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Old 10-02-2014, 09:40 AM
 
43,365 posts, read 44,076,810 times
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It seems that I have encountered several NYers of different age groups that have never learned to drive a car (as there is such an extensive public transportation system). So my questions are do you have a driver's license and if yes, did you learn to drive in NYC? Also if you have a valid driver's license, do you actually drive regularly or do you just use it mainly for identification (meaning you haven't driven in a long time)?
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Old 10-02-2014, 02:05 PM
 
Location: NYC
139 posts, read 151,155 times
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I'm a transplant who does some volunteering where I drive because they were really excited to find someone with a license. It was kind of weird at first because I kept getting compliments and admiration on my driving and it turned out that the people who were so impressed had simply never driven before.

So far my experience has been that if someone has lived in NYC all their life they have had no reason to learn to drive. Even one volunteer is 55 y/o and wants to go to driving school and get her license because her mother moved upstate.
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Old 10-02-2014, 05:10 PM
 
Location: New Jersey!!!!
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Raised here, learned here, had my first car just after turning 17, drive to Manhattan every day.
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Old 10-02-2014, 05:39 PM
 
33,601 posts, read 46,904,702 times
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Native NYCer, got my license at 17, learned here (my pops taught me how to drive), mostly drive on the weekends now because I work in the city. Bought my first truck when I was 22, had it for like 3 years. I have a car now (gas is expensive).

When I used to work in Downtown Brooklyn, I drove every day. I had to be at work at 9 AM, and I used to park on Atlantic Avenue; Atlantic Avenue by the House of Detention is metered and it was 25 cents for a half-hour. At 9:45 every morning, I would leave the office, hop in my truck and go find a spot on Bergen Street and wait in my car until 10 AM, when alternate side parking ended and no meters on Bergen Street. So I paid 50 cents a day to park.
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Old 10-02-2014, 09:05 PM
 
Location: NYC
20,550 posts, read 17,552,712 times
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How a teenagers today not know how to drive? Car's today is like playing a video game. It's no longer as difficult as it used to be when you have to learn how manual shift gears and hold the clutch.
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Old 10-02-2014, 09:21 PM
 
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There have been a few posts like this, another one pretty recently.

I'm from NY, got my license as a teenager, but never owned a car until in my 30s. My husband doesn't have a license.
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Old 10-03-2014, 06:43 AM
 
6,192 posts, read 7,318,906 times
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I know a lot of people without licenses as well. I've been here all my life.

I just got my license a few years ago. I never really drove before that (got my learner's permit three times) except to practice randomly here or there. I have a lot of anxiety and driving terrified me.

Eventually, my husband put up with my anxiety and road rage. He pretty much gave me lessons and I passed my road test on the first try. I'm thankful because it allowed me to get a job I would have never been able to travel to due to the distance BUT at the same time now I drive almost every single day and I am SO sick of traffic. I wish I could go back to walking to work/taking public transportation to work and just being a weekend driver.
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Old 10-03-2014, 08:53 AM
 
Location: Sunnyside
2,008 posts, read 4,709,338 times
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My fiance and I are both from Michigan.

I learned to drive when I was 12 and got my license right when I turned 16 and had my first car a month or so before that.

She got her first learners permit at 19, and renewed a few times, and since getting one put maybe 100(being very generous) miles of driving in. She's now 23, no license, no permit, no anything. So we have to stay here where she can get by without ever having to drive! ha

I'm carless now though as I sold my car and motorcycle before we moved here because I didn't want the added expense of the insurance on both, or even one of them. I do drive a few times a year though, in 600 mile spurts when I rent a car and drive back to Michigan.

I will be getting a vehicle of some kind though in the next couple of years though. The racetrack is calling!

Last edited by skinnayyy; 10-03-2014 at 09:21 AM..
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Old 10-03-2014, 09:09 AM
 
1,119 posts, read 2,644,281 times
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My wife got her license many years ago. The last time she drived was in 2002. I really don't like driving in the city. But I have to do it sometimes because of my work.
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Old 10-03-2014, 09:27 AM
 
Location: Westchester County, NY
1,602 posts, read 1,901,923 times
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Born and raised in the Bronx, got my license at 16, and my first car at 17. The only time I haven't owned a car were my 2 periods of living in Manhattan - one for a year, and one for 5 years. I moved back to the Bronx in June, bought a car in July, and have been happily driving around ever since

I work near Penn Station, and drive into Manhattan for work most days.
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