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SALT LAKE CITY — Getting a drivers license used to be an highly anticipated rite of passage. But more and more teenagers are waiting past the age of 16 to obtain their license and the reasons for the delay may surprise you.
High schoolers typically rush off campus after school lets out, but teens these days aren't rushing too much to get their driver's license.
"Most of my friends wait," said West High student, Lexus Acevedo.
Insurance agent Jone Olson believes Utah's Graduated Driver License program is one reason teens are waiting. The laws force young drivers to gain experience before they are exposed to higher risk.
"It's usually an average of 17 or older when we see the kids added to the policy," Olson said. "The kids are required to do 40 hours of driving with their parents. It's been an eye opener for the parents."
Related:
Restrictions on teen drivers could save lives
Tougher licensing laws are saving teen lives according to a new study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.The poor economy and high gas prices have also put the brakes on driving for many teens. But there is another reason, though not quite so obvious.
"If you had to choose between a cellphone or a car what would you choose?" said West High student, Richard Alferado. "I would rather have a cellphone."
It seems that surfing the Internet and having access to social media has taken over a teenager's need to cruise an actual highway.
"We are seeing more and more students that socially maybe the phones are taking the place of driving cars," said driver's ed instructor Chuck Clegg.
Clegg has been teaching driver's ed for 30 years, and he thinks that teens today aren't as interest in driving.
Two researchers at the University of Michigan agree. They discovered a dramatic 30-year decline of young drivers. They also found that the fraction of young drivers with licenses was inversely proportional to web access.
We are seeing more and more students that socially, maybe the phones are taking the place of driving cars.
–Chuck Clegg, drivers ed instructor
No doubt Generation Y loves the Internet.
After all, who needs to drive to a mall, movie or a friend's house when you can do all three on your phone?
"You can call them, text them all the time," said West High student Kendra Crossley. "It's pretty close to being the same thing."
Crossley waited a year to get her license even though her mom encouraged her to get it at 16.
"I wanted them to practice driving, to be excited about driving, but they weren't that excited," said Darci Crossley, Kenra's mother.
Kendra's been driving for a few years and now can't imagine living without a car.
Meanwhile, car manufacturers are paying close attention to changing transportation habits among teens and young adults in their 20s. Bloomberg reported that young people who connect online instead of in person could hold down demand for new cars by 2 million each year.
