Teens taking a detour

19.07.10

O n the day she turned 16, Susan Bye said, "I dragged my poor mother out to the driver's license testing place -- I was not waiting." ¶ But when her son Alex turned 16, there was no such sense of urgency. "I was just kind of lazy, I guess," Alex said, "and kind of busy." ¶ Now that Alex, a Minneapolis Southwest High student, is a year away from college, "I'm getting more and more busy, so maybe I should just wait until I turn 18" in January to get the license. ¶ The Minneapolis teenager is far from an anomaly. He and many of his peers are waiting longer to get behind the wheel. Last year, fewer 16- and 17-year-old Minnesotans got licenses than at any time since 1991, according to the Department of Public Safety. ¶ Inertia is hardly the only orange cone on the road to a license. Every aspect of driving is costly. The state's road test is more difficult than it used to be. Teens in the city can ride bikes or take public transportation to many destinations. And some adolescents are simply intimidated about operating such heavy machinery. ¶ "I'm actually scared of driving and cars," said Ariana Wentzel, 18, of St. Paul. "Plus my dad refuses to drive with me, and my mom is just a spaz when it comes to driving." ¶ Wentzel's parents insist that if their children want to drive, they have to pay for insurance, which can be expensive for teens. ¶ The minimum rate for a 16-year-old, said Christe Kress, manager of Minneapolis AAA's insurance agency, would be "about $100 a month, for an occasional operator of an average vehicle." Factors ranging from grades to gender to the parents' insurance score can ratchet up the premium rate.

Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune

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