Tension with Mother

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^^ Thanks, that's really interesting... I can't believe you get to drive at just 14, though! That would've been a dream-come-true as a kid! :)
 
tiny said:
^^ Thanks, that's really interesting... I can't believe you get to drive at just 14, though! That would've been a dream-come-true as a kid! :)
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But only with a parent! Haha. And your parent has to take you to get your permit, so your parent has to be on board. I didn't mention, but at age 18 anyone can go get a license, with a driving test.


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One reason the driving age in the states is low is the extreme lack of public transportation in most areas. I grew up in New York City where the minimum driving age is 18 (even if you have a licence from another state) and I did not learn to drive until I was almost 19. My mother never learnt how to drive and went to work every day on the subway. In dense areas with good public transportation the need to learn how to drive before completing high school is not as critical.

That said, teen drivers have a much higher rate of accidents than older drivers. They have much better reaction times, but are more easily distracted (in some areas there are rules about teens driving with other teens in the car to minimize distractions), and most difficult driving situations are new to them. The pervasiveness of cell phones and the younger drivers addiction to them and texting does not help.

My reaction time is not as good as when I was younger, but I have driven all over the U.S. and in other countries (and even in the UK, South Africa. and Australia where they drive on the other side of the road) and the back of my brain has all those experiences to reference when some thing happens on the road.

It is hard for many Europeans, who live in densely populated areas with good public transportation to recognize how different the U.S. is (especially if you are not in NYC, Chicago, or SF) from their transpiration norm. In some of the areas where the driving age is very low, kids learnt to drive a tractor on their family's farm (very different world than us urban people who know food comes packaged in a store).
 
I started driving tractors and trucks around the farm at about 12. Got my learners permit at 15.5 and my drivers license on my 16th birthday. Some of my friends took drivers education. Usually during the summer between their freshman and sophomore year. They had cars with left and right foot controls. The instructor would ride in the passenger seat while one of 3 students took turns driving.


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Recalculating. I only need to lose 2-4" to fit into medium diapers!
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Aiming for ‪27-29" waist and 30-32" hips ‬.


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In the late '60s, my New Jersey public high school had several driving simulators with optional stick shift. I could never get the stick shift to work as the simulator kept stalling out. Until this year when my hip osteoporosis got bad, I had only owned stick shift cars (eight), lol. We also had on-road training and I received my license at age 17. My favorite driver training pet peeve is that driver training does not show drivers once off of the road how to get back onto the road without over-correcting. I read about over-correction accidents occurring all of the time.
 
tiny said:
No way. So the taxpayer pays for kids to learn how to drive at school? Huh. That must cost a fortune in taxes. It can't be good for encouraging people to use public transport or cycle. :-/

So... how does it work in practice? Are kids taken out of school individually with a driving instructor, or are there a fleet of cars and instructors so that all the students go out at the same time? Or is it an optional thing that students do in their spare time in "after school" sessions...?
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Not really, everyone has to take (and pay for) driving classes before they can get a learners permit. Paying for that as part of school taxes isn't going to cost any more than paying for it individually. Either way it gets paid somehow. Having it as part of a taxed program we all pay into, just makes sure everyone gets the same and equal chance.

Most schools offer the classes as an after school program (as was mine). I do know that some schools will offer it at regular class times, but only if all other graduation requirements are already being met, and that each individual kid can afford to "loose" a class period without jeopardising their graduation. There was a class of about 12 of us at once. We started the first 1.5 months in a class room, for about an hour each time, learning all the rules of the road. After that we switched to actually driving a donated cars the school had for another 1.5 months. There were three students per one instructor/car. We started in the parking lot taking turns with the basic stop/go, and slowly upgraded to an obstacle course, before finally hitting the road. We all got a minimum number of hours required, in many different situations (including snow for me). Then when we graduated from the class we got a temporary permit that required an adult driver be there with us whenever we were behind the wheel. After 6 months of that, we took another test and got our actual licenses.

And no, it isn't good for encouraging public transportation or cycling. Our public transport busses kind of suck, so most everyone needs a car to get around the US.
 
Slomo said:
Not really, everyone has to take (and pay for) driving classes before they can get a learners permit.
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Not true, at least not in my state when I did it. I know they've changed some things since then, but you just needed to be at least 16, pass a doctor's physical, and pass a test on a computer to get a learner's permit.
 
KimbaWolfNagihiko said:
Not true, at least not in my state when I did it. I know they've changed some things since then, but you just needed to be at least 16, pass a doctor's physical, and pass a test on a computer to get a learner's permit.
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That was the same as here. You had to be fourteen and pass the written (computerized) test. Then you could start training.


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Work on getting Full time, get out of there & then save up for a Diaper Kingdom!! <3
 
Travis9800 said:
Work on getting Full time, get out of there & then save up for a Diaper Kingdom!! <3
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Yes!


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KimbaWolfNagihiko said:
Not true, at least not in my state when I did it. I know they've changed some things since then, but you just needed to be at least 16, pass a doctor's physical, and pass a test on a computer to get a learner's permit.
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WTF? I heard Florida was like that some 20+ years ago (I live there now, but grew up and was licensed in Michigan). No wonder so many drivers don't know so many rules of the road. Heck, it seems a lot outright forget how to drive in the rain (like on the interstate, emergency flashers on, and doing 20mph in the far left lane during a light shower).

Ps, sorry for sidetracking the thread.
 
Slomo said:
Not really, everyone has to take (and pay for) driving classes before they can get a learners permit. Paying for that as part of school taxes isn't going to cost any more than paying for it individually. Either way it gets paid somehow. Having it as part of a taxed program we all pay into, just makes sure everyone gets the same and equal chance.
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Sure, if everyone drives. I'm just surprised that people pay taxes in the US to pay for kids to learn to drive, when there's so much resistance to paying tax for healthcare. :-/

Slomo said:
And no, it isn't good for encouraging public transportation or cycling. Our public transport busses kind of suck, so most everyone needs a car to get around the US.
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If fewer people drove, there would be more demand for public transport, more customers, and more investment in improving public transportation. But I totally get that many places in the US are quite remote, so yeah... I guess that wouldn't work except in big cities/conurbations.
 
LeafiniteLittle said:
My mother is aware that I like diapers, but doesn't really accept or tolerate it anymore (I started wearing once or twice a month in December). She politely, but firmly, tells me to "not get into that habit [of using diapers]".

However, I am an adult (F/20) working on getting a part time job. All the money spent on diapers (previously just one pack) has been my own. She will most likely never understand this part of me, not that I need her to, but I want her to respect my decisions even though she doesn't always approve, before I buy more.

Thanks,
Leaf


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you're an adult, 20, working on getting a part time job?

Anything about that sound wrong to you?

Is it time to maybe get a FULL time job and get your own place?
 
MassIncon said:
you're an adult, 20, working on getting a part time job?

Anything about that sound wrong to you?

Is it time to maybe get a FULL time job and get your own place?
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And maybe it's time for you to read things more closely before you post?

OP has stated she has cerebral palsy and receives SSDI.
 
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KimbaWolfNagihiko said:
And maybe it's time for you to read things more closely before you post?

OP has stated she has cerebral palsy and receives SSDI.
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It says that nowhere is Post #1 which I was responding to.
 
MassIncon said:
It says that nowhere is Post #1 which I was responding to.
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Well unless you know a person's situation don't jump to conclusions so fast. You never know what issues they could be facing - which if you had gone through the thread more you would have found out.
 
photogirl said:
I'm not sure where the other poster is from, but I live in Iowa and here there is no class in high school. You (or your parents) have to pay about $300 to a private company for a hybrid driving program. It's 30 hours of classroom education and 10 hours of driving instruction.

You have to pass tests for both in order to pass "drivers education." You need a 70% on each test to pass. If you do not pass the class, then you have to take a driving test at the DMV (department of motor vehicles) when you go to get your drivers license.

Here in Iowa, and these laws vary state to state, you are eligible for a drivers permit at age 14. That means you have to have a parent or adult over 25 with written permission from your parent in the passengers seat while you drive. At age 15, if you have successfully passed drivers ed and have had your permit for six months, you are eligible for a "school permit" that allows you to drive to and from school alone in addition to your drivers permit.
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Interesting... I also live in Iowa. Here, all the private and public schools have drivers ed classes. You have to have your permit to enroll, and you can get that at age 16. IIRC you can go to the DOT to get your full license at age 18 (after passing the DOT tests of course) OR at a younger age if you present your certificate of completion in the driver's ed course. (I still have mine in my keepsakes drawer!) Kids here being anxious to get their license, they'll take the class to shave a year or so off the wait, and this creates better trained drivers since a huge majority of those with licenses took and passed the class. Much better than someone that just waited till they turned 18 and managed to pass the driving and written DOT tests!

My school had driving simulators - you'd laugh at how old they were, but they worked! (this was in 1988, and the sims were maybe 1960?) Other drivers ed classes from other schools would come use our simulators if they didn't have their own. The teacher had a master station in the back of the class where he could see very basic indicators from our stations, like brakes, signal, engine on, and speed. He was always yelling at kids for playing around and seeing how high they could get the spedometer up to. (mine went ver 60) Our school also had one training car, the kind that had been fitted with a passenger brake and engine kill switch, and had "drivers education" warning signs on it. Some people stayed clear of us, others really didn't care. We only had the one car so we got one 15 minute run on it once a week. They encouraged us to drive our family car using our learner's permit (and an adult in the passenger seat of course) as often as possible to get more practice though.

There's the other "iowa" factor too. Farms. I live in a city, but the rural folk have often been driving since they were as young as 12. Law says you can drive at any age as long as you're on private property and not public roads. But those kids have been driving the pickup, the tractor, the 4 wheeler, the skid loader, since they were maybe 14-15 usually. They're very comfortable behind the wheel and just need to learn the rules of the road. For them, getting their license is lackluster experience, because they've been "driving" already for years.
 
bambinod said:
Interesting... I also live in Iowa. Here, all the private and public schools have drivers ed classes. You have to have your permit to enroll, and you can get that at age 16. IIRC you can go to the DOT to get your full license at age 18 (after passing the DOT tests of course) OR at a younger age if you present your certificate of completion in the driver's ed course. (I still have mine in my keepsakes drawer!) Kids here being anxious to get their license, they'll take the class to shave a year or so off the wait, and this creates better trained drivers since a huge majority of those with licenses took and passed the class. Much better than someone that just waited till they turned 18 and managed to pass the driving and written DOT tests!

My school had driving simulators - you'd laugh at how old they were, but they worked! (this was in 1988, and the sims were maybe 1960?) Other drivers ed classes from other schools would come use our simulators if they didn't have their own. The teacher had a master station in the back of the class where he could see very basic indicators from our stations, like brakes, signal, engine on, and speed. He was always yelling at kids for playing around and seeing how high they could get the spedometer up to. (mine went ver 60) Our school also had one training car, the kind that had been fitted with a passenger brake and engine kill switch, and had "drivers education" warning signs on it. Some people stayed clear of us, others really didn't care. We only had the one car so we got one 15 minute run on it once a week. They encouraged us to drive our family car using our learner's permit (and an adult in the passenger seat of course) as often as possible to get more practice though.

There's the other "iowa" factor too. Farms. I live in a city, but the rural folk have often been driving since they were as young as 12. Law says you can drive at any age as long as you're on private property and not public roads. But those kids have been driving the pickup, the tractor, the 4 wheeler, the skid loader, since they were maybe 14-15 usually. They're very comfortable behind the wheel and just need to learn the rules of the road. For them, getting their license is lackluster experience, because they've been "driving" already for years.
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Like I said in my post, I know things were different in the past but as far as I know that is the current situation. I know the ages are correct. I graduated high school three years ago and grew up in the DSM metro area.


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