Cruising toward Oblivion
 

A good short piece discussing some history and current trends among teenagers re: cars. Nothing new. But a different take for its social-historical perspective. WaPo this a.m.: Cruising toward Oblivion.

I'm seeing this in my part of the woods also. I live in a small a town and you would think the younger generation would have to own or borrow their folks car to get around, but a lot of them don't even have a drivers license? The good news is from what I have been seeing is the ones that have interest in cars want a car that gets great fuel mileage, so they can save their money for the next app or smart phone.;)

One too many of them left on the road, Mercedes SUV all over my but for about 2 miles through Williamsburg.

I'm +7 over the limit (25).

regards
mech

I just got my driver license after turning 24 (the minimum legal age to get a driver license in my country is 18), still didn't get a car, and I'm actually considering to get a small motorcycle (between 100 to 250cc) instead.

All three of my kids were driving by themselves shortly after turning 14.5 on school permits(permit at 14, 6 after permit, can get school permit. Last one turns 16 next month so almost done driving him around on weekends.

Cars are different for him, I had to work on my hand me downs once every couple weeks at least. Todays cars are some much more reliable than the 74 Grandville and 67 GMC that were my first hand me down cars that he doesn't need to know much other than how to jump it when it occasionally drains the battery.

He called an hour ago saying a front tire on Stratus was smoking but still had air, guessing he's going to get to learn how to change a caliper, but hoping just the rubber hose clamp rust restricting the brake fluid.

PS: They all started on dirt bikes by 6-7, riding lawn mowers by 12 which I think gave them a good edge on learning cars.

I would never have guessed that from your avatar.
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John Heitmann, a historian at the University of Dayton who studies Americans’ relationship with automobiles: “And the way we live now, especially on the coasts, it’s a bother to own a car."

Says someone from... Ohio? Highway 101 isn't much more than a barrier if you don't have a car.

My first car was a 1974 Grandville too! With a hole in the gas tank.

AKA the carburettor?

Now I see, I should have used "only" instead of "just", but you know, English is not my native language. Well, I'm 25 and have my driving license for almost a year (got it in September 2014, I just don't remember the exact day and am too lazy to open my wallet and check it) and haven't driven more than 4 or 5 times since then, mostly in highway during road trips with my dad.

Anyway, unlike my friends who don't seem to look at fuel-efficiency so seriously and often drive like a raped ape, I have always preferred utility vehicles such as those Jap microvans and the VW Kombi, and my dad says that I drive conservatively.

Yawn. When I was a kid it was only a subset of folks my age who cared about cars. Still is true. Some people loved them and still do, most saw them as appliances. Still do.

What I find cool is how the enthusiast is changing. When I was a teen you needed to which end of the wrench to use. Now that is still important but so is knowing which key to press on the laptop. Next generation will be figuring out how to get more amps through the system, strapping larger gauge wires on there. Should be interesting.