01 Nov 2017

While being able to drive without mum or dad gripping the passenger handle and screaming at you to brake every two seconds is a great part of getting your P’s, having your licence does have its downfalls. Sure, most of them are outweighed by the fact that you can now go for late night Maccas runs and have the freedom to leave family functions whenever you want but there’s still a couple of shit parts to getting your licence and throwing away those L plates.

1. Cost

Getting your licence costs money- and a fair bit of it. From driving lessons, bribes to your older siblings to take you driving, the test, the cost of the test again after you fail the first time and then your actual licence- it all adds up. On top of that, getting your licence comes with the expectation that, at some point, you’ll be getting yourself a car which will be a constant drain on your bank account and one of your biggest financial investments.

2. Deso duties

While being the sober one can have its perks, getting named deso week after week because your mates can’t get their hours up or pass their P’s test can get frustrating. Especially if people start expecting you to be able to drive them to school/home/etc every time because you’re the only one in the group with your licence; the whole thing can get old pretty quickly.

3. Independence

Definitely a double-edged sword. While getting your licence means you won’t be dragged around Coles for hours when your mum promised she was just getting milk, it also means you’re going to need to get your shit together to get anywhere on time. Without someone telling you where you need to be, and making sure you get there, there’s no doubt you’ll be skipping things just because you can’t be f*cked driving and turning up late because you underestimated traffic.

4. Knowing the licence laws

When you were plonked in the seat next to your ‘rents you probably didn’t pay a lot of attention to what was going on around you. While you mights get the gist of most of the important road rules it can still be super confusing to figure out who is meant to be giving way to who in weird intersections. Plus, once you’re behind the wheel you need to pay attention to laws specific to your licence like getting a reading of 0.00 out of a breath test, how many passengers you can carry at certain times and whether it matters if you take the ten minute trip home without one of your P plates (it totally does, it doesn’t matter if you didn’t realise you were missing a plate, you can still get fined). It’s always worth making sure you know exactly what you can and can’t do.

5. Directions

You’re probably pretty familiar with your neighbourhood and wherever you’ve been practicing to get your hours up, but getting your licence means you have to start paying a lot more attention to where you’re going. Especially since you legally can’t use Google maps on your phone to get around, it’s worth taking note of how to get somewhere while you’re still being driven around by other people.