HUFFINGTON POST: ….According to a recent study, nearly a third of American 19-year-olds haven’t bothered to get their driver’s licenses yet. Three decades ago, it was just one in eight who skipped that right of passage, according to Michael Sivak, of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, or UMTRI. Among those 20 to 24, meanwhile, only 81 percent had gotten their licenses in 2010, down from 92 percent in 1983….
Why are young Americans losing their love affair with the automobile? There are any number of explanations. There’s the economy, of course, which has even driven millions of older buyers out of the car market. Young buyers, in particular, are more likely to have to settle for higher interest – meaning costlier – subprime loans. Compounding matters, they’re facing a market with higher unemployment and lower wages, and are leaving school saddled with massive loan debt…
Have you ever tried to take a cellphone or iPad away from a teenager? For a large percentage of Millennials, texting has become the preferred form of communication, and “Virtual contact reduces the need for actual contact,” suggests UMTRI’s Sivak. “We found that the percentage of young drivers was inversely related to the availability of the Internet.” … (more)
