Percentage of Ohio teen drivers falling

A graduated training program may be a reason for the drop.

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1:04 AM Monday, January 30, 2012

By Dave Larsen

Staff Writer

The number of teens getting their driver’s license has declined in recent years, reflecting a national trend, according to a JournalNews analysis of state Bureau of Motor Vehicles data.

Ohio’s graduated driver’s license program, fewer available jobs for young people and the availability of virtual contact through technology were cited as possible reasons for the decline.

“The auto industry is looking at it very, very carefully,” said Dave Cole, chairman emeritus of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich.

The number of Ohio licensed drivers ages 16 and 17 fell nearly 9 percent from 2006 to 2010, according to BMV data. The number of 18-year-old licensed drivers fell 4.7 percent during the same five-year period.

In the same time period, Ohio saw a slight increase in 19-year-old licensed drivers and a 3.6 percent increase in 20-year-old licensed drivers.

“We are getting more 18-year-olds than we did previously,” while the number of 16- and 17-year-olds has declined, said Sharon Fife, president of the D & D Driving School and the Driving School Association of the Americas.

A University of Michigan study found that a lower proportion of young people have a driver’s license today compared to their counterparts in the early 1980s.

About 87 percent of 19-year-olds in 1983 had their licenses, but in 2008 that percentage fell to about 75 percent, the study said.

Other teen driving groups also declined proportionally over the 25-year period, with 18-year-olds falling from 80 percent in 1983 to 65 percent in 2008; 17-year-olds decreasing from 69 percent to 50 percent; and 16-year-olds slipping from 46 percent to 31 percent.

“One of the challenges in the future is going to be getting young people to get in cars,” said John Heitmann, a history professor who teaches a course called “The Automobile and American Life.” He is also the author of a book by that name.

The study found that the number of licensed drivers over age 40 has increased as a percentage of both their population and total licensed drivers. In 2008, people age 70 and older composed the largest group of drivers on the road.

“For the older person, the license is that statement that you are still a functional and valuable member of society,” Heitmann said.

Population demographic shifts don’t appear to be a big factor. Ohio’s population increased 1.6 percent from 2000 to 2010, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. The number of people under age 18 in Ohio declined 5.5 percent over that 10-year period.

The total number of licensed drivers in Ohio has remained at about 7.5 million over the last decade, Ohio Department of Public Safety officials said.

The Michigan study suggests that teens don’t want to escape their parents as much as previous generations, and instead they socialize through texting and social media such as Facebook, Heitmann said. “They have other means to escape rather than using cars,” he said.

Heitmann said the inability of young people to find jobs because of the economy in recent years also may be part of the reason they are holding off on getting their licenses.

Fife attributed much of the decline to Ohio’s graduated license law that went into effect in April 2007.

The law requires temporary permit holders to be at least 15½ years old before they are eligible for a probationary license, and people under age 18 must complete a driver’s education course with 24 hours of classroom instruction and eight hours of behind-the-wheel driving. They also must drive at least 50 hours, including 10 at night, over six months with a parent or guardian.

“Once they are 18, there is no requirement,” Fife said.

The number of people under age 18 in Ohio who have taken driver’s education dropped 1.9 percent from 100,843 in 2008 to 98,871 in 2011, according to Department of Public Safety data.

Jill Wiemer waited until she was 18 to get her driver’s license. The Middletown student said she didn’t get one because her parents could not purchase her a vehicle.

“Without a car, there wasn’t much of a reason for me to get my license. I hope to make enough in my job to buy my own,” she said.

Kaitlin Kearns is motivated to get her driver’s license because it means more freedom. “My parents don’t have to take me everywhere that I want to go all the time,” she said.

Kearns is taking a driver’s education course, but not all of her friends are so inclined. “They just don’t want to sit through all the classes,” she said.

Given the social nature of the average person, transportation will still be required to move people from one place to another, Cole said.

“We may not have the number of cars per population that we have had in the past, but with the geographic dispersion of our people there still isn’t much choice for most of the country but a car,” he said.

Teen drivers continued on A3

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