Increasing numbers of young people are unable to obtain a driver’s license due to rising costs, a new report found.

A study conducted by the John T. Gorman Foundation found that at least 10 percent of Maine residents in their 20s don’t have a license.

There are around 15,200 individuals in their twenties who do not possess a driver’s license, a number that is approximately equivalent to the 14,600 individuals aged 75 and above who also do not have a license in the state of Maine.

According to the report, some young individuals are finding it increasingly challenging to learn how to drive because they either cannot afford driver’s education classes or do not have access to a vehicle.

The average costs of driver’s ed varies in each state, but can range from $50 to $85 per hour, Airtasker found.

New vehicle car prices have risen more than 32 percent since 2019, and now have an average cost of $44,604. 

‘For young people able to secure a license, the high cost of purchasing, insuring, and maintaining a car presents a major hurdle,’ the report said.

The report pointed out that the lack of reliable transportation among these individuals restricts their opportunities for employment, education, and social engagements, thereby creating more obstacles in their pursuit of a self-sufficient and stable life.

Increasing numbers of young people are unable to obtain a driver’s license due to rising costs

An estimated 40,000 Maine households do not have a vehicle, and existing public transportation only meet 11 percent of the total need. 

‘When you’re entering your 20s, you’re supposed to be able to be independent and potentially thinking about your own housing situation, or off to school,’ said Nicole Witherbee, president and CEO of the foundation.

‘And so it’s really hard, not only to get to work or child care, school, doctor’s appointments, but any kind of social engagements at a time when social isolation is also so prevalent.’

The number of teens and young people driving has plummeted as they complain of the unaffordable costs of owning a car.

In 1983, 87 percent of 19-year-olds had a driver’s license, significantly more than the 69 percent who did so in 2022, according to the Federal Highway Administration.

Youths that don’t drive say they only use ridesharing apps like Uber and Lyft occasionally – and are fine with relying on public transport and lifts from their parents to get where they need to be.

‘It’s extraordinarily rare, demographically, for this to be going backwards,’ Tyson Jominy, vice president of data and analytics at J.D. Power, told The Wall Street Journal.

Even if young drivers are able to purchase a car, they face spiraling auto insurance costs.

Learning to drive has become increasingly difficult for some young people because they cannot afford driver’s education courses or lack access to a car

In 1983, 87 percent of 19-year-olds had a driver’s license, significantly more than the 69 percent who did so in 2022

Three in ten drivers aged 18 to 24 saw their insurance rise by more than $300 over the past year, a J.D. Power survey showed.

The price hikes are more than those inflicted on any other age group.

‘It’s a really big financial burden,’ high-school senior John Camou told the Journal.

‘I was spending a lot of time working just to get a car to be able to drive to work.’

Camou, from Birmingham, Alabama, said many of his classmates have yet to get their licenses because of the costs involved in owning and maintaining a car.