When did you start driving?

ffejsGirl · August 2010

I started driving when I was 8 yo. I'm a farm girl. The first time I was following my dad (he was driving a tractor) with my 6 yo sister riding with me. I couldn't stop in time and hit the back of the tractor... Honestly what was my dad thinking? I could legally drive at 14 with my school permit, to and from school events. I was a horrible, reckless, irresponsible driver until recently. I blame part of that on the fact that I started so young I took it for granted and didn't learn the privledge and responsibility that comes with driving.

So I'm wondering when did you start driving, legally and illegally? When do you hope to start teaching LO to drive? (I know this is a long way off, unless you're my parents

I plan to wait to LO can get a legal permit.

alisonjoy80 · August 2010

15 with a permit (with parents in the car at all times) and 16 with a license.

izzourclue · August 2010

I grew up in SD. Got my learner's permit at 14, license at 15, unrestricted driving at 16. You can get a license at 14 there though.

Molluskwrangler · August 2010

I was driving at like 13 in the stone quarry my dad owned, and the backhoe....legally I think 15 with a permit, and 16 had my license.

*sallymad* · August 2010

My Dad would let me sit on his lap and drive down our dirt road on a pretty regular basis starting at about age 7 or so. But never alone. And I wasn't allowed near most of the farm equipment. I was a pretty wild kid so I think he knew what would happen if he opened that door, lol.

After that I had my permit when I was 15 then my license when I turned 16.

wmramsel · August 2010

I, like you, am a farm girl. I was driving my dad's F-250 stick shift at 10. But only in the fields, and only with him in the truck sitting next to me, and as I got a little older, on other occasions with him in the back or on the trailer (hay, hunting, etc.). My dad didn't let us drive on the road until we were old enough, and only did it legally. Except one time my brother had to tow the car home with the truck when he was like 13. However, we did not drive with each other in the truck without my father or mother in the cab with us. Then I started legally when I was 15 with a permit.

Honestly, I think I drove much better when I got my permit and drove on the road having the experience in the fields. I was comfortable behind the wheel and didn't freak out about things that my fellow driver's ed drivers did. I got an A in drivers ed I also already knew how much pressure and when to apply the brakes, etc.

mjlewis101 · August 2010

2 yrs ago! Never had funds for a car/insurance/gas/parking in HS or University and then I lived in a big city where parking was waaaaay to expensive and inconvenient compared to taking the subway. So until I moved back to my home town, I never really needed or missed having one!

I'm glad I waited. I'm very glad I have it now since in a town like this you really need it for the independance! I'm a good driver now and more responsible/ aware of what's going on out there on the road than I would have been and (for me) driving in the BIG city would have been a horrible way for to learn!

carrie52280 · August 2010

In NY you can get your permit at 16, but I was not able to get mine until I was almost 17 and that was with an adult. I got my license about 6 months after my permit. I never drove before I got my permit, my parents were way too strict for that. I think I may have helped my dad steer the car in a parking lot a few times when I was like 6 or something but that was about it.

girllennon · August 2010

I didn't learn how to drive until I was 27 (no joke). My brother, on the other hand, drove illegally when he was 8, but it was in an open field behind my dad's shop. He also drove go-karts in his early teens before getting his official driving permit at at 16.

My DH was very strict about driving when it came to his then 16-year-old daughter (she's 20 now). He taught her everything he knew and knock on wood, she's never had an accident nor has she had any tickets either. She doesn't use her cell phone in the car, doesn't allow her friends to distract her and yes, they even pay for gas if they need a ride.

I know DH will be teaching the LO how to drive!

Fergie+1 · August 2010

I was a late driver, too. Got my license at 21. Yes, it sucked. As teens my sister ruined it for us by stupidly riding in the back of a friend's truck- a huge no-no for my dad. So my dad refused to let us drive. And then, after I enlisted, it was a matter of having the time to go home and get my license- I wanted a FL license so people would know I'm not from GA!!

DaniGirl0517 · August 2010

I think 14 w/o a permit but it was just in an empty parking lot or on a secluded road with my dad instructing. Then he got a bad feeling and it stopped until I got my permit at 15 and license at 16. I was never irresponsible with it though (unlike my brother, eek) and whatever was legal under the conditions I followed.

DH started driving probably around 8 or so too, tractors around the farm. When he was 12 and they had to move tractors he'd drive his dad's truck behind the tractor, they never got in trouble but the story was they didn't see why he could legally drive a tractor that is WAY larger and harder to maneuver than a truck but couldn't drive the truck. If he wreaked something with the tractor it would be serious injury and the tractor is $$$$$ where as the truck wouldn't do as much damage and would cost much less. He didn't start driving alone though until permit at 15 license at 16.

I_Fell_In_Love_With_Love · August 2010

My mom taught my oldest brother how to drive when he was 9... He used to take the car to go to friends' houses that lived within a mile. there's no dirt roads around here or anything. I guess my mom realized how wreckless it was to teach him to drive so young because she sent me and my other brother to driving school when we were 15.

midnight*sun · August 2010

Well, my family was a little disfunctional. I was taking my LB & LS to daycare when I was 11. Yep, driving. I guess the daycare didn't think anything of it because I've always been exceptionally tall for my age and didn't start looking my age until recently. When I was 12 I had people asking me if I'd chosen a college.... Legally I started at 16.

sandylou · August 2010

I started driving at 15 before I got my permit. My sister would let me drive to school so she could do her makeup in the car.

For my LO it will probably be whatever the law is...we'll see. That's so not on my radar right now.

starsmaycollide · August 2010

I learned when I got my permit at 15. I drove alone at 16. Since then, they have changed the age limit, and I think it's great. I was NOT a good driver at 16, I needed more than a few months practice and the crappy driver's ed course. LO won't learn until he is legally old enough to with his permit.

pawcall · August 2010

I got my permit when I was 16. I was allowed to drive only with my driver's ed instructor. I got my license at 17 and then was occasionally allowed to borrow my mom's or grandma's car. Then I went to college, didn't drive for 4 years except when visiting Grandma (I would spend summers with her and drive her around all over the island). I bought my own car when I was 21, a few days before I graduated college. It was only then that I started driving regularly.

ekmebm · August 2010

lissydee:
I grew up in Upstate NY. You couldnt get your permit til you were 16, so I got it then and started driving. 7 months after my birthday I took my drivers test, in the middle of the snowy winter.

All of this exactly. Where did you grow up? I'm just outside Syracuse.

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