# Is 'Student Driver' code for something? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 29, 2024, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-student-driver-code-for-something/1000931 "2024-04-29T16:40:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-student-driver-code-for-something/1000931/1 "2024-04-29T16:40:00Z")
I have seen bumper stickers cropping up in Colorado saying “Student Driver”. Not only are the drivers clearly not a student driver, even if they were, why put a bumper sticker on your car. If you are really teaching your kid to drive then use a “student driver” magnet while they are driving. I saw a car that had both the sticker and magnet version on his car and that started me thinking, is ‘student driver’ a code like ‘Let’s go Brandon’? ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-student-driver-code-for-something/1000931/2 "2024-04-29T16:42:35Z")
Huh. Never heard of any such code. We put the magnet on our car when our son was learning to drive. No way would I have put a bumper sticker on the car (we don’t put ANY bumper stickers on our vehicles, really). Quite possibly the parents simply forgot to remove the magnet when kid was not driving. Dunno about the sticker. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-student-driver-code-for-something/1000931/3 "2024-04-29T16:44:58Z")
I see these a lot in Maryland too. I think some are on cars owned by driving schools. Obviously, some of the time these cars are going to be driven by someone other than a driving student. Never heard of any kind of code behind it. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-student-driver-code-for-something/1000931/4 "2024-04-29T16:47:03Z")
My daughter took driving lessons from an actual driving school. Every car that showed up for her lessons had Student Driver stickers on it. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-student-driver-code-for-something/1000931/5 "2024-04-29T16:51:01Z")
I’ve seen a lot of these around Chicagoland too and have wondered. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-student-driver-code-for-something/1000931/6 "2024-04-29T16:54:48Z")
The consensus on Reddit seems to imply it’s mostly for laughs. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-student-driver-code-for-something/1000931/7 "2024-04-29T17:13:23Z")
Seems likely, the idea is amusing. Another use is possible, If I was going to put a sticker on my car at all I might choose one that motivates other drivers to give my car a wide berth. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-student-driver-code-for-something/1000931/8 "2024-04-29T17:20:29Z")
I think there’s also a small market for those stickers from Ear, Nose, and Throat doctors who want to advertise their proficiency in bed. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-student-driver-code-for-something/1000931/9 "2024-04-29T17:31:04Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Seems likely, the idea is amusing. Another use is possible, If I was going to put a sticker on my car at all I might choose one that motivates other drivers to give my car a wide berth. - “They call me Baby Driver” ---
**Author:** ![Redcanoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b487fb/32.png) [@Redcanoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redcanoe)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-student-driver-code-for-something/1000931/10 "2024-04-29T17:38:34Z")
I see them a lot here in Oregon. I figured they were using the stickers to excuse their poor driving. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-student-driver-code-for-something/1000931/11 "2024-04-29T17:49:22Z")
My impression is that bumper stickers are hard to remove (so the stickers could well have been on there a long time). What’s everyone’s experience with removing bumper stickers? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-student-driver-code-for-something/1000931/12 "2024-04-29T18:03:24Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > Ear, Nose, and Throat doctors who want to advertise their proficiency in bed. Took me a second. 🍻 ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-student-driver-code-for-something/1000931/13 "2024-04-29T18:03:59Z")
The stickers and/or decals show up approximately how often I’d imagine them showing up for actual student drivers. Perhaps even less. Maybe a lot of people start to drive without such lessons or I just don’t notice the stickers very much. I _have_ occasionally seen stickers that look like the driver deliberately had it on despite not being a student. But they don’t rise above the noise of legitimate-_seeming_ stickers. So I imagine that most of the stickers are actual student drivers. I could be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-student-driver-code-for-something/1000931/14 "2024-04-29T19:04:29Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > My impression is that bumper stickers are hard to remove (so the stickers could well have been on there a long time). What’s everyone’s experience with removing bumper stickers? It varies. Some are made of cheap materials, and after a relatively short time outdoors, the sticker material becomes weak and brittle and the adhesive becomes really stubborn, and it’s a major pain in the ass to scrape the plastic off bit by bit and then get the adhesive dissolved and cleaned up. Better quality stickers peel off nicely even after many years and leave minimal adhesive residue. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-student-driver-code-for-something/1000931/15 "2024-04-29T19:19:52Z")
How do you tell if they are stickers vs. magnets? We had “student driver” magnets when we were teaching our kid and they look just like a bumper sticker. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-student-driver-code-for-something/1000931/16 "2024-04-29T19:29:40Z")
We used the bumper sticker when my teens were learning to drive. Magnets weren’t a thing yet. Even if they were, there’s _no way_ I’d be taking it on and off every time the kids wanted to drive. Once, I was parallel parking the car in an extremely difficult, tight spot on a hill with no curb and a steep dropoff, at dusk. I managed to do it in a couple tries - fairly well, I thought. When I got out, there was a man walking his dog, watching me, who said, “New driver, eh?” It wasn’t until later I realized he was reading aloud the bumper sticker. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-student-driver-code-for-something/1000931/17 "2024-04-29T19:39:41Z")
This thread makes me want a bumper magnet that says “student passenger.” ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-student-driver-code-for-something/1000931/18 "2024-04-29T19:44:02Z")
A while ago one driving school would have their students practice parallel parking in front of the park by my house. Those cars had “Student Driver” stickers on them, and the ones I’ve seen on the road all seem to have had student drivers in them. Never seen a magnet one. It kind of reminds me of the old “Baby on Board” magnets which people did not remove even when there were no kids in the car. And I saw one that was a sticker which was especially stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-student-driver-code-for-something/1000931/19 "2024-04-29T20:01:53Z")
Kind of a side note: just because someone looks older than their teens does not necessarily mean they aren’t a novice driver. My mother didn’t learn until she was 28. If I were going to put some sign-type object on my car, I would definitely use a magnet so it could be removed easily if I changed my mind about it. They do sell sheets of magnet material at craft stores and such that one could easily mount a sticker on and cut to shape. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-student-driver-code-for-something/1000931/20 "2024-04-29T20:14:04Z")
I don’t remember seeing it on any car that I thought wasn’t used for teaching students. The current law incentivizes using a licensed driving school for new drivers so it is far from uncommon. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-student-driver-code-for-something/1000931.md?page=2)