Teens not interested in driving or owning cars

[Tbars4]

more than one-quarter of 16 to 34 year olds, who are known as Generation Y or the Millenials, do not even have a driver’s license.

..This has been a growing trend and the Auto Industry has taken notice...

..From adding technology into cars and the latest is from Toyota which they rolled out yesterday at a toy show, a cars built for kids in order to draw interest in buying a car in their future..
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57589342/toyota-rolls-out-car-for-kids-at-tokyo-toy-show/

..It seems the kids nowadays are more interested in Social Media and gaming and are not interested in even getting a drivers license or the commitment and the expense of a car..

..With seeing this trend growing and the cost of fuel and automobiles steadily increasing, could the Automobile be on it's way out?

..Some reading on the subject..

http://www.chicagotribune.com/class...autocover-teen-driver-20130316,0,385955.story

Cars not a driving force for teens
Many youths today are more interested in phones and social media than cars, a trend that has long-term implications for concerned automakers

http://www.motortrend.com/features/auto_news/2012/1208_why_young_people_are_driving_less/

Why Young People Are Driving Less
Is the Automobile Over?

The problem begins with the assumption that youth moving back to the cities want A- or B-segment hatchbacks, when they're more likely to spend the money on smartphones, tablets, laptops, and $2000-plus bikes.

Gen Y has car enthusiasts, of course, just like every other age group. As always, car enthusiasts are a minority. Today's young people appear to have less interest in driving and owning a car than do their mainstream, non-enthusiast older counterparts.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/micheli...ation-y-sees-no-need-to-get-behind-the-wheel/

Why Generation Y Sees No Need To Get Behind The Wheel

Reuters reports a startling statistic: more than one-quarter of 16 to 34 year olds, who are known as Generation Y or the Millenials, do not even have a driver’s license.

 

[FLOffroad]

Sad stuff.

I don't think the auto will necessarily go away, but if auto makers start making self-driving cars cost-effectively, impending doom will come about. 30 years from then, it'll be like that silly I-Robot film and anyone who self-pilots their car will be looked at as a madman or reckless.

Seems everybody would rather just mess about online whenever possible.
Cars are damn expensive though nowadays, so it's somewhat understandable. Young people can buy brand new electronic silliness for like 10 years in a row for the price of a new entry level car, which then needs gas, insurance, etc.

Also, as America's population moves more into urbanized areas, less people want/see the need for cars. Sort of funny if you think of it - it's like we're transitioning towards a more European standard (cars are more expensive, fewer have them, etc.), but we lack respectable public transport in most places.
Not to mention, new/future mpg and safety requirements are driving production costs up rather quickly, and nobody wants a salary cut, so MSRP increases. Not a good recipe.

 

[Tbars4]

...Living in California I do not believe this stat..

more than one-quarter of 16 to 34 year olds, who are known as Generation Y or the Millenials, do not even have a driver’s license.

that kids are not getting drivers license..

..But we have been building more of a train commuter friendly set of residences...This is based on getting more people to use mass transit by building apartment and condo hi-rises next to train stations with little coffee shops and restaurants on the first floor...

..The rent starts at about $1600 a month but they limit you to one parking space per unit..

..Commuter biking has not become a big factor here at all but recreational biking is another thing...I know a bunch of people who live in these hi-rises and nobody knows anyone using the mass transit...

..I'm sure there are but most rent these places as they are either closer to their work or family and friends with no thoughts of getting rid of their cars..

 

[Rick]

Add this to self driving vehicles, and the hobby we all... err, most of us old guys love will soon be gone for good.

These kids will LOVE being able to sit in their car and play video games, text, Skype or whatever the next fad will be all while their car is whisking them to their destination.

My uncle has a country place, that no one knows about
He says it used to be a farm, before the Motor Law
And on Sundays I elude the 'Eyes', and hop the Turbine freight
To far outside the Wire, where my white-haired uncle waits

Jump to the ground
As the Turbo slows to cross the borderline
Run like the wind
As excitement shivers up and down my spine
Down in his barn
My uncle preserved for me an old machine -
For fifty-odd years
To keep it as new has been his dearest dream

I strip away the old debris, that hides a shining car
A brilliant red Barchetta, from a better, vanished time
Fire up the willing engine, responding with a roar!
Tires spitting gravel, I commit my weekly crime...

Wind in my hair -
Shifting and drifting -
Mechanical music -
Adrenaline surge -

Well-weathered leather
Hot metal and oil
The scented country air
Sunlight on chrome
The blur of the landscape
Every nerve aware

Suddenly, ahead of me, across the mountainside
A gleaming alloy air-car, shoots towards me, two lanes wide
I spin around with shrieking tires, to run the deadly race
Go screaming through the valley as another joins the chase

Run like the wind
Straining the limits of machine and man
Laughing out loud
With fear and hope, I've got a desperate plan

At the one-lane bridge
I leave the giants stranded
At the riverside
Race back to the farm
To dream with my uncle
At the fireside...

 

[Rick]

...Living in California I do not believe this stat..

Believe it or not there are 49 other states

Turning 16 was HUGE for me. I went from riding a bike everywhere, to never riding a bike again in nearly 30 years Everything we DID revolved around our cars. Drive in movies, drag racing, "fox hunts" with the CB radio, "cruising", making out, yep, our cars were our ticket to FREEDOM.

I just don't see Facebook as a ticket to freedom

 

[Turdle]

I see a few factors contributing to this.

Family incomes are down. Once a kid gets a drivers license, the auto insurance doubles. For some it may be an economical decision

Video games have killed a whole generation

In school kids are taught that cars are evil carbon generators, the root of the greenhouse effect.

 

[Rick]

In school kids are taught that cars are evil carbon generators, the root of the greenhouse effect.

I can just see the narrated movie in science class... "43 cars each driving 500 miles to nowhere" "xx tons of carbon dioxide gas are emitted by these cars during each race". xxxxx tons of carbon dioxide and methane gas are emitted from the beer and flatulence of the 50,000 race fans in the stands. This number which increases exponentially when factoring the CO2 and methane from beer, and flatulence being emitted by fans watching on television"

 

[Joe Dirt]

Or, it's not that they have no interest in the responsibility, commitment, or taking care of the expense of a car- A younger generation seems to really not be interested in the responsibility, commitment, or taking care of the expense of pretty much anything anymore.

<old codger off soapbox>

 

[damarble]

I believe it. I've been trying for a while to get my 21yo wife to get her license. The majority of the people she knows do not drive either. It's always the bus or bumming a ride. I'm fed up with driving her everywhere, it's a very inefficient use of time.


I agree with Joe Dirt, most of the 20 and under crowd have no interest in responsibility, period.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Sad, but seems to be true- it's obviously not a blanket statement, but it seems to be more and more people as the years go by...

I can't fathom having the ability to license yourself and drive where you need to go, yet choosing to rely on other people to do it for you. Of course, it depends on where you live, aka suburb vs. Manhattan, but still...

 

[Rick]

We have a friend with 3 kids, 1 on the way. His wife doesn't drive. He's a landscaper and is gone from before sunrise, until after sunset 6 days a week. They live in an area with no close stores. Talk about cabin fever

 

[Anime]

Like a lot of other statistics, the numbers don't tell the WHOLE story.

There are PLENTY of people without a driver's license who have a car and drive.

There are also a lot of people that carpool or just always have a designated driver in the group and so they go most of their lives getting a ride everywhere rather than have their own car to drive.

I'll agree that the automotive culture America once was is rather different, though the car is still king and it can be pretty tough to get anywhere without a vehicle except in the most urban areas.

I don't see any of this as a bad thing though - if EVERYBODY had a vehicle and EVERYBODY drove EVERYWHERE all the time....there would be a lot more traffic, and gas would probably be 2-3 times what it already is.

I also don't blame anyone for not having a car and don't see it as a lack of personal responsibility, some states have just made it cost prohibitive to own a car unless you are extremely well off.

We might not get to where Europe and Japan are, where it's pretty rare to own a vehicle unless you're wealthy and most people just rent one when they need one, since the automotive industry wants to keep selling lots of vehicles, but we might not ever go back to how it was in the good ol' days, if the price of everything, including the vehicle, fuel, oil, tires, registration, insurance, and maintenance keeps going up at the rate it has been.

There will always be a place for car enthusiasts and those who drive, though. Someone will have to chase down the runaway robocars.

 

[damarble]

We have a friend with 3 kids, 1 on the way. His wife doesn't drive. He's a landscaper and is gone from before sunrise, until after sunset 6 days a week. They live in an area with no close stores. Talk about cabin fever

Exactly. Mine gets cabin fever pretty bad but she still won't go take the test. We have enough cars but not enough drivers.

 

[FLOffroad]

I agree with Turdle. Popular sentiment doesn't favor cars, especially interesting ones.

If the "socially acceptable" vehicle is an econo-box that hums along, I can understand why people tend to just consume media instead. To be young and interested in cars, you'd have to either have a massive amount of self-esteem or just not give a damn about other people's views.

That combined with the increasing costs issue, I think, is the main root of the problem.

I'm a younger person and I've definitely received some suspicious/scoffing/etc. looks when it was revealed that I'm obsessed with autos. I just don't care about such looks or opinions, but not everybody can do that. I'm sure somebody would tell me it's bad that I don't care, but that's the great thing about not caring.
I imagine it's even worse for younger kids. Any inklings of being a gear-head will stamped out by like 3rd grade.

 

[Rick]

So... what can we old farts do to start swaying some young minds...

Take a kid wheelin'? Take a kid to the race or a monster truck event?

Guess they need to hear 6000hp up close, so the hair stands up on their neck and their insides turn to jelly... That may convince them that their "virtual reality" world isn't as cool as they thought

 

[james t]

I have a lot of friends who have kids in the 16+ age group that have no interest in getting their DL. I believe the stats.

I cant even fathom it. I feel really old just thinking about a high school kid that doesn't want to drive. I mean REALLY old. It's a concept I simply cannot wrap my brain around. That DL was the most important thing in my life at that time. It changed everything.

It's like offering someone a million dollars. And they're like "Na man, im cool. Thanks though." And you say "It's $1million, free. It's yours. It will change your life forever." and their response is "Yea but it's all the way across the room. Sorry man- not worth it." ---- that's how I view it.

 

[Turdle]

My next door neighbor's son is completely banned from video games. They have none.
The kid has already busted up 2 trailers dragging them all over town with his riding mower collecting scrap.

There is a clue in there somewhere.

 

[Dan Whitaker]

My mom was as excited (if not more) than me when I got my dirvers license. She didn't have to haul me to & from school, to marching band practice, the hobby shop etc.

 

[Rick]

My mom was as excited (if not more) than me when I got my dirvers license. She didn't have to haul me to & from school, to marching band practice, the hobby shop etc.

I didn't even think about that aspect of it. Yes, me getting a license definitely changed my chauffeur's err... I mean my mothers life for the better

 

[FIND]

It wasn't until my ex was 26 that I was able to convince her to get her license. She was content that I could drive her wherever she needed, and we lived in a rural area.

I on the other hand.... well, getting my license and my own car were some of the most important events in my life. I learned how to drive on the farm when I was 13, and I got my license as soon as I could. I even talked my grandfather into giving me the 48 Ford F-3 he had sitting in a pasture so I could fix it up. I've never been able to understand why a person wouldn't want to drive, or worse still, why people would be so much more attached to disposable consumer electronics that will be obsolete in a couple years anyway.