[HN Gopher] Why aren't teenagers driving anymore?
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Why aren't teenagers driving anymore?
Author : bookofjoe
Score : 11 points
Date : 2023-02-21 20:41 UTC (2 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.washingtonpost.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.washingtonpost.com)
| thanatos519 wrote:
| I was a teenager until 30 years ago and I still don't know how to
| drive.
|
| From the article: << "Like, when we're out of tomatoes," Johnson
| says, and laughs, "I want to be able to say, 'Hey, I need
| tomatoes. Go to the store and get a tomato.'" >>
|
| This sounds like a symptom of either rural living, or poor urban
| planning. I've never lived more than a 10 minute bike ride away
| from ... well ... anything I might need on short notice.
| duped wrote:
| This article is missing a discussion over the rise in car, fuel,
| and insurance prices during the same time period that teen
| driving fell.
|
| That and the fact the average miles driven dropped nationally
| during the early pandemic, and legally mandated behind-the-wheel
| courses stopped right when these 18 year olds should have been
| getting their licenses.
| LAC-Tech wrote:
| _Teens can summon an Uber or Lyft with the tap of a finger._
|
| The Washington Post with their fingers on the pulse of working
| class families here.
| crazygringo wrote:
| Getting the occasional Lyft/Uber is a heck of a lot cheaper
| than buying a second (or third) car. Even for working class
| families.
|
| Taking one twice a day, of course, not so much.
| 7speter wrote:
| There was a such thing as cheap beaters not too long ago...
| codevark wrote:
| [dead]
| nh23423fefe wrote:
| Going places sucks. It costs money and takes time to get everyone
| there let alone coordinate. Locking yourself in your room works
| great to get away from parents and lurking on discord is easier
| than meeting up.
| LAC-Tech wrote:
| Back when I worked at an office I used to commute by bicycle on
| a route that took me past a high school.
|
| Often I was the only one on a bicycle, most of the actual
| students were all being dropped off. Made me a bit sad, I had
| fond memories of congregating at the bike sheds before and
| after school.
| lcnPylGDnU4H9OF wrote:
| > Parents can monitor a child's every move through an app.
|
| I cannot imagine anything that would be more likely to train an
| entire generation to simply leave their phone at home.
| trasz3 wrote:
| Car company marketing isn't working anymore?
| 7speter wrote:
| Cars just cost too much period, because now every car has to
| have touch screen entertainment systems, electric door latch
| systems, backup cameras (this is required by law), and corollas
| probably have an option for heated leather seats. Oh, and then
| your insurance is based on the all the people around you buying
| these cars around you and getting them into accidents, and
| fender benders cost 6-8k to fix nowadays.
| bookofjoe wrote:
| https://archive.ph/4B7D1
| coldtea wrote:
| One other reason is that there are fewer places to go.
|
| A lot of entertainment (or "entertainment") happens inside:
| games, doom-scrolling, and so on. And there's online ordering
| too. And the public space is deteriorating in many places.
|
| Teenagers used to go to places to meet their pals and find some
| shit to do in "meatspace", public parks, various hangouts, and
| back in the day malls. Today? Not so much.
|
| For many there's also probably less hanky panky (which was in the
| past associated with cars, teenagers often lacking an available
| house with understanding parents) and more loneliness compared to
| past decades (according to various reports).
| janalsncm wrote:
| Without a doubt. Malls are dying if not dead. I would bet money
| there is nearly a 1:1 relationship with the decline in teen
| driving.
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(page generated 2023-02-21 23:02 UTC)