Teen Thursday - Learning to drive

When I turned sixteen, I couldn't wait to get my driver's license. I couldn't wait for the freedom to drive a car all by myself! I'd had my permit for a year, had taken Driver's Ed, and clocked lots of miles with my mom in her car.

I took the driver's test on my birthday, and fortunately, I passed. I went to school the next day squealing and flashing my license to everyone who would take a look. In a small town, the day you got your driver's license was a big deal.

Fast forward far too many years, and now, I have a sixteen-year-old son. A son who is terrified of driving. He has his permit, and we've taken a few spins around a parking lot and even driven on a quiet residential street, but if we put both of us, at sixteen, on a spectrum of excitement around driving, we would be on *completely* opposite ends.

In talking to other people, I've found it's not that uncommon for kids today to be more frightened. Some people believe it's actually a good thing. And I suppose it is, to a point. Caution when driving is, of course, an important thing to have. But you also have to have some level of self-confidence, and the ability to believe that you can make the right calls and have good judgement when faced with a decision behind the wheel. I think this is why my son is so scared - he's afraid he isn't going to be able to make the right call when the time comes, and he thinks the worst will happen.

For now, we're taking it slow. If he's not in a huge hurry, I guess I don't need to be either. Still, at some point, it's a skill he needs to have, at least where we live. 

I'm curious about your learning-to-drive experience? Scared or excited? If you were scared, what helped you get over it?

Teen Thursday - License to Drive

No, not the classic eighties movie starring the two Coreys (although, that could be awesome). But rather, I'd love to talk about actual teen tales from behind the wheel.

Driving is a major rite of passage for a teen, right? When I was reading Girl, Stolen yesterday, of the various challenges that Cheyenne's blindness poses for her, the fact that she can't drive is one that stands out - both for Cheyenne, and for me as a reader. Being blinded (in a car accident, ironically) at age fifteen means that Cheyenne will never experience driving as a sighted person, something that she has trouble making peace with. I can't blame her. For a teenager, driving equals freedom, and Cheyenne's independence has already been stripped away since losing her sight. Not being able to drive is just one more example of insult added to her (literal) injury.

Full disclosure: when I was a teen, I was a TERRIBLE driver. I mean, awful. I was the first of my group of friends to get my license, and lucky enough to get a car at the same time, so of course, I became our "wheels." I was all too happy to take on that role.

Behind the wheel, I was fearless. I truly believed I was immortal and as such, made a habit of driving recklessly. I was big at speeding, and I actually had a few car accidents during my high school/college years (thank goodness, I was alone during those crashes, and no one was hurt. I'd never forgive myself if I'd injured anyone). In fact, I totaled the car my father had given me for my 17th birthday - just days before I was due to hand it over to my younger brother. To this day I feel awful for robbing him of his chance to be his high school "wheel guy."

After crashing my car, I finally wised up. Once the car was gone, the consequences of my irresponsible behavior were all too obvious. We didn't have money to buy me a new one, so I made do. And thought a lot about why I'd so blatantly disregarded basic issues of safety - what was it about being young, in my car, that made me feel so invincible?

The next time I had a car of my own, I was a college graduate commuting to and from my job at a NJ newspaper. Getting behind the wheel, I was nervous (living through a major wreck will do that to you). These days, I drive like a little old lady - cautious, slow, and steady, on high alert. But I'm fine with that.

So what I'd love to hear from you teen readers is: what have your experiences been behind the wheel? Are you the "wheel guy?" Are your parents strict about driving? Where do you and your friends go? In Kody Keplinger's The Duff, Bianca's friends sometimes do the classic "cruise." My group and I were way too uptight to drive around aimlessly - we went to the diner, or the mall. If I had it all to do over again, I don't think I'd change that (I seriously loved that diner. Awesome cheese fries).

But I'd definitely be a more responsible driver.