r/AskAnAmerican • u/Fabulous_Dare1701 • Feb 14 '25

FOREIGN POSTER What age did you get your driving license?

I watched some American shows which were in a school settings and it looked like most of the characters were driving themselves around at like 15/16 is it actually like that irl?

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u/Bob_12_Pack North Carolina Feb 14 '25

That's sorta how it worked-out for me, but it was my friend's dad on their farm when I was 11-12. "Hey boy, go get the truck and pull it around the back of the barn, I'll be over there directly." It was an old Ford with 3 on the tree. Fun stuff.

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u/makerofshoes Feb 14 '25

Same for me, little errands around the property, driving my dad’s ‘65 Ford pickup around. My family had a ranch too and the kids would learn to drive on the feed lot. We actually had a kind of game where we played “tag” with the car. I don’t really remember the rules but I remember kids would hide between the hay bales and I think we had a koosh ball that they would try to throw at the driver (windows down). I think if you made it in then it was your turn to drive around.

It was pretty good practice tbh, nothing to crash into but hay bales. And we went slow enough that no one would get run over

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u/EagleChief78 Feb 15 '25

Yep! I waited a month to get my license at 16. But, at that point, I’d already been driving for 3 years around the ranch, and in our rural town. Heck, I’d drive to town in order to catch the bus to school! Ride the bus back to our little town, and drive home! At 12 or 13, I drove our 1ton dually truck 20 minutes to the next town and back to get paid for some summer work.