When I Turn 50 — In 2025 — I’m Giving Up My Driver’s License
Because I want to and because I can
My Dad turns 90 in November. Knock on wood — but he gets around super well. And he still drives.
Thank goodness. Because — if he didn’t drive — I think his world would be crushed.
That’s not hyperbole. It’s just that the series of short trips he takes at least a half dozen times per day — 2 miles here, 5 miles there — simply would not be possible by foot.
I guess, technically, they’re possible. They’re just not pleasant. Plus, the spread out, suburban-like environment he lives in isn’t pedestrian-friendly, all that safe or otherwise easy to comfortably navigate on foot.
Because, like so much of America, the city where he lives isn’t built for walking. It’s built for nothing other than the motor vehicle. The freaking car.
Where I come from — and probably where you come from — kids can’t wait to get their driver’s license.
I know I couldn’t wait.
A driver’s license — but, even more so, a car — represents freedom.
On the other end of the life cycle, older people seem to hold onto their driver’s licenses for dear life. At least in my observations.
