Hacker News Reader

The article asserts this, but doesn't support it. It's got a statistic for the current rate, but for the past it basically says "back in MY day we were EXCITED to get our licenses."

View on HN

For the boomer generation cars were socialisation: how you got to see your friends.

For the millenial generation that's smartphones.

Agreed. Another possible factor: 15 years ago, most states had full licenses at 16 years old. Now, most states have restricted licenses, that "graduate" into unrestricted licenses by 17 or 18 years old (21 in the case of Maine) [1]. Even then, your unrestricted license can be delayed based on your driving record. I'd guess that the wait and the additional red-tape makes driving in general a less exciting proposition than it was "back in my day".

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driver%27s_license_in_the_Unit...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com