The Reasons for the Recent Decline in Young Driver Licensing in the United States

Abstract

Objective: This survey examined why a substantial percentage of young adults currently do not have a driver's license and the future plans of this group concerning obtaining a license.

Method: A questionnaire was developed to examine several issues related to an individual's decision not to obtain a driver's license. An online survey was conducted, yielding useable responses from 618 persons aged 18 to 39 without a driver's license.

Results: The top 8 reasons for not having a driver's license were as follows: (1) too busy or not enough time to get a driver's license (determined by personal priorities), (2) owning and maintaining a vehicle is too expensive, (3) able to get transportation from others, (4) prefer to bike or walk, (5) prefer to use public transportation, (6) concerned about how driving impacts the environment, (7) able to communicate and/or conduct business online instead, and (8) disability/medical/vision problems. Of the respondents, 22% indicated that they plan to never obtain a driver's license. On the other hand, 69% expect to get a driver's license within the next 5 years. Young adults without a driver's license—in comparison with the general population of the same age—tend to have less education and higher unemployment. However, the present study was not designed to investigate whether there is a causal relationship or the direction of the effect if there were such a relationship.

Keywords:

• driver's licenses
• driver age
• economic factors
• Internet usage

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Sustainable Worldwide Transportation (http://www.umich.edu/~umtriswt).