U of M Study Shows Fewer Teens Have Driver's Licenses; Not So Good for Automakers

At first blush, some adults may applaud the news from a University of Michigan study shows that fewer 19-year-olds in the nation are getting driver's licenses.

Some of those adults figure, fewer teens, safer roads.

But automakers may not have the same reaction. It may mean less business.

Brent Snavely of the Detroit Free Press writes:

Certainly a tough economy, the burden of student loans and a migration to larger cities with dependable public transportation are making younger consumers hard for automakers to reach, said Michael Sivak, research professor and the head of the UMTRI.

The Free reports that the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute found that more than 30 percent of America's 19 years had no license, a substantial jump from 24.5 percent in 2008 and 12.7 percent in 1983.