What are some reasons for not having a drivers license?

1. Not needing one because you use public transportation.

2. Being afraid to learn how to drive.

3. Not having a reliable car to learn how to drive or take the drivers test.

There is no reason needed for not having a driver’s license; just because most adults do, doesn’t mean you must justify not having one.

not having a car or living in a place like New York City where having a car is more of a pain in the ass. It is easier to take a cab, bus, subway or walk. There are people here in New York that can have monthly garage fees of close to $1000 bucks a month to park their car.

on street parking is difficult to find not to mention alternate side of the street parking every other day.

@talljasperman If you can happily get through life without it ,then by all means do so.
Driving is a huge responsibility that half the people out there do really poorly, so if your not up to it then by all means don’t .

I didn’t need to drive when I lived in the UK. The transport system was so good I could get a bus or train anywhere I needed to go. Australia is quite different. It still took me a long time to get a licence. My husband could drop me at work, and we had other priorities for our money than driving lessons.

Even with the poor transport here, I know a number of people who don’t drive.

Revoked

I don’t have one either. Being in a car gives me anxiety so bad I have to shut my eyes in some situations. My sister tried to teach me in the back country, but I would refuse to drive over the bridges and there were lots of them. Overall though, my attention span isn’t meant for something like driving. So I figure it’s safer for everyone, if I don’t drive. If only the intoxicated or otherwise impaired could feel the same way. Nowadays, almost everyone understands how debilitating anxiety can be.

When I turned 15 the first thing I did was go to get my learners permit. I really wanted a car. But I was living with my sister and she had a two year old and wasn’t comfortable with teaching me to drive while he was in the car. So I never really learned.

By the time I was 16 I had friends that were driving so that killed the need.

Now I am so used to my bike, skateboard, public transportation I have no desire to drive.

Assuming I had gotten a car and license when I turned 16 it would be 22 years of driving.

So I figure on average driving will cost you about 250 a month. I am lowballing it. So I have saved 66K on something I didn’t really need.

But you have people like Allie that pays 300 a month for a car payment and then gas, insurance, maintenance. If she decided to not drive and saved that money for 20 years she could pay cash for a house.

And drivers are fucking nuts. I don’t trust you. Put your fucking phone down while you drive.

As @BeenThereSaidThat mentioned: “living in a place like New York City where having a car is more of a pain in the ass”

This is the reason any of my friends without licences don’t have one. I have mine, but don’t own a car. Public transit is good here; most things are within walking or biking distance. Cars are slower, and a waste of money and fossil fuel.

The only reasons I know of are certain medical reasons. I consider blindness, visual hallucinations, severe coordination issues, and seizure disorders as good reasons to not have a license. Anxiety, not so much. I am well aware of how debilitating anxiety can be (I have my own issues there, and have the prescriptions to prove it) but I manage to drive anyways. Fear? My wife was afraid for years, especially of going >30 MPH even in the passenger’s seat. She got her license anyways and has done just fine… though she doesn’t drive often, and sticks to side streets (25/30 MPH zones) when she does.

I know plenty of people with a license but no car. Having a license doesn’t mean you have to get a car and/or drive; it just means that you have the right to do so if/when the need arises. There have been a couple times in my own past where having a licensed person that lacked their own car has actually saved a life. (Sometimes the difference between 15 minutes (car ride) and an hour (waiting for ambulance to even find your road, then your house) is life-or-death.)

So, aside from certifiable disqualifying disability, I can’t think of a valid reason to not have a license, and am rather disappointed that most of the replies here are actually “straw man” arguments against having a car.

@jerv Fucking hell, I lost a lengthy response TWICE. Not going to try again except to say:

- It’s not a straw man; in urban environments that we’ve been describing, it takes far longer to get a car than for an ambulance to get here.

- There’s no effective difference between having a licence and no car and having no licence at all.

@dappled_leaves First, as I am unsure exactly where OP lives (metroplex, small city, in the sticks…), I can only make judgments based on what I have been through having lived in all three! Where I am in the suburbs now, response time for an ambulance is about the same as the walk down the stairs and across the parking lot to the car… though that’s only because I live less than a mile from where they’re stationed. Where I lived in NH, ambulances typically took at least twice as long as driving, assuming they even knew where they were going. While there has been a migration to urban areas, there’s still hundreds of millions of Americans and Canadians that live in non-metropolitan areas.

Second, you entirely missed my second paragraph. As I said, that difference between “licensed with no car” and “unlicensed” has saved lives at times just in my past alone. Or are you saying that saving lives is ineffective?

No one taught me. My mom worked throughout my childhood. I saved up money and paid for lessons at 22 then used someone’s car for the test.

@jerv I don’t know where the OP lives, either. What you were taking issue with is the responses by other people who equated having no licence with having no car. My point is that they are indeed effectively equivalent in urban environments.

I don’t know what your specific examples are with respect to having your life saved by having a licence but no car – where were you living at the time? How did you get your hands on the car you needed?

My oldest son is 22 and still doesn’t have a license. He was uncomfortable learning to drive in our minivan when he was 16 because it was a larger vehicle (his excuse). That’s when his fear set in and he had no desire to learn. Our minivan eventually died and we then had a crap car that barely got my husband to work. It broke down all the time. My son had no car to practice in. It certainly would not have passed as a reliable vehicle for a drivers test. He eventually went to college and used public transportation when needed.

I’ve known many people who were unlicensed but drove a vehicle anyway. Not having a license when driving may be illegal, but if there is an emergency a person without a license can drive if someones life is in jeopardy.

@jerv This statement So, aside from certifiable disqualifying disability, I can’t think of a valid reason to not have a license, makes having a license an obligation. That is ludicrous.

In most states, driving is considered a privilege, not a right. Your statement makes it beyond a privilege and beyond a right to being obligatory.

@dappled_leaves How did I get my hands on a car? I’ve owned a car for most of my civilian life! However, between my wife and I, we’ve usually only had the one car. Having your own vehicle is kind of a necessity when your house, job, and nearest supermarket are all in a triangle each 12–15 miles from each other with no public transit or taxi. Also necessary when your home and job are 15–40 miles from each other. Or when you work hours that public transit doesn’t run. Or in places where buses don’t come within miles of. Or when your jobsite moves. I’ve spent a lot of my life living outside of the center of a crowded metropolis where everything you ever need is at most a bus ride away, but it sounds like that is the only lifestyle you know. (Correct me if I’m wrong. I can only go by the words you type here, and that is the impression I’m getting from the words I’ve seen so far.) I spent almost a decade living out in the sticks where I had to go a mile just to check my mail.

@zenvelo Maybe it’s that I was taught to value self-sufficiency. I expect certain things from adults of sound mind and body. That said, I consider driving to be a privilege in much the same way as I see many things about being an adult to be a privilege. It’s no more obligatory than employment or moving out of your parent’s basement though.

@jonsblond Technically true, but I would rather have someone who has officially demonstrated at least basic competency behind the wheel, lest it lead to other problems, possibly the type that create a worse emergency.

@all I’m not trying to be difficult here. I am merely answering based on what I’ve lived through. We all have our opinions and viewpoints affected by our life experiences. We come from diverse backgrounds, and my background is one where cars are pretty much a requirement for independent living. If your life has been considerably different from mine (and it seems that I’m the freak here) then I expect your views to be different. Feel free to disagree, but please don’t insult me by implying that my entire life has been wrong just because I am not like you.

@jerv, since as @dappled_leaves pointed out, in some places (such as my home town), it is expensive to buy a car, expensive to drive a car, and difficult to drive or park a car in the city, a car may not be the most convenient and economic means of transport. This was my experience until I was in my 20s. I worked and played in the city most of the time. Add to that the fact that I could get a bus to anywhere I needed to travel and if not a bus, then a train, there was no value in my buying a car. Consequently, I did not need a driving licence. Therefore, in the event of someone having a heart attack in front of me, how would having a driving licence have helped? I didn’t own a car. There was no need for me to have one.

@jerv “I’ve spent a lot of my life living outside of the center of a crowded metropolis where everything you ever need is at most a bus ride away, but it sounds like that is the only lifestyle you know. (Correct me if I’m wrong. I can only go by the words you type here, and that is the impression I’m getting from the words I’ve seen so far.) ”

You are indeed wrong about this. Also, I will repeat – I have a licence but no car. I value that personally (so I don’t need convincing), but because I live in a large urban centre, I fully understand why many people choose never to get a licence.

What I was seeking clarification about is this:

“As I said, that difference between “licensed with no car” and “unlicensed” has saved lives at times just in my past alone.”

If these specific cases occurred when you were living outside a city, then they simply don’t refute what I said: having no car is effectively equivalent to having no licence in a city.

Fine. I get it. I have an unpopular opinion. Lets just leave it at that and move on…. and without me, as I’m tired of defending my past and how it’s shaped me.

@jerv but please don’t insult me by implying that my entire life has been wrong just because I am not like you.

I’d have to reread the thread, but I don’t recall anyone insulting you. We all gave our opinions. If anyone did insult you it was because your first answer was basically insulting everyone who answered before you. am rather disappointed that most of the replies here are actually “straw man” arguments against having a car. You pointed out the flaws in all of the answers given before you. You were telling us our reasons weren’t legit enough for you. It seems you are the one having an issue with opinions you don’t agree with.

Technically true, but I would rather have someone who has officially demonstrated at least basic competency behind the wheel, lest it lead to other problems, possibly the type that create a worse emergency. I can’t disagree with you here.

@jerv No one is asking you to defend yourself. It’s quite the opposite – I’m defending the people you accused of building straw men. That’s all. I have no problem with your opinions about the importance of a licence or your way of life; I would only ask that you show the same courtesy to others.

I agree with @jerv. Knowing how to drive (and being authorized to do so) are valuable life skills, even if one chooses not to purchase a vehicle.

This occurred to me while watching some movies when someone is being chased, and they grab a motorcycle… what if you don’t know how to drive a motorcycle? So I took a class and got my motorcycle license a few years ago, together with my son.

This is similar with knowing how to drive a manual transmission… I’ve been in situations when the only vehicle available was a stick, and I was the only one who knew how to drive it.

A comparison could be made with knowing how to swim: one could be afraid of the water or not have any desire to go to the pool or ocean, but knowing how to swim might save your life.

So even if one does not plan to use it regularly, having the training and license to drive is a skill that could have unforeseen benefits in the future – even if it’s just being able to rent a car when a city-dweller goes on vacation.