No driver's license? Report, bretheren!

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m 35 and have no license-- never had. Don’t like driving. Don’t even live in Manhattan. Just me and a bike and the bus. I intend to keep it this way as long as I can. You develop different standards of ‘convenient’ and you just run your life a bit differently.

So other licenseless adults-- how have you gotten away with it? Do you feel like a freak, or what? Admitting you don’t have a license to many people is like admitting to being an ex-convict or that you’re sexually attracted to badgers or that you take Haldol every morning or something.

(full disclosure-- the S.O. can drive, and we own a vehicle, but it only moves once every three weeks or so, for trips longer than 20 miles and such, but it’s there for long trips, moving, and emergencies.)

2

Steve Carrel, is that you? :slight_smile:
Oh, and what do you use for ID?

3

I’m confused you do have sex with badgers right? I mean not doing so would be really strange.

4

I’ve never had one, even back when I was able-bodied. I ran into a fence-post during my driving test back when I was 16 (MANY years ago) before I even made it out of the parking lot of the driver testing place, and never bothered trying again. Now that I’m paraplegic, people have asked me why I don’t get a car with hand controls (and sometimes even go so far as to try to describe them to me - I already know exactly how they work). I see no point. I get around just fine in taxis, LRT (i.e. subway), and disabled transit. If I get desperate some day I’ll try out our low-floor buses which are wheelchair accessible but which I’ve never bothered trying. I also mooch rides from friends if several of us are going out somewhere.

As a result, I don’t pay car insurance, I don’t pay for a car license, I don’t pay for parking, I don’t spend umpteen thousands of dollars every few years for a new vehicle, I don’t have to worry about it breaking down or being stolen, and I have lots of incentive for getting exercise!

5

I’m 48, and I’ve never had a license. I lived in Hamilton and Toronto, which had fairly exemplary transit systems. I could get anywhere I wanted to go on public transit - buses, the GO Train. You could get on a HSR bus in Hamilton, transfer to Burlington, use the same transfer to go to Oakville, get the same transfer re-punched and go to the Toronto boundary, and get on a TTC streetcar. For one bus fare, and a couple of hours. So I never really needed to drive. Besides, I was poor and could never have afforded a car anyway.

I don’t like driving. It makes me nervous, and that’s the worst kind of driver. My wife has a car. She takes me where I want to go. When we think of all the money it saves us because I don’t also have a car and the extra expense, it’s not so bad.

6

I use my passport as ID. I’m not entirely a big loser (I got a PhD. . . does that count as something constructive?), and I don’t REALLY have sex with badgers. . . (the Haldol must mess with my sex drive)
It’s interesting how people find my student loan debt to be an insane investment, but make car payments at least that expensive per month, and then get another new car, and most people accept that relatively normal. Over 12 years I suspect that’s analogous in cost to my student loans. Priorities?
DanBlather, you live in PORTLAND-- this can’t seems that odd.
FishBicycle-- that’s exactly how I feel about driving. I figure if I started I’d be a menace, and miserable.

7

I have never owned a car. For the past six years I have been unable to rent one because I had no credit or credit card. (Before then, I rented cars.)

I do have a license, though, so maybe that counts me out of this thread. However, it doesn’t matter, except as useful ID.

8

I waited fairly late in the game to get a license - till I was at least 18 or 20 if I recall. I mooched a lot of rides in high school, and a lack of DL did absoloutely nothing for me in the dating department. Still, right off the top of my head I can think of several classmates killed in stupid driving stunts over the years, so in a lot of ways I am thankful.

9

I got my license at age 23. Living in Montreal, I never wanted it at all and would have been perfectly happy to continue my non-driving existence. Then I moved to PA and things changed - I drive everywhere, all the time now. Even when I go back to Montreal, I want to drive places when I never wanted to drive before - I got spoiled!

10

Late in the game at 19 or 20, 23 yrs? It is to laugh!

I have now turned 50 and do not now, nor have I ever, possessed a drivers license.

In part because I had two teenaged brother when it was the traditional time for me to learn, I could never get near the car! Next I left my parents home and would have had to rent or borrow a car to learn or test in, boo.

But mostly I didn’t pursue it because I knew what I really wanted was to travel. I sensed that if I fell into car culture I’d never be able to save for a plane ticket to somewhere exotic. I’d be chained to my job to support a car habit. Bah. I wanted no part of that.

So I resisted. Road my bike, still do. Graciously accepted rides, and took a lot of cabs. I have always liked living in the urban core, so public transport is always pretty good to me. Also, cab fares are short if you live downtown.

As I grew older it became an increasingly difficult thing to explain. My friends just could not believe I was not interested in getting more mobile. When they teased me about taking cabs every night (I worked in a pub and came home late), I would get out a pen and do the math for them. My six $ cab ride 5 nights of the week didn’t come close to what they were paying in car payments, insurance, gas, parking, plates - not to mention repairs! It was eye opening to many of them.

I did manage to travel all over the world, having a passport eased the identification issues, and in no time I was constantly being asked, ‘How do you do it?’. So I would explain, I don’t have a car payment, or credit card balance, I’ve traded those in for my personal freedom.

Time goes by and now my friends find it endlessly amusing that I’ve traveled all over the world and still can’t drive. I haven’t told them but I’m honestly thinking about getting a drivers license now. I think it’s probably more important to your independence in your later years, if something happened to my husband I’m sure I’d get by but I would be so much more useful if I could drive a car.

(Just to be clear, I actually could drive a car, like if you had a heart attack I could get us to the hospital, your car might get scratched, but I could operate the vehicle in an emergency.)

11

No offense, but I think you licence-less people are foolish. Not having a car is no big deal, but not having a licence is another issue. I’m sure your lives are full now, but you never know when in the future your life might change to the point that you might need a licence to regularly drive for at least a short while. Got a wife to drive you? What if she gets sick and needs you to drive her? Are you gonna tell her, “sorry, I can’t be bothered?” BTW, ever think your spouse/relatives/friends resent schlepping you around?

12

No drivers license here either. I had gotten one when I was in college, primarily for identification purposes. My behind the wheel test consisted of driving through the practically deserted streets of a relatively small town, and when I got back home to Chicago I found that I couldn’t handle the traffic. I kept renewing the license until my wallet was stolen a number of years later, by which time Illinois had instituted a state ID program so I got one of those instead.

Chicago has excellent public transit, so I was able to get around quite well on my own, with occasional help from friends. After I got married things were a little easier, as my wife drove. After she died, I went back to using public transit and relying on friends.

Now I’m retired and living in NC. When looking for a place here accessibility to public transit and convenience of shopping was a prime consideration. There’s a Border’s bookstore within walking distance, and I have a friend here who helps out when I need to get things I can’t carry on the bus.

I have considered getting a license again, now that I’m no longer in Chicago, but it’s not a high priority item. Like fishbicycle, I know I would still be a very nervous driver, plus I have a few minor problems with my vision and attention-span that make me suspect I’d be a hazard on the road.

13

I don’t have a Dutch driver’s license. Since I live in Holland, my US driver’s license is of no use to me except when I am on vacation in the US.

Since I spent most of my youth and adulthood in Atlanta, where a car is right up there with food and shelter in terms of necessities, this has been quite an eye opener. I will say, I haven’t been in this kind of physical shape since I was at university and I didn’t have to work at it – all you have to do is arrange matters so the only thing between you and the grocery store is either your feet or a bike, then become responsible for hauling groceries for a family of five, and you are well on your way to physical fitness.

My kids, who are 7 and 5, cycle with me everywhere we go – to school, to run errands, to the park, to soccer practice (I can’t be a soccer mom on a bike, now can I?) to play with their pals. To the train station if we are going somewhere far away. Wherever. The effect on them has been very positive.

I may get one next year as my Mother in law is unwell and may need a driver to get her to various appointments and so on and I don’t see her riding shotgun on my bicycle for that purpose. Taxis may be cheaper in the end – a driver’s license here is not an inexpensive proposition. But for myself I don’t miss it, much to my surprise.

14

No driver’s license (and I’m 53!).

I used to live in London, which had good public transport.
Now I live in the ocuntry and take taxis everywhere.
It’s still cheaper. :eek:

Not married either. :stuck_out_tongue:
You missed the point about taxis. They like driving me. :slight_smile:

15

I’m 24 and I don’t drive, but I’m working on changing that.

Lately I get more and more aggravated by public transit and cabs that the hassle of having a car is looking better to me than dealing with everything else. Especially since I want to be able to do things with my son like my Dad did with my brother and I (go camping, drive around the province and see the sights… there are a LOT of things to do around here within an hour or so drive time but I can do none of them because you need a car or someone who will take you).

At least now I have a decent job and can afford to pay for lessons and a car.

16

I got my license a few months before I turned 26, so I’ve only had it for 2 years. I needed to get it in order to do my job - I have to travel around the state for work, and there’s no way to get around to the places I need to go without driving.

I grew up in a small town where I could walk everywhere, there was a bus that I could take to get to larger towns or a big city, and then in college I moved to the Bay Area (Berkeley) and it was a liability to have a car (parking, gas, traffic). I moved to Denver four years ago and found a job within walking distance of where I live (Capitol Hill); the public transportation here is OK and getting better. My fiance and I don’t have a car; we walk everywhere, and since I’m a state employee I get a state car when I need to travel for work.

The main thing I like about having my license is that even though I don’t own a car, I can rent cars when I travel other places, which makes things a lot easier if I have to get someplace that isn’t accessible by mass transit. And I don’t have to depend on other people to drive me places.

Several of my relatives have also either not gotten their licenses or waited until much later - my cousin got hers around when I got mine, and she was nearly 30 at the time. Another of my relatives lives in rural British Columbia. She doesn’t drive or have a license and has to depend on her husband to drive her anyplace. When he has been sick or in the hospital, she’s severely limited in where she can go and when, and now her mother, who lives in Texas, is ailing. This lady is afraid of flying and doesn’t have her license, so she’s basically ensured that she’ll never see her mother again - there’s no way to get from where she lives to where her mother lives without driving or flying. And I don’t know what she’ll do if her husband dies and she still doesn’t know how to drive.

In some cases, like if you live in NYC or SF or Toronto, I can see how not having a license isn’t an issue. But what happens when you travel to another part of the country where public transportation isn’t so good? What if you want to go camping or hiking in the mountains someplace? There are a lot of amazing parts of North America that just aren’t accessible by public transportation, and not having a license limits you to depending on other people to get you places. I’m really glad that I finally got mine.

17

Here in CA at least, if you don’t get a DL, you can get a California ID, which is identical except it says “Identification” instead of 'Driver’s License" and it doesn’t give you the authority to drive. But it has an ID number identical in format to the DL #s, and if you ever get a DL, the number will be the same. It’s handy to put in forms where it asks for a DL number for identification purposes.

18

Malienation-- I don’t have a fishing license, either.
I’d bet, however, that those questions have occurred to us, just maybe.
Need to get one, due to life changes? Then. . . I’ll. . . get one. Easy concept. Hasn’t happened yet, however. Not dead set against it EVAR, just hasn’t needed to happen. The spouse does not resent it, as he hardly drives either, so there are no demands of schlepping. Are there no busses or cabs in your country? It works for us.
You sound like a meat-eater descending on a vegetarian thread. I don’t think anyone here has been attempting to impugn your morals and lifestyle.

19

I’m 36 and have never had a driver’s license.

Never felt a need, really – until lately. Partly because I would like to be able to move things more easily from one place to another, without taking a cab.

Strangely enough, lately I find myself actually wanting a car. I’ll probably get my license in the next year or so.

20

I’m almost 27 and I’ve never had a license. I tried to get one as a teenager, but a) no one ever had time to help me practice and b) I hated driving. Hated, hated, hated. You ever wonder who fails the DMV exam? Me.

It was such a pain in high school, because we lived in a godforsaken little town that had never heard of public transportation, plus my school didn’t have any busing (small parochial school that had no money :slight_smile: ). I usually had to wait around after school until 5pm for my mom to pick me up.

I’ve truly never needed a license since I left high school. It does somewhat limit where I can live and work and so forth, but I don’t mind because I really prefer city living to suburban anyway. I rarely need to get rides from other people; I’ve got a nice little system that lets me be independent. Should circumstances force me to get a license, well, I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.

Some people are really weird about it when they hear I don’t have a license. It’s as though they’ve never met anyone like that before.