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I have a member of my family, a teenager, who has been driving for 23 months and had his license for 11 months. He drives regularly on surface streets to school, work, etc., but he has never once driven on the highway by himself, and he is not allowed to by his parents. He drove on the highway on his 2nd driving lesson and about 3 or 4 times with his father, and that is all the highway experience he has in almost 2 years of driving. I believe it really stops him from living his life because if a friend were to want to hang out someplace on the highway, he wouldn't be able to go unless somebody drives him, even though he has his license. I find this absurd and I believe that teens should be driving on the highway regularly within a couple of weeks of receiving their permit and start doing it on their own as soon as they get their license. Although it isn't much of my business, I asked the parents when I saw them recently about letting their son drive on the highway alone and they said, "when the time comes." He is forced to take surface streets everywhere if it is possible, even if it takes him 20-30 minutes longer. Any thoughts on this, people? I think it's absurd and stops him from having a full social life.
All these answers are great and all but...
#1, we don't know where they live (no two cities are alike, and neither are their drivers -- I've lived in enough different cities to easily testify to that),
#2, we don't know this child, and
#3, we aren't the parents.
Not our kid, not our say. It's really that easy. It doesn't matter what I would do with my child. My child, in my city, with my rules is not this child, in their city, with their parents' rules.
About 5 months after she got her license my daughter got a job that required freeway driving. She'd been on freeways and highways before that but that was when she started driving the freeway on a daily basis.
I drove on the freeway during drivers training and with my parents when I had my permit. As far as I remember, I drove on it myself as soon as I got my license.
My dad made me get on the freeway the first time he took me out driving. He said I'd have to get on one day, so I might as well start off with it. I drive on the freeway all the time now.
Around here, 3 lanes in each direction with stores is a local road. We have highways and interstates, both multi lane, 65-70mph speed limits, merges and exit ramps. The driving instructors took my boys out on those interstates and highways as part of their 6 hours of behind-the-wheel. They must have nerves of steel.
My husband was much better about turning over the car to them once they had their permits. He just tossed them the keys.
By the time they got their licenses, they felt ready to handle any road, and they do have excellent driving records.
I didn't drive on my first highway until I absolutely had to, and I had been driving for a couple of years at that point. I was terrified until I realized it wasn't much different than any other road.
I took drivers' ed in early December, got my license beginning of January and was on the interstate (alone) by mid-February. Not during peak times. This was 21 years ago and I can still recall how nervous I felt. All my girlfriends were on the interestate after getting their licenses so it wasn't just my parents. I will say, though, that my parents gave me a cell phone.. back in 1995 they were HUGE and pretty rare for a teenager. It made me feel a lot safer and I had to use it several times before I left for college.
It's going to highly depend on the kid, and other circumstances.
I my case, I was always highly coordinated. Dirt bikes, 4 wheelers, go karts...you name it I was driving it. So when I got my license at age 16.5, I was on the highway within days. I wasn't nervous and pretty much got the hang of driving right away. I bought a V8 Ford Mustang as my first car. Manual transmission, RWD, gobs of horsepower.
Nothing happened. No accidents or any close calls. In fact, i'm 34 and that Mustang is still tucked in my garage. Some good memories of my youth with that car.
Responsibility all depends on the kid. What works for one might not work for another.
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