If you’ve been on the planet a handful of decades or more, the chances are good you were once-upon-a-time champing at the bit to get your driver’s licence. Over the past 20 years, however, there has been a noticeable shift in attitude regarding driving among teens. More of them can’t be bothered to learn.
While the reasons behind the drift are myriad – better public transportation, more accommodating parents, rising costs – the result is more adults arriving at the door of teachers like Tim Danter, owner of Drivewise in Oakville, Ont.
“I’m definitely seeing more adults in my classrooms full of teens. That’s the part they don’t like, but they know it’s one of the hoops they have to go through for the certificate, regardless of age,” he says.
That certificate is the one that qualifies a new driver for a break on their insurance, and discomfort isn’t the only challenge when learning to drive as an adult. A cultural change has altered the dynamic. In my parents’ generation, many of the women didn’t drive because their husbands did. I can’t imagine how my mom would have coped without her licence, but for many of her cohort, especially those without children or a job outside the home, it just didn’t seem like an overriding concern. Unfortunately, for so many who outlived or remained healthier than their husbands, that driver’s licence belatedly became a symbol of what many teens have always wanted: independence.
Young Drivers has launched a web-based driver training program to give Canadian drivers easy access to affordable and life-saving driving lessons. How to Drive Online will benefit drivers of all ages as well as parents planning to teach their new driver proper defensive driving techniques, the company says.
Handout, Young Drivers of Canada
Ryan McIntyre is a 35-year-old from Calgary who is embarking on the process after a lifetime of believing it would never happen. An eye condition diagnosed at age 5 left his sight impaired; successful surgery earlier this year finally cleared the path for learning to drive.
“It is a challenge. You learn differently when you’re older, and you’re out of ‘school mode,’” he admits. McIntyre’s right; whether you remember it or not, at 16 you were still very much in a study-then-test mode, a skill that gets rusty for many of us. Although he failed his first written attempt, a lot of licensed drivers would flunk it if they took it now. It’s deliberately nit-picky and laws change. For instance, most of us know how far to park from a fire hydrant by eyeballing it, fewer remember the exact distance when measured, especially if you learned in imperial and must respond in metric.
Danter notes the biggest challenge facing adults late to the wheel is confidence. “There is definitely more anxiety. Sixteen-year-olds think they’re bulletproof; they have little fear. Adults are more mature, but they’ve also got more life experience and therefore understand that driving a car takes a lot of responsibility and a lot of care. That can make them more hesitant.”
Another trade-off for that maturity is sometimes physical; reflexes and coordination are at their peak in youth. As an adult you may be less active, and you may be calling on muscles – especially in your neck and upper torso – that you haven’t taxed in a while.
McIntyre brings up another factor that comes into play: “I don’t have access to a car. As a teen, you can usually use your parents’ car to practice.” The only way to get better is to get wheel time, meaning this isn’t a solo effort at any stage in life.
Is getting a driver’s licence simply less necessary these days? Danter sees an increasing number of teens in his classes who are there at a parent’s behest. “More and more kind of shrug, and admit they’re being told to do it.” Technology has changed the way people interact and closed the gap once previously bridged by a car. Cellphones have replaced cars as the must-have device to connect with friends.
Teens learn the ropes at the BMW Performance Center Teen Driving School at the BMW Performance Center in Greer, South Carolina on March 20 to 22, 2015.
Derek McNaughton, Driving
What kicks the process into gear for later learners is often need over want. McIntyre needs a licence to secure many of the jobs in his field of child and youth advocacy. “You have to be able to drive kids, and much of your work is in the field,” he explains, adding some jobs even require the ability to drive a bus.
For others, it’s a move from an urban centre with reliable transit or walkable neighbourhoods to one of the many parts of this country modeled around the car; visit any suburb to see the vision of the 1960s in full swing. For others, it’s a change in family configuration, either through adding children or losing the household driver.
New teen drivers aged 16 to 25 generally pay the highest insurance rates due to inexperience; as a new adult driver, expect higher rates than your similarly aged peers, but your age will count a little in your favour. Some insurance companies will credit you with a year or more of experience if you take an accredited driver’s education course – check before you sign up with your insurance company.
Be prepared to face a steeper learning curve than the youngsters, and allow yourself extra lessons and practice time. Consider an advanced training course as well; they’re run on closed courses, and you can usually request an instructor who specializes in building confidence while you master skills.
As for the teens who are able but giving it a pass? It might be a lot easier to learn while you’re younger, and you can at least start building up a clean driving record. Your work, your family and where you live can all change in an instant.
Knowing how to drive is never a bad thing.
