When did you let your kids get their drivers license? (Not learners permit)

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

It was tough for DS (and terrifying for me!!) to learn to drive in the city with heavy traffic, freeways, on/off ramps, traffic circles and whatnot. So, so much easier when I learned 30 years ago on country roads. The testing conditions are very challenging too, what with so much other traffic to account for. One thing for sure though - he's been prepared very thoroughly to be a good driver.

All of what you listed you experience in suburbia as well.

Probably the main difference in my area is the main Downtown area is going to have more 1-way streets compared to suburbia. But you have highways, heavy traffic (even on side streets), lanes merging/ending, roundabouts, diverging diamonds, yield signs (rather than always stop signs), etc.

But I will say if you don't need a car because you just take public transit pretty much everywhere it could, depending on the person, seem more daunting of a task when you find yourself in the hotseat of navigating the roads you didn't have to previously think twice about.

 

[kimblebee]

My daughter doesn’t have a license because we don’t have a car and we also have easy access to buses. I didn’t get my license til I was 18 but I did have a learners from the age of 15 1/2 on.

Like the other Canadians here, our insurance isn’t driven (no pun intended) by how many drivers or age of drivers. You insure the car and it doesn’t matter who drives it.

 

[mjkacmom]

It was tough for DS (and terrifying for me!!) to learn to drive in the city with heavy traffic, freeways, on/off ramps, traffic circles and whatnot. So, so much easier when I learned 30 years ago on country roads. The testing conditions are very challenging too, what with so much other traffic to account for. One thing for sure though - he's been prepared very thoroughly to be a good driver.

We are in the suburbs, but in a very densely occupied area. Streets are narrow and congested, parking lots are tight! The highways here can be scary many with lots of twists and turns, tons of merging. Family who has moved away gets a shock to their system when they come back and drive. People are nervous driving in NYC, I think the drive getting there is worse.

 

[ronandannette]

My daughter doesn’t have a license because we don’t have a car and we also have easy access to buses. I didn’t get my license til I was 18 but I did have a learners from the age of 15 1/2 on.

Like the other Canadians here, our insurance isn’t driven (no pun intended) by how many drivers or age of drivers. You insure the car and it doesn’t matter who drives it.

JSYK, only BC, Saskatchewan and Manitoba have government-sponsored no-fault insurance. The rest of us are on our own in the open market and you'd better believe it's more expensive for young drivers - males under 25 in particular.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

We have a 15 year old and are talking about these things now. I spoke to insurance this week. Adding her with her permit won't change our premiums. Adding her as a licensed driver, will and by a bunch. I did learn that in CA it makes no difference in rates if you get your license at 16 or 25, it's all based on years of experience. Might as well get her going at 16.

 

[Vicki926]

I live in NJ where you can get your license at 17. Both of my kids took their tests on their 17th birthdays. My daughter passed, my son failed, but he rescheduled for the next available date, which was almost 3 months later, and he passed then.

My son was a nervous driver, I told him the best cure for that is not to avoid driving, but to drive as much as possible, and sure enough after about just a week of driving back and forth to school(less than a mile) he started loving to drive.

 

[kimblebee]

JSYK, only BC, Saskatchewan and Manitoba have government-sponsored no-fault insurance. The rest of us are on our own in the open market and you'd better believe it's more expensive for young drivers - males under 25 in particular.

Oh really? I stand corrected then.

 

[ronandannette]

Oh really? I stand corrected then.

Yep - every driver is rated individually so for example, both mine and DH's driving/claims history is factored in to the price of insuring vehicles we jointly own. There was no increase to our premiums when DS had his learner's but the minute he became a licensed driver - WOW!!

We actually were fortunate because we have 3 vehicles, one of which is basically a beater. We had him designated as the "primary driver" on that one and although the rates for insuring it are pretty ridiculous, the premiums on our other two vehicles aren't impacted. OTOH, if we were to give him the title to that car and he had to get his own individual policy to insure it, the cost would simply be prohibitive to him driving.

 

[lilia78]

Yep - every driver is rated individually so for example, both mine and DH's driving/claims history is factored in to the price of insuring vehicles we jointly own. There was no increase to our premiums when DS had his learner's but the minute he became a licensed driver - WOW!!

We actually were fortunate because we have 3 vehicles, one of which is basically a beater. We had him designated as the "primary driver" on that one and although the rates for insuring it are pretty ridiculous, the premiums on our other two vehicles aren't impacted. OTOH, if we were to give him the title to that car and he had to get his own individual policy to insure it, the cost would simply be prohibitive to him driving.

In Sask we are all individually rated as drives. We all get points, if the points are negative your drivers license renewals will cost more. But vehicles here are registered and insured based on their age, make, model, style, etc. everyone who owns the same year, make and model of a car would pay the same base rate. But if you have lots of good points you receive a discount. I have 24 points so each vehicle I register I receive a 24% discount on, we also live on a farm so qualify for a farm discount.

Our cars aren’t “titled” in a traditional way either. We only have registration for the vehicle, it lists the vin, make, model, color, plate number, date the plates expire and owner of the vehicle, you get a new form each year when you renew the plates. If that form has your name on it then you are the owner of the vehicle.

As well I could license all of the vehicles for my family in my name if we wanted as long as our children are dependents. Once they leave home for good and are done with university they would need to license the vehicle themselves. To change ownership is quite easy as well. On the vehicle registration slip there is a section that you sign, date and fill in the purchase price. This is all the new owner needs to register the vehicle in their name.

 

[ronandannette]

In Sask we are all individually rated as drives. We all get points, if the points are negative your drivers license renewals will cost more. But vehicles here are registered and insured based on their age, make, model, style, etc. everyone who owns the same year, make and model of a car would pay the same base rate. But if you have lots of good points you receive a discount. I have 24 points so each vehicle I register I receive a 24% discount on, we also live on a farm so qualify for a farm discount.

Our cars aren’t “titled” in a traditional way either. We only have registration for the vehicle, it lists the vin, make, model, color, plate number, date the plates expire and owner of the vehicle, you get a new form each year when you renew the plates. If that form has your name on it then you are the owner of the vehicle.

As well I could license all of the vehicles for my family in my name if we wanted as long as our children are dependents. Once they leave home for good and are done with university they would need to license the vehicle themselves. To change ownership is quite easy as well. On the vehicle registration slip there is a section that you sign, date and fill in the purchase price. This is all the new owner needs to register the vehicle in their name.

Sounds like the Manitobians have it good with simply paying a flat rate per vehicle!

 

[kimblebee]

In Sask we are all individually rated as drives. We all get points, if the points are negative your drivers license renewals will cost more. But vehicles here are registered and insured based on their age, make, model, style, etc. everyone who owns the same year, make and model of a car would pay the same base rate. But if you have lots of good points you receive a discount. I have 24 points so each vehicle I register I receive a 24% discount on, we also live on a farm so qualify for a farm discount.

Our cars aren’t “titled” in a traditional way either. We only have registration for the vehicle, it lists the vin, make, model, color, plate number, date the plates expire and owner of the vehicle, you get a new form each year when you renew the plates. If that form has your name on it then you are the owner of the vehicle.

As well I could license all of the vehicles for my family in my name if we wanted as long as our children are dependents. Once they leave home for good and are done with university they would need to license the vehicle themselves. To change ownership is quite easy as well. On the vehicle registration slip there is a section that you sign, date and fill in the purchase price. This is all the new owner needs to register the vehicle in their name.

Sounds like the Manitobians have it good with simply paying a flat rate per vehicle!

As much as it pains me to say this, we are much like Saskatchewan in our registering of vehicles. It’s all based on make, model, and age of car. We also have merits and demerits for our licenses too. Our top discount is 25% which brings a licence down to $25 or $30 for the year. Every year you go without an accident you get more points. Tickets don’t count against insurance because anyone can be driving when they get a speeding ticket.

 

[aprilgail]

She got her permit on her 16th birthday and then about 7 months later went for her road test and passed it- because she took drivers ed in school she was able to get her senior license at 17, before that she had her "jr license" which basically was useless- drive to work and back...I couldn't wait until she was 17 so she could drive herself to school and back and to all her activities!

 

[DVC-Don]

Both got their permits at 16, then we had them drive us around for a year so they could experience all 4 seasons. During snow storms I had them drive me on errands. Got their licenses at 17.

 

[SC Minnie]

15 In SC you can get your learners permit at 15. You can take the drivers test a couple of months after you have your permit-- I don't remember exactly. You can drive during daylight hours once you pass the drivers part of the test. At 16 you can drive any time.

DD got her permit the day after her 15th birthday and took her drivers test as soon as she finished drivers ed.

 

[georgina]

Let? I had to convince my DS to get his license when he was 20. He practiced enough to pass the test and hasn't driven since (he's 26). He wasn't involved in many activities in high school and was happy to take the bus to school.

Both my DD's got their permits at 16 and their licenses 6 months later. They had a lot more after school things and drove themselves.

 

[soccerdad72]

About a month after his 16th birthday - probably would have been closer to his birthday, but getting his final in-car classes scheduled was hard working around soccer season.

 

[Cadiewampus]

My first child was very interested in getting her drivers license. She got her permit a few days after her 15th birthday and got her drivers license at the exact one year and one day point allowed. It was exciting for her and my wife and I until we realized by how much our auto insurance premium would be impacted.

My daughter wanted to get her license as soon as possible because of some of the other young drive rules in Georgia. There are several 6 month count downs that control who can ride in the car with a newly licensed driver.

For my son we have slowed things down a bit.

He does not have a job and can't drive to school until his Junior year and even that is not a guarantee. Because of the size of the student body (4000 students) parking comes at a premium and Juniors have to participate in a lottery for a parking permit. In years past only about 30-40% of those that apply as a Junior are granted a parking permit. You have to have your actual license before entering the lottery which is held in July.

So our plan is to make him wait until July and hope he gets a permit. If he does not get a permit then we will end up paying the increased auto insurance premiums for someone who will likely not drive since his only interest at the moment is getting to and from school.

My son decided to wait until 17 to get his. At that age they do not have to complete all the same things for Joshua's law as at 16. Wow 4000 students. What high school? We are in Cobb county and he was at Allatoona High. Around 2000 kids so no lottery but the school actually charged $50.00 a semester for parking

 

[Cadiewampus]

My daughter doesn’t have a license because we don’t have a car and we also have easy access to buses. I didn’t get my license til I was 18 but I did have a learners from the age of 15 1/2 on.

Like the other Canadians here, our insurance isn’t driven (no pun intended) by how many drivers or age of drivers. You insure the car and it doesn’t matter who drives it.

.

It just chaps my bottom that is not that way here in the US. It should be.

 

[Snowflakey]

Both my DD's got their license on their 16th birthday! They didn't have a bus to bring them to high school (I live in a county where you can choose what high school you want to go to) so they had to drive 30 miles one way to school. Couldn't wait until they got their license. Plus - I was put in many situations when I was young of having to rely on other drivers and a few times I shouldn't have been in the car so I made it a priority to never have that happen to my girls. They were both very responsible and I knew they would be the safest with themselves driving. They are now 25 & 22 and I'm proud to say no tickets or accidents thus far

 

[verleniahall]

I had my learners at 14 and I had my completed hours by 15 so I was legally driving without an adult by 15, but that was several years ago