There’s some suggestion, though, that early safety legislation was aimed more at when and how vehicles could be used, rather than training drivers, themselves. It seems sensible to many people now that licensing and safety concerns went hand in hand. The last state to require a license to drive was South Dakota in 1954. For example, New York state began issuing paper licenses with personal data and photographs in 1910, however there was no state-wide legal requirement for a driver’s license until 1924. In that same year Massachusetts and Missouri became the first states to require all drivers, not just professionals, to have a license. New York started issuing badges to chauffeurs in 1903. New York was the first state to register automobiles in 1901. (Links to the sources used for the history section are at the end of the post.) This means that while there are some broad trends in the developments of licenses there is also a fair amount of variability in licensing history and requirements. driver’s licenses are issued by individual states and territories, as opposed to the federal government. All of these issues are food for thought, but I’d like to start off here with a simple history of the driver’s license in the United States. Clearly there is a cost to benefit calculation that must happen between how necessary a license is in an area, the expense of driving, and the increasing licensing hurdles that are thrown up in an attempt to make driving safer. Not too surprisingly, given the size and regional diversity of the United States, this trend varies by a number of factors, such as geographic region and family income. It isn’t even widely agreed that this is the beginning of a long term change, as opposed to a temporary blip in the history of licensing. While many reasons to put off licensing have been suggested, such as the recession and changes in communication technology, so far there are no definitive answers. While it came as a surprise to me, it turns out that she may be part of a growing trend among young people in the United States of not rushing into getting a license. Recently my daughter decided to delay getting her driving license.
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