Hitchin' a ride

By Lee Roberts

Monday, January 31, 2005 11:59 AM CST

Sometimes he rides the bus. Other times he gets a ride from friends. What John Maurer doesn't do is drive. Not yet, anyway. Maurer, 19, doesn't have his driver's license. And it's not because he couldn't pass the test. The University of Wisconsin-Parkside student hasn't even tried to take the test yet, by his own choosing.

Like a growing number of teens and young adults today, Maurer decided to wait a few years to get his license. When the Walden III High School graduate got his temporary license at 15�, he didn't really need a car. He didn't have a job, and the cost of a car and insurance were more than his budget would allow.

It's the money Financial concerns are one of the main reasons some of the country's youth are putting off getting behind the wheel of a car. Only 43 percent of all 16- and 17-year-old Americans were licensed in 2002, according to the latest figures from the Federal Highway Administration and U.S. Census Bureau. That's a significant decline from the 52 percent who were licensed 10 years earlier.

Even without their own vehicles, teens (or their parents) pay high premiums for auto insurance, compared with more experienced drivers. The cost of auto insurance in general has risen from an average of $637 per vehicle in 1993 to $774 in 2002, according to National Association of Insurance Commissioners reports. And, because the risk of crash is higher for inexperienced drivers, adding a teen driver to your insurance policy can easily double - or even triple - the premiums.

There's also the cost of behind-the-wheel instruction classes, which are required for anyone under 18 who is taking a behind-the-wheel test. Unlike many high schools around the country, which have lost behind-the-wheel instruction programs due to budget cuts, Unified high schools still offer driver's training classes, but students must pay for them. The cost for such training through Racine Unified is $210 to $260, depending on when it is taken. Students may choose to get instruction at a private driving school and those courses, in southeastern Wisconsin, average around $300.

Add to those figures the price of gasoline today, and a teen's (and/or their parents') paycheck evaporates fairly quickly.

Sure, some teens delay taking the road test simply because they don't feel ready for the responsibility of steering a 2,000 to 3,000 pound hunk of metal and plastic down the highway at speeds of up to 65 miles per hour. But that wasn't the case for Maurer.

"I felt pretty comfortable behind the wheel," he said. "And I don't anticipate having any problem passing the test. I just didn't really need to drive. A lot of my friends got their licenses right away and most of the places I needed to go, they were going, too, so I could get a ride."

It's a privilege People like Maurer's friends still make up the majority of teen drivers in this area, according to local driving instructors. Rick Jackowski, a driver's education instructor at Park High School, said he hasn't really noticed a trend of students delaying getting their licenses.

"Most of them are still practically breaking down my door as soon as they are eligible," he said.

Those who do decide to wait often do so at the urging - or insistence - of their parents, Jackowski said. Many times it is for financial reasons, but sometimes it's a matter of parents wanting their kids to bring up their grades, before allowing them to get their licenses, he said.

"Driving is a privilege," said Richard Patnode, who has been teaching drivers for 10 years at the Arcade Driving School, 1439 N. Main St. "And some parents want their kids to earn that privilege by getting decent grades. Some won't let their kids get their license until they are on the honor roll."

A teen's attitude toward their schoolwork can sometimes reflect their attitude toward most tasks, including driving, Patnode said. And attitude is half of what counts, he said.

Legal issues Sometimes teens' driving privileges are restricted due to curfew violations, Jackowski said. Teens often don't realize that legal problems, such as truancy or smoking violations that date back to when they were 13 or 14, can affect their ability to get their license a couple years later.

"When they get to the (Department of Motor Vehicles), they are surprised to find out those things can keep them from getting their license," he said.

Cost vs. experience By waiting until they are 18 to take their road tests, people can avoid the cost of behind-the-wheel training (it is not required for adults 18 and older). But they have to weigh that savings against the cost of possible inexperience behind the wheel.

Both Patnode and Jackowski said they feel Wisconsin's switch to the Graduated Driver Licensing program was a good move - one that ensures new drivers have more experience before they hit the road on their own.

Each year, a few students complain about having to put in the 30 hours of practice time required by the GDL program before they can get their probationary licenses, but once the reasoning behind it is explained to them, they get used to the idea, Jackowski said.

"Most of them are still pretty anxious to get their license," he said.

Safety awareness While he hasn't seen any real increases in teens delaying getting behind the wheel, one trend Jackowski said he has noticed in recent years is that of students being more aware of driving safety issues.

"They are very aware of the dangers of drinking and driving and are always talking about having designated drivers," he said. "And once they know all the rules, they are quick to point out what adults around them are doing wrong."

Today's teen drivers also seem to be better about wearing their seat belts, Jackowski said.

"It is the first thing they do when they get into a car," he said, adding that figures for 2004 show that 80 percent of teens say they wear their seat belts regularly.

One of the biggest concerns Patnode has about teen drivers is that their minds tend to be on things other than what they are doing behind the wheel.

"Their focus is not always where it should be," he said.

Learning to drive isn't difficult, Patnode said, it just takes time and practice.

"It is basically common sense, but people don't always use common sense."

And that goes for people of all ages, he said.

With a few job prospects on the horizon, Maurer is now looking into taking his driver's test this spring. Getting to his classes at UW-Parkside hasn't been difficult so far, because he has a friend, with a car, who has a class schedule similar to his. But the jobs he is considering will require him to have his own transportation, he said.

"So far things have worked out well," he said. "But now I'm getting to a point where having a license would really help."

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