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So many parents I know buy their 16 year olds NEW CARS
New Honda's, Toyota's are very popular in CA for first cars... the parents I know said it is strictly for safety and security... don't want their son and daughter stranded on the road at midnight...
I'm still from the Generation where we all bought non-operable cars for next to nothing and learned mechanics working on them...
Now, in CA... kids are not allowed to have other non-family kids in the car with them... I and some of my friends would always drive car loads of fellow students to away football and basketball games... can't do that anymore... everyone requires their own set of wheels... It's the Law
Yeah, having a new car is a Rite of Passage of old times and now that cars are cheap and reliable and safe (mostly) parents these days don't hesitate to buy their kids cars.
It's very silly to me. That's why you make friends ... so that if one DOES get a car, you load up and have fun! It's what I call democratization of resources run amok.
Though, the reason of learning mechanics on your own car is quite a bit more involved these days. However, I do think there are simply too many cars on the road.
Now, in CA... kids are not allowed to have other non-family kids in the car with them... I and some of my friends would always drive car loads of fellow students to away football and basketball games... can't do that anymore... everyone requires their own set of wheels... It's the Law
Dumbest law. Ever.
The kids will now all have cars. And more traffic. And more races. And more inexperienced drivers on the road. Bad call, California.
Some of the best times were riding around in my friend's cars in HS just doing random stuff.. sad.
The kids will now all have cars. And more traffic. And more races. And more inexperienced drivers on the road. Bad call, California.
Some of the best times were riding around in my friend's cars in HS just doing random stuff.. sad.
It's actually a great idea since beginning drivers are the highest risk group for the first few years... If they can get their licenses at 16 then they shouldn't be allowed to be distracted by their friends in their car and put them at risk too. Thankfully this is the law in many states.
Better yet, maybe high schoolers just shouldn't be able to drive until they're 18, but discussing that would be getting off-topic more...
It's actually a great idea since beginning drivers are the highest risk group for the first few years... If they can get their licenses at 16 then they shouldn't be allowed to be distracted by their friends in their car and put them at risk too. Thankfully this is the law in many states.
Better yet, maybe high schoolers just shouldn't be able to drive until they're 18, but discussing that would be getting off-topic more...
My European Friends all had a Moped License at age 15... it was a right of passage... and they needed it to start apprentice jobs if they were trade school tracked.
Most had to wait to age 18 for a Auto License and it was expensive as in 2 to 3k for the required training.
Foreigners have commented on both how young drivers are and how old...
My Grandmother was in her 90's always had a license and never had an accident and only 1 ticket... when they added a stop sign to an intersection she had driven thorough for more than 50 years without one.
I guess in some countries.. like Ireland... Seniors are not even allowed to rent cars to to age restrictions.
Negative shocks:
-That so many people I met were surprised to learn that countries other than the US or Britain speak English as a first language.
-That some people could name the capital of every state, but had almost no concept of where other countries in the world are. (This one may not be completely fair really, when you grow up in a little country like NZ, you have to be more outward looking than you probably need to be in the US)
This is shocking to me, as an American. Whenever I hear these stories of fellow Americans having stupid misconceptions like the first point above, I am totally embarrassed. I mean, really?
As for the second point, there's no good excuse, but some reasons have been touched on. I would say that
1). The public school system fails us, and those of us with a decent grasp of world geography obtained it out of a personal desire to be educated.
2). Whatever we do learn, people quickly forget because it is not used much. As you've brought out, the US is huge, and we only have two neighboring countries. People don't travel that much off the North American continent because it's expensive (especially recently) and most people get little vacation time. If you don't use it, you lose it, right?
3). In recent times, there seems to be an attitude that people who have knowledge on subjects like this are know-it-alls. Anti-intellectualism seems to have taken hold, and I am not sure why. I can relate a conversation in which people had mentioned Switzerland, and they confused it with Sweden geographically , and so I corrected them, and then they made fun of me for knowing.
It's actually a great idea since beginning drivers are the highest risk group for the first few years... If they can get their licenses at 16 then they shouldn't be allowed to be distracted by their friends in their car and put them at risk too. Thankfully this is the law in many states.
Better yet, maybe high schoolers just shouldn't be able to drive until they're 18, but discussing that would be getting off-topic more...
It didn't sound that bad a law to me either, but is it that they can't have other kids at all or that they can't without an adult present? A teen driving her injured mother, and members of her soccer team, to the hospital sounds potentially okay by me. Well probably, might depend on other factors.
Last edited by Thomas R.; 06-19-2009 at 06:28 PM..
Reason: I misread the above
I would like to hear some interesting stories from people who grew up abroad...What shocked you the most about the US, its culture and people? Please include which country you are from and what you expected the US to be like. I love hearing these stories from people. Thank you very much.
Most of my foreign visitors are astonished at the quality and quantity of food for the money in eateries. Overall, most are astonished at the value they get their for their money here, but mostly with food, I think mainly because we have so much more variety and it is very good with low costs. Of course, I hear this mostly in NY, Orlando, and Las Vegas where one can eat very well for very little.
My brother used to go to the UK a lot and he said that after seeing what they pay and what they get in return he can understand why they go nuts with food here. Particularly sandwiches, which, according to my bro, are much more expensive there and the bread is nothing good and they put like a slice of meat and/or cheese on it and that's it.
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, and so I corrected them, and then they made fun of me for knowing. 
