A recent study has highlighted a decline in driving interest among Gen Zs compared to previous generations. According to MarketWatch Guides research, as reported by Fox News, individuals aged 19 and under constitute only 3.6% of licensed drivers in the US, which translates to one in 25. When including all drivers under the age of 25, the combined percentage increases to 11% of the driving population. In contrast, individuals aged 30 to 34 are the most prevalent group behind the wheel, accounting for 9% of drivers within that specific age range.
David Straughan, a senior automotive journalist and researcher at MarketWatch Guides, shared his insights during a recent interview with Fox News Digital. He highlighted that the profound cultural shift reflected Gen Z’s declining interest in driving.
“When you think about how deeply tied automobiles and driving are to American identity and to American culture, I think that it is actually a pretty seismic thing and suggests that there are some very major changes happening culturally,” he said.
In the US, obtaining a driver’s license at 16 was once considered a significant milestone towards adulthood. However, 2021 data from the Federal Highway Administration indicates a stark decline, with only 25% of 16-year-olds holding a license compared to 46% in the 1980s, as highlighted in the Fox News report.
Straughan pointed out that for Gen Z, mainstream driving culture may not hold the same importance as it once did, leading them to question the pre-established norms more readily.
Daniel Knowles, a correspondent from The Economist and author of Carmageddon, a book that centers around the adverse effects of automobiles on modern society, suggested that this generation is more concerned about the environmental harm caused by driving and feels compelled to distance themselves from it.
“This generation is very kind of eco. That’s, you know, worried about the impacts of fossil fuels. People are aware of the damage that driving is doing to the environment (…) so there’s an urge to get away from that,” Knowles told NBC.
However, apart from climate change and global warming, Knowles observed that factors like stress and anxiety associated with driving have also escalated over the past decade.
“It’s gotten particularly worse in the last few years since the pandemic, it seems like an awful lot of people are just driving a lot worse. We see this in the rise in the number of deaths and rise in the number of car crashes,” he added.
Knowles also pointed out that for many students, the average cost of owning a car and maintaining a driver’s license are either financially out of reach or not prioritised as compared to other expenditures.
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