cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/134805
Disclaimer: I’m not from the US.
As a student in a relatively large-ish city, I’ve been doing fine with public transportation. I’m not particularly interested in driving because of (no particular order):
- environmental impact (in part mitigated by EVs)
- ‘severe’ ADHD; I would never be relaxed driving
- safety; I don’t trust other drivers to follow the rules properly
Should I still get a driver’s license sooner than later?
As someone who recently obtained his, much later life… I also lived in a major metropolitain area. I didn’t need a license.
Let me tell you, it’s a lot easier to do so when you are still young, while your brain is more plastic, and your reaction time is faster. Maybe you won’t use it much, but it’s always nice to have. Easy to garner good will from friends… You can split long drives for vacations with friends, you can DD if you find yourself in a situation where the driver is intoxicated and you are not, if you become a home owner you’ll be able to rent a van to go get materials at the home center, etc. You never know what life throws at you.
Trust me, just do it! You don’t have to change your lifestyle because of it, but you’ll innevitably find moments where it will be really useful to have!
Thanks for the advice!
Yes, I think you should. I also don’t have a drivers license. I am working on changing that, but later in life and with a stressful job…it’s very easy to put off. Ride sharing apps, biking and living in a city with good public transport makes it not a major deal day to day. However, when it is an issue it’s a big one and I end up feeling like a burden on those who can drive. If you have time in your life to do it now, do it. You don’t have to use it if you don’t want to.
Honestly it depends on how good the public transport is in your area. If it’s decent then it might be an unnecessary expense. If you do want to learn to drive at some point though I have heard it’s better to do it earlier rather than later as it gets harder to learn.
I think you’re overestimating the ADHD and safety aspects. If you drive frequently for a while it becomes second nature (hopefully) and it’s not all that scary as it seems. As a passenger you’re not in control and analyzing everything that happens around you becomes a lot more stresfull. Like when I’m driving a car I somehow know if I can overtake, have to wait for a car or have to brake for a yellow light. It’s not stresfull and the arms, legs and brain work together. As a passenger I struggle a lot more with that. So don’t think you can’t drive because traffic is overwhelming as a passenger.
Anyway, should you get a license…well that’s hard to answer. It can be very useful, but is expensive and if you don’t need it in the near future then you might as well wait. Especially as a student you probably have a lot of things you want to save up for.
The driver license isn’t always necessarily for driving, but it can also be used for identification and verification. I would still get a driver license for that reason though you could probably do fine with a passport.
I don’t know where op is from, but at least in Sweden you just get a “national ID”. Same shape as a driver’s license, works all over the EU, none of the pesky driving and the passport stays safely at home until it’s time to travel out of the EU.
Yeah, you could get that in USA as well, it was more a convenience to have driver license in the USA.
It’s definitely a convenience if you’re already a driver. But there’s no reason to get one just for identification purposes.
I have pretty severe ADHD too, and while I don’t enjoy driving like some people do, it’s not as scary as I thought and I’m not constantly getting into accidents or anything. Don’t let that be the thing that holds you back.
for me it all depends on where im at. back country road on a clear dry day with no one in front of me, im fine. on the highway in the middle of rush hour and im stressed af watching for all the idiots that seem to pick me to pull out in front of.
I’m 36 in Sweden. I never got one, I’ve never needed it. Public transport and an electric bike have worked perfectly. I don’t like the idea of driving. Owning a car is expensive and stressful. I also have ADHD.
What city do you live in? Do you ever travel interstate in the US? I don’t know many US cities that have adequate enough public transit to really thrive without a drivers license, but if you were living out of country or specifically NYC then no duh, I wouldn’t drive either.
Disclaimer: I’m not from the US.
Doesn’t mean your not in the US, sorry just was unclear
The only reason would be if you plan on traveling to places that do not have the level of public transport you are used to and/or don’t have other options (e.g. taxi or uber) available - which is more places then you might expect. So, depending on how much and how far you plan on traveling, it may be worthwhile.
As someone who lives in a suburb far from any city (and the cities near me aren’t very walkable anyways) goddamn I wish I could have asked myself this question. The idea that I even could is alien to me. Without a drivers’ license and a car I wouldn’t be employable because I literally couldn’t get anywhere.
I’m autistic and almost certainly have inattentive ADHD as well. I totally thought that driving would always be a nightmare for me. It’s still stressful on certain roads, but most of the time, I enjoy driving now. At some point you learn to trust other drivers as much as is reasonable (only trust turn signals when they’re signaling a problem for you, for instance).
So… I really have no idea. I don’t think having a license and knowing how to drive a car could hurt, even if you don’t need to own one, y’know? Maybe you travel somewhere where public transportation isn’t really a thing and need a rental.
Personally, as great as I think it is that you use and enjoy public transit, getting a license has no downsides. What if you need to drive someone to the emergency room at some point in your life?
My sister is 30 and doesn’t have a driver’s license. But she does live in a city with solid public transit.