We as teenagers want the freedom to just go and about driving where we want to go or where we have too. However, we can’t just get our parents car and leave. For people who have a conscious, they don’t want any legal troubles, but they want to get their license as soon as possible. People who drive illegally they might be unaware of the consequences and they’re just eager to drive and just be free.

For me I started driving because my dad felt that it was already time for me to start driving. My dad took me out to drive once, my mom twice, and my sister was the one who trusted me more (even though I went the wrong way on the bridge; luckily there wasn’t any traffic). I feel when my sister let me drive I learned more than when my parents took me. My sister actually let me get into traffic, unlike my parents who only let me do circles around the block. My parents were okay with me driving because I could drive them where they wanted to. My dad especially stopped wanting me to drive because he didn’t want to deal with the consequences if I got pulled over.

Some parents just don’t care and they’ll buy you a new car and just let you drive just about anywhere, but in order to drive while being 15 ½ to 17 ½ you need a driver’s permit. Many students prefer to ignore the law and just drive without a permit. However, what they don’t know is that if a police officer catches them, their car can be impounded for up to 30 days and even a fine.

I didn’t want to wait till I’m 18 to drive because I enjoy driving. It’s sort of a relief from everything else in life. It’s also a privilege, and it comes in handy. If there’s an emergency then you could drive to where you need to. For example, if you need to be somewhere for school, you could drive there, or just an emergency where your parents can’t drive, you can take over for them. Compared to my friend Marlene, her parents are strict, her parents don’t give her a lot of freedom so for her it wouldn’t be worth it. In my friend’s case school is already stressful enough, so she doesn’t want to add more stress to her life.

When talking to people who want a license, they tell you that they didn’t have to do the things you have to do for a permit. For example, when getting your permit to be even eligible to apply for one you have to complete drivers’ ed. For this you need to find a place that provides drivers’ ed that is approved by the DMV, the drivers’ ed course is about 30 hours, covering multiple subjects from conditions of the read to motor vehicular laws. The course is approximately $25, not including if you want audio files or practice quizzes for when you take your test to get your permit. Even before taking the test, you have to log at least 50 hours behind the wheel, 10 of which have to be at night.

My expectations while taking the drivers ed course was that it was going to be easy and probably short. In reality, it took me about a week to finish it due to school, homework, and other errands that I had to do. The class I took was 15 sections and each section had about 4-6 parts to it. Each part could take anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour. After each part there is a 5 question quiz with a 5 minute limit.

Even after all this, there are still restrictions. To start off, you can’t drive between midnight to 5 in the morning. Second, and most important for most people, is that you can’t drive by yourself or drive friends around. Which is the reason why most students get their driver’s permit, to drive their friends around and just to drive by yourself where you want to go. Which in my opinion doesn’t seem worth it since that’s what you want your permit for to drive where you want to go whenever you want to go, but you need someone older than 25 with a driver’s license to accompany you, and someone is not always available to accompany you. If you want to drive around with your friends you need your parent to go with you which sucks.

Most people would agree with me that getting your driver’s permit sucks, especially since you don’t want to drive your parents around everywhere you go. However, if you want to be able to drive around and not get fined or get your car taken away, and driving your parent where you go doesn’t bother you, then it’s sort of worth it. But if you’re younger than 17 ½ but older than 17, then you should wait till you’re 17 ½, so you don’t have to pay for the drivers’ education course.

To get a drivers’ license, it’s easier if you don’t have to take drivers’ ed because all you have to do is pass the written test, the road test, and provide proof of identity.

Getting your permit before your license isn’t worth it because you have to pay for the actual class and if you get the physical class it’s more expensive than the online class. I don’t regret taking the class because one, I have some background information compared to someone who didn’t take the class and two, I get to drive without the worry that I might get pulled over and get the car taken away.

By Isael Melchor