Driving. One of the most anticipated privileges that one receives. Once you acquire your permit, you must endure the grueling process of fulfilling the requirements for your license: thirty hours of driver’s ed, twelve hours of driving with an instructor, six observing and the worst, forty hours driving with a parent. Then, after you pass the test, you have reached the promised land. No longer do you need your mom to stop what she’s doing to take you to Jimmy’s house. Now whenever you want, you can go whereever you want…. Or can you?
Even though you have finished all of the requirements, you still have legal and financial restrictions. The first and probably highest hurdle young drivers face is parental restriction. As if it is not infuriating enough to drive with parents, they often make up rules for when they are not in the car. It’s as if you have learned to ride a bike but the training wheels haven’t quite come off. Junior Mellisa Yu said that even though her parents allow her to have her own car and pay for her gas, they still have rules and restrictions. “I have to tell them where I am going before I go out, and I have to make sure I know exactly where I’m going and how to get there.” She also said her parents still correct her driving when they are in the car with her. When asked if her parents had made any unfair rules, Yu replied, “My mom told me that she wants to go in the car with me before I go anywhere new the first time. So, that basically means I don’t have my own car the first time I go anywhere new.” This rule is similar to those put on many students by their parents. Berin Senné said, “They don’t let me go on the highway….. I have waited this long to get my license, I should be able to go where I want.” The question remains: When do you finally have no restrictions? Many people say that the restrictions are off when you get your license, but these students would say otherwise.
![Seniors Garrett Batt, Tom White, Emmanuel Nzaramba and Jack Calverley work together in preparation for the Spring Fling. “We decided to host this because March is kind of a slow month [in which] there’s not really that much happening, so I just thought it would be fun to put pep back into everyone so people could look forward to something this month,” senior Delcie Peter said.](https://waylandstudentpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Screenshot-2024-03-20-at-10.28.14-PM-1200x832.png)
Andrew B. • Oct 6, 2008 at 11:24 AM
I would say that the restrictions lift when you move out – but that’s the same as anything else. I think it’s a bit presumptuous of teens to think that they can have freedom in a car when they don’t even have freedom in their house. I’m sure many people have chores or limits to how much TV they can watch – driving limits are the same thing.
Now, of course, we can complain about those restrictions too! But just because the state or federal government gives you a right (there’s no law against a 12-hour “Lost” marathon) it doesn’t mean that you can do it.
I also agree with the above poster that there *are* legal limits as well as parental ones.
Laura • Oct 6, 2008 at 9:48 AM
As a senior who has had my license for almost a year now, I’d like to tell the juniors that a lot of the parental restrictions come off pretty fast. Honestly, your parents don’t want to drive you places. They want to live their own lives.
The legal restrictions are for your own safety. I never had any accidents in my first six months, but I rear-ended someone right after I became legal because it really is distracting to have a passenger in your car–I learned pretty quickly after that how to drive without being distracted.
The restrictions are all off when you turn 18 because you can drive friends and you can drive at any time of day.
You really shouldn’t be complaining because we get our licenses earlier than most kids in the world do (in most of Europe the driving age is 18) and we have much less restriction on our driving (in Canada it is a law that you can’t go on the highway or drive friends for a year after you get your license).
Basically… I understand that it’s frustrating, but the law and your parents are trying to protect you, and you honestly do have a lot more freedom after you get your license, so please don’t complain.
anon. • Oct 5, 2008 at 11:27 AM
this is a good article, but i think there’s much more important info to cover. what about the obscene cost of insurance for teen drivers? then on top of the car, insurance, and gas there’s an additional fee if you want to park at school. what about the state-imposed curfew? or the fact that you cant drive friends until you’ve had your license for months?