Beth Stephenson
I don’t think our 16-year-old can moonwalk, but he’s jazzed enough to try. He got his driver’s license this week after six months of driving me everywhere, and I’m almost as delighted as he is. I took him out of school early since tests are given on a first-come, first-served basis and if you wait until after school, it’s too late. He was pale when they finally called number 332.
We presented two forms of personal I.D., proof of insurance, and his certificate of completion from the Driver’s Education course, but learned we needed his social security number. They should have gotten it when he got his permit, but it was missing for some reason. We went home to get it, only to find he had it in his wallet all along. That incident was like the sound of a drill in a dentist’s office.
To make matters worse, he was assigned the One-Who-Never-Passes-Nobody-Nohow tester, according to the underground messages circulated by Oklahoma 16-year-olds. I waited on the narrow vinyl chairs inside, trying to concentrate on my book, but slipping into silent prayer in my son’s behalf from time to time. I think the chairs in surgical waiting rooms are more comfortable.
At last my son solemnly summoned me outside. He didn’t know yet if he passed but the tester wanted to go over the test with both of us. He noted that the timing of my son’s two-way glance as he crossed an intersection wasn’t quite right, he took too long to parallel park, though he did it well (something I can’t do myself), he wondered if he was going to stop completely at the intersection, but he did, but seemed too close to the crosswalk. Yikes! With all the apparent errors, I began to despair, but lo, he tallied the score and passed him. One-Who-Never-Passes-Nobody-Nohow made an exception and shook both our hands.
A few minutes at the tag agency and ten dollars later and it was time to celebrate with pizza and insurance coverage. Adding him only increased our monthly cost about $55, but we have the legal minimum coverage.
Still, we won’t allow him to listen to the radio or music while he drives. He believes this to be entirely unfair, since we didn’t have the rule for his older siblings, but he is too easily absorbed in music to have it on while his life is in his hands behind the wheel. A huge percentage of fatal accidents involve teen drivers and a huge percentage of those accidents occur because they’re fiddling with the radio. The study I read didn’t even address cell phones.
Our son will mostly drive a little old car we got cheap because of hail damage and high mileage. He wants us to fix the hail dings, but they’ll be joined by nicks and scratches and door bangs soon enough and it’s a waste of money with a 16-year-old driver around.
Still, my son’s friends think he has a “sweet deal” since he doesn’t pay for gas or insurance. He probably didn’t explain to them that if he has missing assignments at school, or does something irresponsible in the car, his driving will be suspended until the problem is fixed. We want him to remember that driving is a privilege, not a right, and as long as we own the car, the gas and insurance, we have every right to say when he can and cannot drive. Further it seems like a waste of time when teens work to pay for their car to get to and from work. Cars are not good investments and kids are better off saving their earnings for the future.
We have had some friends that give their kids cars and I have observed that kids are far more careless in their driving and with maintenance in a car they haven’t earned. There must be exceptions, but I’ve never known any.
I know there are bumps and curves ahead for Mr. Smiles-All-The-Time, but for now, his world is sunny and we’re happy for him.
BETH STEPHENSON is an Edmond resident.
