Can I have your opinion?

I got my license at 16. Went through Drivers Education in High School.

But... started to drive at 15 when I had my permit because my friend was a terrible driver. And she already had her license. Yes, we were supposed to have someone 18 or older with us but we didn't care at the time. She did not know North, South, East or West. So I drove most of the time.

Needless to say, when my parents took me for driving lessons they were kind of shocked to see how well I could drive. Had losts of practice! Just told my mom about that one a couple of years ago and I'm 37. My dad already knew I had been driving without a license. (we didn't tell mom at the time)

Hmm well heres my story
I could have gotten mine at 16 BUT (here is where you will agree ) my parents said no freakin way until I learned to be responsible, and that took a while!
I got mine about 2 months before I turned 18, when my Mom said she finally trusted me with my own car, and you know, I think looking back that she was right!
Don't tell her that I said that though

lol...i still dont have mine and I am gonna be 24 in less then 2 weeks....I have my permit and such...but i just dont have the time and the money to go do it right now....the plan is to do it when were settled in, our new place...where ever that is....though as a side not i always thought a licence should be something you get when your 18...but thats just my opinion...lol

I got my permit about 2 weeks after my 15th birthday and my license on my 16th birthday. I was mature for my age. I started working when I was 14. I've never had an accident that was my fault (I was rearended at a stop light and sideswiped when cars had to merge due to construction).

I know now in CA even when a teenager gets a license they can't have minors (except siblings with a note from their parents) ride with them for the first 6 months.

Originally Posted by kittylover4ever

My sister and I are fueding........not really, but disagreeing......Her daughter who is 15 will want to be driving soon, but this kid is totally immature.......what age did you get your drivers license?? I got mine at 16, but I feel I was mature early.....never partied, drank, anything like that. (Somehow I missed out on all that fun!)

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If your sister wants your niece to get a license, she should enroll her in driving school. Driving school will also lower her insurance premiums (depending on how well her daugher does).

I was 15 when I got my license. I felt I was mature enough to handle the responsibility of driving. After I got my license (literally a week after), Hawaii passed a law stating that you have to take a semester of driving school to get your license. If you don't go to school and pass, you can't get your license until you're 18.

Well i got my permit, about... 4 months before i turned 16.. i could have had it long before that.. but, i didnt really need it!
i got my L. about 3 months after i turned 16..
I had been driving w/ out a permit, which i was a great driver.. i was very mature for my age.. yet i didnt need to drive because i had my parents, or the school bus.. or an older friend to take me here or there.. but, once i hit 16... woo i wanted them.. im the oldest in my grade out of mi friends.. and they were counting on me to trolly them around

i had to wait 90 days before i could haul others in my car... My brother was an exception though.

I'm getting mine in March next year! [my learners at least!]

I got mine at sixteen (and then never bothered to do anything about it, I still don't drive and I doubt I ever will), but I was also reasonably mature and responsible, didn't party or drink, etc. Hypothetically speaking, if I had a 16 year old who wasn't terribly responsible or mature, or who engaged in risky behaviour (drinking at 16), I wouldn't allow it.

As an aside, I went to driver's ed, and actually I felt it was a really expensive waste of time - they really didn't teach anything that wasn't either very basic stuff you could learn from your parents (ie. how to turn on the car) or just common sense (if the roads are slippery with snow or rain, slow down!)... then again, if you're lacking in common sense, it might be useful.... (or if the course you take is better than the one I took).

Here you can't apply for a learner's licence (our Provisional Licence) until you are 17. My son is 25, and although he did begin to take driving lessons, decided he didn't want to drive and hasn't done so yet. I keep thinking that eventually not being able to drive will make life so difficult for him that he'll capitulate, but he hasn't yet! My daughter is almost 18 and is planning on getting her licence so that she can learn to drive this summer. She made a decision that she didn't want to stress about taking a driving test until she'd got her education completed - getting into University is her number one priority and by the summer her exams will have finished.

I appreciate everyone's opinions....my niece just isn't mature enough in my mind to drive......I personally hope my sister waits until at least she's 18....I'll let you all know!

i was seventeen sometimes i think i should of waited cause during that time i was partying had a few accidents thank goodness noone was hurt my neice just turn fifthteen and got her license but she a litte more mature for her age
As for eric my nephew hes ninteen still no license yet thank God for that because eric is in to drugs and drinks i worry the day he gets his

Permit at 15 and license on my 16th birthday here. I was starting to work full time and started commuting to college shortly afterwards, so it was a necessity for me. Up to that point in my life I was a party animal but nothing like a full time job plus college to straighten you up quickly - had no time to party after that!

Originally Posted by zanniesmom

{OK, five territories, can't let a 15 YO be smarter than me...Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, ummmm, ummmm, Guam, ummm, ummm..... Rats, he is smarter than me}

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Puerto Rico
Guam
U.S. Virgin Islands
Northern Mariana Islands
American Samoa

One other thing I will say is that the teenage years become very trying on parents as far as more and more social engagements, meaning more and more times the kids have to be driven or picked up if they don't drive. I have 2 going in 2 different directions nowadays. I don't think I would have time enough in my day to get them to all of their school-related clubs, friends' houses, the mall, etc., etc.

Originally Posted by zanniesmom

{OK, five territories, can't let a 15 YO be smarter than me...Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, ummmm, ummmm, Guam, ummm, ummm..... Rats, he is smarter than me}

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American Samoa and the Mariana Islands, I assume.
I got my driver's license a day or so after my 16th birthday. I was very responsible in some ways, and pretty wild in others.
My sister's oldest three all got their licenses at 16. They got (used) cars from my parents or my sister, but all have had to pay for their own car insurance (very prohibitive in my nephew's case) and gas, which means they all work to "support" their cars.
One thing I'd like to point out - a kid without a license or car is more likely to be riding with other teenagers who might be even less responsible, taking public transportation (or worse, hitchhiking), or waiting around to be picked up - all three of which make the kid (especially a girl) a bit more vulnerable.

Apart from the differences in laws around the world, I would say that the age of starting to drive should vary with where you live - a teenager in a rural area could probably start earlier than one in a city. The roads are quieter and the public transport is probably less efficient. In a city the traffic is worse and cabs and buses are easy to find. It also depends on what transport htey will have access to - no-one in their right mind (even if they could afford it) is going to put someone with limited driving experience, of any age, at the wheel of a sports car or expensive powerful limousine.

My first vehicle was a Vespa scooter in the Yorkshire dales, that I loved because I could go on tracks into the countryside. I learnt to drive a car when I moved to London at the age of 24 and was terrified in city traffic for ages.

I would also like to point out, that even if he won't drive a mile in all those years, if you wait until 18 or even later, you will be in all the hassle of college, perhaps even working, and all that, sometimes even moving to another state to study, which makes it a million times harder to get a license, because you have got less time to be around taking tests, driving school and so on. You can do all that in summer vacation, and weekends as a teenager when you've got nothing else to do and then when you really need the license you will already have it. We are not even starting to talk of how important is to know how to drive, even when you normally don't need to - if he finds himself in an emergency where he has to drive a car, and he doesn't even know where is the pedal sitting, much less even have a learners permit?

Down here, they always try to stress also, that if you are planning to study in the states, getting a PR license before you go, is a must. In the 50 states, license requirements are often stricter and higher than in Puerto Rico, and you have to wait much longer amounts of time between the learners permit and the license. In some, you might even have to get driving school (unheard of down here). If you already have the PR license, which is a million times easier to get, you can in almost every state of the union, bring it to the DMV as an out of state license, file as a new resident, and change it for an in-state license, saving you most, if not all of the hassle.

Call me silly, but my mom makes me earn everything. I think she should earn it. Maybe she should show she's responsible enough. You know, finish homework, not do anything bad (drink, party when she shouldn't, etc.) and help out around the the house. If she deserves the license, and shows she won't do anything wrong with it, she should be able to have it. Otherwise, IMO, NO WAY.

Personally I think 15/16 is a terrible time to be letting kids learn to drive. It's at a point in their lives when they're the most immature and should be concentrating more on their schooling than on how cool they're gunna be when they get to drive. Sure, there will always be exceptions to the rule in that some kids will genuinely be ready to learn, but the majority aren't. maybe even the UK 17 is too young too. I STILL don't have a license at 22... a) I know I can't afford to learn, let alone all the running costs - which is what these teenagers should have to learn to take responsibility for themselves instead of having mummy and daddy pay for it all for them... and b) I'm absolutely terrified of the exam. I'm really bad in exam situations and I know I'm obviously still not mature enough to deal with it at this moment in time. I've got more important things to be worrying about - like bills and taking care of my little boy. I think your sisters daughter would be better to wait and SHOW that she's got that mental maturity that you need in a car. You've got to remember, when you're at the wheel of a car, you are literally in the driving seat of a killing machine. Maybe it would be worth pointing that out - drink driving is one of the biggest killers - so perhaps she should be told to cut back on the partying if she's really interested in learning to drive. Serious interest needs a serious approach. I think that all made sense.....