Industry News: Fewer Americans Are Carrying Driver Licenses

[William Maley]

The past few years have seen studies come out that reveal teenagers are less likely to have a driver's license. But a new study from the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) says teens aren't the only group that are passing on a license.

 

The study which looked at data from 1983 to 2014 reveals that every age group has seen a decrease in carrying a driver;s license.

• 24.5 percent of Americans aged 16 carried a license in 2014. This is down 6.6 percent from 2008 where 27.5 percent carried one.
• 76.7 percent of Americans aged 20 to 24 have a license in 2014, compared to 82 percent in 2008.
• A number of older Americans aren't also carrying licenses either. In the 40 to 59 age bracket, the percentage of those who have a license has dropped 3 percent from 2008 to 2014.
  

Sadly, the study doesn't go into why the amount of people carrying licenses has gone down. But we have a couple possible reasons to it:

• The average price of a vehicle has been increasing over the years. Young Americans don't have the income to purchase one.
• A fair number of people are moving back into the city, meaning they are utilizing public transportation systems or using an alternative form of transportation.
  

 

Source: UMTRI

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[loki]

over the last ~10 years missouri's drivers age went from 16 to 18 for a full license.

[G. David Felt]

We would see a bigger drop if they enforced having to read, write and speak english to get their drivers license. To many states including Washington where I live allow people to take their drivers test with an interpreter so they get to drive. F the ability to communicate to police, fire or medical. Politicians have screwed this country over by implying that driving is a right. It is NOT it is a Privilege you earn. We need to enforce this rather than allowing timed non speaking english people to drive on the roads and then get over into the left lane going 20+ under the posted speed limit.

[G. David Felt]

Washington state has a law for driving too slow in the left lane of which is costs you $136 if you are 10mph or slower in the left lane. The new added fees are being put in place to force people to obey the using left lane to pass and not go slow causing cars to back up or pass on the right.

 

The proposed law would add another fine for continuously driving at slow speeds, based on how far below the speed limit they are traveling.

Between 1 and 5 mph, the extra fine would be $27. That would go up to $37 for 6 to 10 mph below the maximum speed limit; $52 for 11 to 15 mph and $67 for 16 to 20 mph.

Bill can be found here:

http://app.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=6105&year=2015

[Suaviloquent]

Yeah, man. I'd be in the numbers too, but I'm in Canada.

 

Cars are practical still, but the cash flow to finance the investment isn't there when you're doing post-secondary education.

 

But saving money is gud, na?

[regfootball]

many of the younger set have no trouble forking out coin for cell phones and plan.  But the thought of even 200 bucks for a car payment rankles them.

 

Mom and dad drove them everywhere for so long, then it comes time that you gotta get yer own ride, pay for it, and drive yourself.  Oh the horror.  Can't work from your basement, all of ya.  Gotta go to your job so you can make money.  That's how it works.  Sad that all those years of college doesn't guarantee employment or a decent wage but if the recession hadn't wiped out jobs across all demographics and hadn't decimated average wages so much, the system would not have developed such difficult barriers to get into the employment world.

 

Mass transit is a great option for those that don't want to own a car.  But you still pay for that too, and you don't have total freedom.  

 

Car sharing may be a great scam for quite awhile.  But renting cars or group ownership will not save a lot of money vs single ownership over time.  Ford's group lease/buy thing just means they can ask more for the price of the vehicle.  Nice scam!  plus then you are stuck driving the vehicle your co owner has been beating up on.

[Frisky Dingo]

Good. The more idiots off the roads, the better.

[Suaviloquent]

many of the younger set have no trouble forking out coin for cell phones and plan.  But the thought of even 200 bucks for a car payment rankles them.

 

Mom and dad drove them everywhere for so long, then it comes time that you gotta get yer own ride, pay for it, and drive yourself.  Oh the horror.  Can't work from your basement, all of ya.  Gotta go to your job so you can make money.  That's how it works.  Sad that all those years of college doesn't guarantee employment or a decent wage but if the recession hadn't wiped out jobs across all demographics and hadn't decimated average wages so much, the system would not have developed such difficult barriers to get into the employment world.

 

Mass transit is a great option for those that don't want to own a car.  But you still pay for that too, and you don't have total freedom.  

 

Car sharing may be a great scam for quite awhile.  But renting cars or group ownership will not save a lot of money vs single ownership over time.  Ford's group lease/buy thing just means they can ask more for the price of the vehicle.  Nice scam!  plus then you are stuck driving the vehicle your co owner has been beating up on.

 

I have a cellphone from 6 years ago and it itself was hand-me-down.

 

And I recently downgraded my cell plan. So I guess I am a saving connoisseur.

 

Yeah, though I have yet to get much out of education just yet. The thing is it's all about the extra curriculars and stuffs and networking and the more I try those things the more bewildered I get. 

 

But then there's the people I flat out envy.

 

Their tuition is taken care of, they live close to campus, and they have awesome executive positions in clubs and then they win, and they repeat the cycle. It's very clean and appears organized.

 

And me - I hate to admit it, but yeah, I'm like a rusty Jeep Comanche in a sea of Denalis.

 

But the scale factor is that I'm like the kiddie toy Jeep I used to have when I was helpless diaper dumpster, while the rest of these folks are the real life bruisers, so the rusty Comanche doesn't get noticed. It just gets steamrolled and owned...again and again....rinse and repeat.