For some students, driver's license a non-essential item

For those living in a urban environment with access to plenty of public transportation, a driver's license isn't always necessary.

For many high schoolers, passing a driver’s test marks a rite of passage, a step toward independence from their parents. A few years later, in college, the ability to drive may aid students in taking an even bigger, more significant step toward adulthood -- landing an internship or a job. Despite the advantages that a driver’s license may provide, however, many non-driver college students regard getting behind the wheel as an option, not a necessity.

In the past decade or so, fewer and fewer young Americans have been acquiring driver’s licenses, according to a report by the Frontier Group and the U.S. PIRG Education Fund released in April.

For some, the abundance of public transportation in an urban environment rules out driving as a necessity.

“I never felt the need for it because I’ve lived in a city for most of my life,” said Margarita Krasnogorova, a sophomore at the Fashion Institute of Technology who commutes to New York from Jersey City, N.J. “People tell me things like, ‘Well, you know you’re eventually going to need a car. You don’t want to rely on public transportation all your life,’ and I do agree with that, but I’m also hoping to work and live in the city.”

Chan Choi, a junior at the University of Illinois, wasn’t even given the option of driving as a high school student due to domestic and financial reasons. He doesn’t, however, regard his lack of a license as disadvantageous.

“I don’t feel the need [to drive] since I’ve been able to get by thus far,” said Choi, who, like other students without a license, uses a state-issued ID for identification purposes and gets around by walking, taking public transportation or catching rides with friends.

Even when he was eventually given the option to drive, Choi decided against it. He chose instead to use the funds and time to focus on an interest; presented with the choice of a car or a violin, the music performance major chose the latter.

“I chose the violin since it would further my career more than an automobile,” he said. “I didn’t see the practicality of driving since I could get to where I needed by walking or taking the train.”

Finances similarly played a factor in Aimee Ortiz’s decision to opt out of driving. While many regard driving as a chance to assert independence, she considered the dependence she had on her mother.

“It would have put an unnecessary financial burden upon her,” said Ortiz, a senior at Boston University. “I couldn’t justify adding an extra amount to her car insurance bill only to have me licensed as a driver, regardless of the fact that I wouldn’t have even been driving the car because we only have one.”

Like Choi, Ortiz made the decision to invest money somewhere else.

“I realized I’d much rather spend that money on a college education, books, summer programs, which all helped me get to where I am today,” she said.

With graduation approaching, Ortiz has begun exploring her post-collegiate options and as a result, has also begun considering learning how to drive.

“The majority of jobs that I’ve looked at have been asking for a driver’s license. I’ve found it particularly hard to find internships just because I don’t drive and I don’t think that’s particularly fair because I grew up in a place where driving isn’t necessary,” she said.

Lack of a driver’s license and a car prevented Choi from applying to a number of jobs in high school, such as a delivery job at Pizza Hut. In college, however, he’s learned to work around it.

“I’ve been able to support myself since my freshman year with a job on campus and I’ve been doing quite fine,” he said.

Although he’s content with his situation, Choi hasn’t completely ruled out driving.

“Once I’m in a situation where my transportation requires a car, I will make sure to get my license beforehand,” he said.

Ortiz, on the other hand, plans to start driving later this year. She recalled a story told to her by a professor who influenced her decision. While on vacation, the professor, who was then working as a journalist, got a phone call from her newspaper giving her the opportunity to cover Hurricane Katrina. There were no flights into Mississippi, so she flew into Georgia and then drove to get her story. For Ortiz, the anecdote illustrated the benefits that driving can provide for a career.

“I need to have the ability to travel and go where public transportation can’t take me,” she said. “Just hearing from someone who was working in the field for the same goals that I’m working toward, I realized that I needed to start learning to drive.”

Olga Khvan is a Fall 2012 USA TODAY Collegiate Correspondent. Learn more about her here.

This story originally appeared on the USA TODAY College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.