I was cruising through my complement of daily newspapers the other day, perusing headlines and maybe a little more, checking out all the usual stuff.

The Democratic National Convention. Trump. Erratic weather. Grocery prices. Teenagers not wanting to drive ...

My eyes hit the brakes.

There it was, in a headline as big as the hood ornament of an old Pontiac. “Some in no rush to get driver’s licenses.”

Teenagers not wanting to drive? What? When did this happen? And why?

My aging brain started to gain some speed.

The writer related the story of a 21-year-old woman who made monthly payments on her car loan and faithfully maintained and kept it clean.

She rode shotgun as her grandmother took her to her job at a local store.

After spending all that money, she can’t legally drive the car because she still doesn’t have a license.

The woman is part of a growing trend. The Federal Highway Administration estimates that the share of people who have driver’s licenses in the 16-19 age group is on the decline — from 64% in 1995 to just under 40% in 2021.

In my day — when cars didn’t come with standard air conditioning or seat belts — kids couldn’t wait to get behind the wheel.

State law allowed teen drivers to get a learner’s permit a month before their 16th birthday. Many of my friends did, and I was no exception.

The Saturday after my birthday — at age 16 plus two days — my Dad and I drove to the local license center, and I drove home as the successful owner of the best privilege the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania could offer. My wallet had no money inside, but it did have a pink card with a blue ink stamp that magically turned into my first driver’s license.

And back then, auto insurance wasn’t mandatory.

For me, it was a rite of passage. That ‘66 Chevy Nova four-door sedan my parents bought brand-new was burning a little oil by the time I was driving, but for me, it was as good as the finest Cadillac of the day.

Dad no longer had to drive me to work. I stopped taking the school bus. And soon, I hoped it would become a magnet for girls.

Well, as a famous singer of the era said, two out of three ain’t bad.

But back to today’s reality, at least for a bit.

One of the biggest fears of today’s potential teen drivers is road rage. Its incidence is rising steadily.

Between 2014 and 2023 road rage shootings increased by more than 400%, according to a nonprofit newsroom that covers gun violence in America. The group found that over the 10-year period, angry drivers shot 3,095 people.

Another contributing factor keeping youths from behind the wheel are trends in some states that require teens to drive for an extended period with a learner’s permit before they can take their test for a permanent license.

Here in Pennsylvania, drivers under 18 must get a physical exam, complete a knowledge test and get through 65 hours of adult supervised training. There’s also a six-month waiting period before they can get their driving skills tested.

That’s almost enough to discourage even the most anxious teens.

In recent years, potential young drivers blamed COVID for not wanting to get behind the wheel.

The pandemic put a halt to driver education classes and stacked up available times like rush-hour traffic. DMV offices closed, as did in-person knowledge testing.

Locally, some new residents come from places where public transportation was widely available and rarely had the need to drive — or to learn how it’s done.

And let’s not forget the resurgence of cab service as well as Uber and Lyft.

There’s even some thinking that today’s social media replaces the need for teens to gather and have in-person relationships with friends.

Add to that the efforts of advocacy groups like Mothers Against Distracted Driving that have replaced the shock value of the crash and burn films older folks may have seen in their high school days.

Whatever the reason, teen driving numbers are down, and aren’t showing any immediate promise of rebounding soon.

But that isn’t stopping them from navigating the road of life.

ED SOCHA |tneditor@tnonline.com

Ed Socha is a retired newspaper editor with more than 40 years’ experience in community journalism.

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC