If you’re a teen in Georgia, have had your permit for a year and a day, completed all the other requirements for getting your license, and passed your driving test, then you’re probably a real-life teen driver now. I just got my license a few weeks ago, and I can now officially attest to the life of a teen driver in Atlanta. Yes, I’ve driven on all the notoriously scary roadways including I-20, 75/85, 285, and even Memorial Drive. Daredevil, right?
Being a teen driver isn’t as bad as you might hear your friends say it is. It definitely depends on what your parents allow you to do and how comfortable you are with driving.
I’m very comfortable with driving because I’ve had tons of practice with my parents on and off the highway. My parents are trying really hard to continue to give me the freedom to go where I please when I please, and they’ve been giving me that for most of my life and I am totally appreciative. But you know how parents are.
They get nervous, as all parents do, about their only baby girl wandering in the dangerous streets of Atlanta with other crazy drivers and other crazy people in this crazy world we call home. They always want me to be home before it gets dark outside.
My dad always refers to Whodini’s classic “The Freaks Come Out At Night” when lecturing me about driving at night. He’s always scared somehow I’m going to get robbed in the 15 minutes it takes me to get home and extremely busy and visible roads.
I understand his concern. I am his only daughter, so I completely understand. I’d rather not have to be home before the sun goes down, but if it means I can be free the rest of the day, then I’m totally fine with it.
The most important thing you need to know about being a teen driver is compromise with the people who care about who the most, patience while driving because if you’re already late, there’s no reason to rush, awareness because your life or the life of someone near you could end faster than you think, and always know an alternate way home just in case things get crazy.
