run, Quay said it’s not about getting where he needs to go that excites him about driving, but the cruising that has piqued his interest.

A visitor inquired where he would head on his first solo ride.

“I’m just excited to get out and drive around,” he said.

While a significant number of his peers feel less of that excitement, they’re still a minority, Central’s Peterson said.

“Most kids are pretty eager to have a license and get that freedom,” he said, “if you want to call it that.”

Cluver sees the same thing at North.

“For the most part, kids are really eager to get their license,” he said. “Maybe a little too eager.”

Sun-Times Media contributed to this story.