Mobile Phones and Driving Safety

In the past a driver's license was seen as a “rite of passage” to teenagers, the excitement of getting a new car and the thought of being able to go wherever you wanted, whenever you wanted. That's not the case anymore. Millennials today are now less likely to get or even strive for their own driver's license, and with good reason. There are so many other options nowadays that realistically a driver's license isn't necessary.

Today there are teens around the world who are expectedly eager to get their permit and their license. On the other hand some kids would gladly sit in the passenger seat and stare at their phone while someone else focuses on driving. This is made possible with all of the apps and services you can simply call up and get a ride from. It's so quick and easy that teens don't think twice about it. Matt Schmitz states in his article, “The open road and a set of wheels once symbolized freedom, but in today's era of convenient, smartphone-based ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft that romantic notion seems increasingly quaint” (Schmitz). Millennials are losing interest in going through the process that's required for getting your license. Why not take the easy way out and pay someone to do it for you? Teens are especially lazy with all of this new technology that is only growing. Unlike many years ago, at the touch of a button you can have a car waiting to bring you wherever you'd like.

Back than when people truly had an interest in driving themselves almost half of 16 year olds got their license as soon as possible. Statistics have made it clear that that has changed, “About 46 percent of American teens in 1983 became licensed drivers sometime in the year after their 16th birthday compared with about a quarter in 2014, a drop of nearly half”(Schmitz). This has shown that the interest in millennials ability to drive a car and have their own license has significantly decreased over time. Before the drop in interest, millennials cared greatly about their “new found freedom” and looked forward to the opportunity. The author stated, “Unlike the age ranges associated with the 'millennial' badge, groups ages 45 and older showed smaller declines — or even gains” (Schmitz). If this generation wasn’t so technology involved and had the same goals as an older generation many more people this age would have their license without a problem. Teenagers these days have no interest in putting in the time, effort or work that achieving and maintaining a license requires.

What was once seen as a privilege to teens back then, isn't to today's millennials and it shows. The level of ease offered by today's technology and resources makes it irresistibly simple to get where you need to go, this area of knowledge is only growing. This causes todays millennials chances and desire for a license of their own to decrease significantly.

Schmitz, Matt. “Forget Cars, Millennials Don't Even Want Driver's Licenses | News from Cars.com.” Cars.com, 20 Jan. 2016, www.cars.com/articles/forget-cars-millennials-dont-even-want-drivers-licenses-1420683202016/.

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