At Granite Bay High School, seniors drive into the school parking lot to grab a spot before school starts, while others choose to walk or be dropped off.

For a long time, high school was generally the time of your life where you can, and will start to drive. However, over the years there has been a decrease in teens on the roads due to the stress that comes with it. 

“I feel like it’s a big step in people’s lives. It comes with a lot of independence and a lot of trust,” Fzeel Johar, a freshman and future driver, said. “Especially from your peers, parents, families and friends.”

Other students don’t feel that driving is necessary to them because they are close in proximity, and they can get to school easier without a car. It’s also easier for them to catch a ride with the people who live with them.

“I don’t really need to drive anywhere,” Aldrin Yen, a junior at Granite Bay, said. “Most of the time I (have activities) with my parents so they drive anyway”.

Yen walks every day, so he doesn’t really feel the need to have his license or drive to school. 

Another thing that seems to be throwing off students from driving is the long procedure involved in getting a license. It takes somewhere around half a year for a teenager to get their license in California, and even longer for them to be able to drive with someone their age. 

“It’s a (whole) process,” Lilyan Suleiman, a junior at Granite Bay who has not started learning, said. “getting a pink slip, then getting your permit, and then having to wait six months to get your license.”

With the amount of activities that teenagers participate in each year, numerous students did not have the time to start their permit tests. Especially student athletes who play multiple sports throughout the year. 

“After (one) sport ended, I started another sport,” Tessa Mclure, a sophomore at GBHS, said. “I was kind of lacking in time and I didn’t really have time to get my permit.”

Mclure is a student athlete and is taking multiple APs. With the workload and practice schedule, the amount of free time became small. 

On top of that, in recent years more unfortunate information and dangerous stories have come out about reckless driving. For example, there is a staged drunk driving car crash, Every 15 Minutes, that is presented biannually to seniors and juniors. This event is meant to enlighten students on the dangers of driving under the influence.

 “It’s supposed to bring awareness (but) it also creates a little bit of some fear,” Linh-Dan Pham said.

Pham is a senior at GBHS, and, like many others around her, has yet to go through the process of getting her license due to the pressure of being able to drive solo. 

“It’s a big responsibility to be able to drive a car, especially when you’re 16-17 years old.” Pham said.