More teenagers are choosing smart phones over cars

[Initech]

Who needs a car? Smartphones are driving teens' social lives

Fewer 16-year-olds are rushing to get their driver's licenses today than 30 years ago as smartphones and computers keep adolescents connected to one another.

Given a choice between a new Toyota Corolla or the latest iPhone, 16-year-old Allison Katz of Irvine says that's an easy one.

She'd take the phone.

Texting drives her social life. She doesn't have a driver's license and hasn't rushed to get one.

"I mostly stay near my house except for soccer practice, and then Mom or Dad drives," Allison said.

It's enough to keep an auto executive awake at night.

Thirty years ago, nearly half of 16-year-olds had a driver's license, their passport to independence. By 2010 that figure had dropped to 28%, according to research from the University of Michigan.

The cultural shift is largely the result of technology that keeps teens connected to one another and the coolest new stuff without ever getting into a car. All the adolescent staples — music, movies, clothes, books — are available with a mouse click or smartphone swipe.

http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-autos-teen-driver-20130316-1,0,7422833.story

Albert Einstein: "I fear the day when the technology overlaps with our humanity. The world will only have a generation of idiots."

[Sherman A1]

1. Makes perfect sense to me

nothing like seeing a group of folks sitting together all on their phones checking email, Facebook, Twitter or alike.

"Alone Together", I believe was the name of the book or article.

[Paul E Ester]

6. "Alone Together" - sounds like DU..nt

[Honeycombe8]

2. That's mind boggling. I don't know if I'd want to cont. to chauffeur my kids around,

once they reached mid-teens. Then again, no car payments or insurance, so the phone's cheaper. And walking is healthier, if the kids walk.

[Initech]

11. True, it's kind of a damned if you do damned if you don't situation.

[MADem]

3. The younger generation do a lot of "visiting" via skype and computer--they don't need to get out and

about. With an internet connection, there's always "something to do."

It's a far cry from the old days, when "Go outside and play" was the name of the game.

[Ron Obvious]

4. Not necessarily a win for the environment, though.

We're raising a whole indoors generation that is far less likely to spend time outdoors and value nature and wilderness when they're old enough to vote.

At least, that's my fear.

[TwilightGardener]

5. Neither of my kids are that obsessed with driving. My older son was almost 18 before

he upgraded from a permit to a license, and my younger son is 17 and still on a permit. They're not obsessed with their smart phones, but they like them. Kids don't socialize in person as much as us oldsters did--my sons can play video games and Skype with their friends without having to have a car, which requires a pesky JOB and/or gas money and insurance money.

[olddots]

7. Is it normal to feel sorry for younger generations ?

I feel so sorry for my kids who are adults now to have been born into this waste land .

[Ron Obvious]

13. I do..

I often feel sorry for kids today for so many reasons. Their freedoms are already so restricted by neurotic overparenting, and now they're voluntarily incarcerating themselves too.

My father never tired of telling me lucky I was to have all that I did and to not have to suffer his childhood of poverty and deprivation.

I guess we boomers had the best, free-est childhoods ever!

[kattycat]

8. The march toward "brains in a vat" continues

[Apophis]

9. Wow. Really?

If those teens got a part-time job, they could have both.

[SoCalDem]

10. Our youngest did not drive until he was 18..by his choice

He was too busy to have a job (club soccer year round and 3 varsity sports), and all of his friends had cars, so he saw no reason for the added expense .. We agreed.. Saved us 2 years of aggravation and a lot of money.

In past years "the car" was the one place where teens could be away from adult prying-eyes, could crank up "their music", and had freedom to go where their parents might not have approved

[Initech]

12. I didn't get my license until I was 18 either.

But then again we didn't have smart phones until 2008 either.