What Were You Doing at 16 When You Learned to Drive?

[Leah]

Yep, my son passed the road test to get his license. He went out tonight to his school's basketball game and then to his girlfriends house to watch a movie. He should be home by 11:30 pm. I wondered what I did at 16 when I could drive by myself. I was going to bars at 16 years old. I crashed my car after drinking 5 Harvey Wallbangers into a landscaped lot. No one was hurt thank God, but my car was totalled. That was in 1977. Things have changed a lot now. So, what were you doing at 16 years old when you learned to drive?

 

[Proton Soup]

i was drinking and meeting girls and generally up to no good, just like yourself. but i never crashed my car from drinking.

 

[edward]

Yep, my son passed the road test to get his license. He went out tonight to his school's basketball game and then to his girlfriends house to watch a movie. He should be home by 11:30 pm. I wondered what I did at 16 when I could drive by myself. I was going to bars at 16 years old. I crashed my car after drinking 5 Harvey Wallbangers into a landscaped lot. No one was hurt thank God, but my car was totalled. That was in 1977. Things have changed a lot now. So, what were you doing at 16 years old when you learned to drive?

This is the most dangerous point in his life. Are you sure he isn't out there drinking?

 

[Leah]

I don't think he is because he is a baseball player and they have a code of conduct. He is not allowed to drink or do drugs, obviously. He takes his sport very carefully. He makes A's and B's in school, so all is well there. He is a great son. But when I was his age I went out and drank and drove. I don't think my son will do that..I hope.

 

[Math Is Hard]

I was doing my last year of high school and working at a Big Boy restaurant at night. I had a little MGB convertible that I drove and I loved that thing so much (even though it broke down constantly!)
Congrats to your son!

 

[binzing]

At 16 (NOW) I am not learning to drive because my mom's a Nazi...

 

[BobG]

I ran cross country and track, plus I had a job. I didn't have much time to get in trouble.

I got drunk in high school once, but the party was within walking distance of my house, so driving wasn't an issue. Unfortunately, I wasn't the only one on the team that went to that party (we'd done really well in that night's meet). We ran like crap the next day. There just wasn't a good time for partying with my schedule.

 

[redargon]

I'd feel more comfortable knowing that people driving around me on the road are at least 18. I did a lot of stupid things when I was 16 and thank goodness I wasn't doing them in a 1500kg weapon of mass destruction. We're only allowed to drive alone and get our license at 18. I was still doing stupid things at 18, but a lot more lessons learned and was less dangerous than at 16.

 

[physics girl phd]

It sounds like he's a smart kid, so I wouldn't worry about drinking as much as I'd worry about high speeds, hairpin turns in tree-lined tiny roads, and jumping railroad tracks. I was smart but still liked to do those things, especially at dark. There was a certain thrill about the feel of the road and the car. In my case it's was a 86'-87' Delta 88 was was also great drive-ins and making out. I was disappointed when my parents inherited a smaller Cadillac and donated the Old's to a little priest from India that they'd even taught to drive and took to get his license (oooh... if he's only known the sins I'd committed inside !).

 

[Moonbear]

When I was 16, we were only just allowed to get a learner's permit. We didn't get licenses until 17.

That restricted us to driving with a licensed driver over 23 in the vehicle, and only during daylight hours, and since my birthday is in October, when daylight hours are rapidly getting shorter, that really limited my driving time to weekends with my parents because they were at work during the hours I could have driven. On the other hand, my step-dad was really brave about teaching me to drive, which is why I'm a better driver than my sister. My mom decided to get more daring when time came to teach my sister to drive, but my mom is a worse driver than my stepdad, and was a lot less experienced about teaching kids to drive (my step-dad taught 7 other kids to drive before I came along). You learn a lot more when you are taught to drive by someone who drives professionally (he was a truck driver at that stage of his life). My sister just got the basic "put the car in drive and try not to run into anything" type lessons from my mom. My stepdad did much more to put me through my paces when I was learning, including finding an empty parking lot on a snowy day and learning to control a car through skids and spins, and made sure to teach me things like safe stopping distances for tractor trailers...in case they were behind me when I needed to stop...using side mirrors to back up if your rearview mirror is blocked, etc. This all came in quite useful when I was a grad student and had to tow a trailer with animals around campus in all sorts of weather conditions, including ice and snow, and dodge the drunk students coming home from the frat parties at 3 AM when I started my day.

But, most of the driving I did when I got my license at 17 was back and forth to school, and running mom's errands, such as doing the grocery shopping, and then I finally was able to get a job because I could get myself to it, so did that too.

I don't know why states still allow kids who are only 16 to have a license. They are FAR too immature to be out driving alone yet. And, based on how bad so many other drivers are out on the roads, I'm highly skeptical about most parents' abilities to teach their kids to drive too, because I'm not sure their parents are all that good at it either.

 

[JasonRox]

I don't think everyone in 1977 was out drinking and driving.

 

[unscientific]

I've got a private chauffeur to drive me around.

 

[Proton Soup]

lessee, what other stupid stuff did i do... oh yeah, i would draft behind freight trucks carrying coal out of walker county in my little econobox 4-banger. the car was so light that when you got close enough to the back of the trailer, you could feel the backdraft pull you in. i think this was before they started welding those bars on the bottom to keep you from getting tangled in the wheels, sort of a "carcatcher".

 

[othic]

I just graduated from high school almost two years ago, and I would say that a majority of the athletes would drink, it really didn't matter what restrictions or whatever were in place (even ones that got good grades). The group I was always around was pretty good about not drinking and driving, but not everyone we went to parties with did the same though. Even if he hasn't started drinking, he'll probably at least drink once in the next few years. You won't be able to stop him from drinking so I would at least make sure that he knows how dangerous drinking and driving could be so he'll never do it.

My parents always suspected I was out drinking but they have never said one word to me about it, they have always really trusted my judgment I guess. Even good kids can make mistakes though when they drink, myself included.

As far as the license goes, make sure he's careful. I made a left hand (light was yellow about to turn red) turn when my view of the oncoming traffic was partially blocked and didn't see an SUV coming, totaled my car and even though I felt fine right after the accident I have been dealing with a herniated disc from it for about eight months now.

 

[DyslexicHobo]

At 16 (three years ago) I had not even had alcohol. I didn't start drinking until college, and even now that I do drink I do so very responsibly (besides the fact that it's illegal :/). My friends and I always follow the rule: if you have ANYTHING to drink, you spend the night. NO EXCEPTIONS. If you want to go home that night, you just don't drink. I realize that some of my peers are irresponsible when it comes to alcohol, but if someone comes to a party my friends or I are having, our rule is usually respected.

 

[WarPhalange]

I didn't get my license until I was 18. I started going to college (but still lived at home) and got a job. So I had to drive there.

 

[Proton Soup]

also, i did do some racing a time or two, although i never had a vehicle of my own that was much use for it. and this isn't something i did, but i had some friends that would take out mailboxes.

i drove all over creation, too, in an age without cell phones. got to love cheap gas.

 

[binzing]

The only type of racing (and it wouldn't even be racing cause nobody else would do it) would be rally, in the backroads.