While parents may find themselves behind the wheel driving carpool, others buckle into the passenger seat as their students take their long-awaited places behind the wheel.

Sophomore Trevor Huffaker will be eligible to drive at the end of the school year. His father, science teacher Tom Huffaker, said that there are both benefits and drawbacks to Trevor not yet having his license.

“It’s good because I always know where he is and know that he is not out crashing,” Tom said. “But in our case I see the benefits of driving because we don’t live close by so any time he needs to come to campus somebody has to drive back and forth.”

He said that it is probably different for students who live close to Piedmont and can opt to walk from place to place instead of driving.

Lynne Hosler, mother of senior Allen Hosler and junior Jenny Hosler, said that having two teenagers who are able to drive has been extremely helpful. They have helped free her schedule by taking over the family’s carpool to crew practices.

Allen drives the 50-minute round trip commute, giving Lynne back the hour and 40 minutes that she would have spent dropping them off and later picking them up.

Since getting their licenses, Lynne said that her kids have been more social, now able to drive themselves to go out and spend time with friends.

“They have a way to go see their friends and they are happier because they have that increased freedom and responsibility,” she said.

Lynne said she was excited for her teenagers to finally get their licenses, remembering how she felt when she turned 16 and got hers.

“When I got my license, it was the best feeling ever,” she said. “I loved the feeling of independence that came from having a car.”

Lynne said that the majority of the family’s rules on driving fall in line with the law. Allen and Jenny were not allowed to drive friends until their year was up and have an 11:00 p.m. curfew. The Hoslers have one car specifically for the kids, but Allen and Jenny are allowed to use the family’s other vehicles with permission.

“It’s the law,” Lynne said. “They need to follow whatever it says.”

Kim Rhody is the mother of seniors Quinn and Tatum Burnett. Although they are twins, Quinn is the only one who has his license. Tatum, who was too busy to get her license, has decided to wait until she turns 18.

“Quinn has a lot of places to go so now he can drive himself instead of me driving him,” Rhody said. “With Tatum we didn’t push it because it costs us more money to insure two kids of the same age.”

Rhody said that when Quinn got his license, they did not heavily enforce the year rule. It was up to Quinn whether or not he would drive his peers during his first year on the road. If he was caught, his license would be taken away.

“It was leaving it up to him that if he did it and got caught he, would have to suffer the consequences,” Rhody said.

She said that although they did not enforce the year rule on Quinn, she did not feel comfortable letting him break it.

“I am usually quite a rule follower and I kind of bent to Piedmont peer pressure since everyone [breaks] it,” Rhody said.

Lynne said that the year rule did not exist when she was a teenager. She supports it because teenage drivers are less experienced and have a harder time staying focused in the car.

“As an adult I’ve been driving for 32 years so it is just natural for me at this point,” Lynne said. “People who have just gotten their license have to think about how to react instead of just having their bodies do it naturally.”

Rhody said one of her biggest concerns is teens driving under the influence. She said in Piedmont, there is a lenience with teenagers in terms of the law. Parents and police officers often let teens off for things such as driving irresponsibly and drinking.

“Kids think that the police will let them off so they don’t take it as seriously as they might if they are driving in another city,” Rhody said.

She said that if Quinn were to ever be caught driving under the influence, his license and car privileges would be revoked for as long as he was under his parents’ care.

“Even if it was one sip of something his license would be gone,” Rhody said. “He would not be allowed to drive, period.”

Tom said that he thinks distracted driving is the number one problem with young drivers today.

“People are distracted by food, they are distracted by changing the radio station, but I think that pales in comparison of people getting into crashes because of texting,” he said.

Tom said that he has come across both young and old drivers who do not drive responsibly. However due to experience, older drivers tend to know how to react better to issues on the road.

“You have to think quickly,” Tom said. “It’s going to be harder for a person who hasn’t had the experience.”

Rhody said that teenagers face more challenges in terms of staying focused on the road.

“They aren’t inherently bad drivers,” Rhody said. “I think it’s more the attention issue and the invincibility issue that’s more concerning than their actual driving ability.”

Although inexperience may be one of the major challenges facing young drivers, Tom said that it is a necessary step in the process.

“You can’t just say ‘I’m not going to learn to drive,’” Tom said. “Everybody has to learn, some kids are just going take more risks than others.”

Tom said that the best things young drivers can do is to drive defensively.

“Don’t expect that anybody sees you,” Tom said. “Don’t expect that anybody is going to be doing the right thing.”

Lynne said that because the Bay Area is extremely pedestrian-centric, young drivers need to be wary of people walking in the streets.

“Pedestrians just walk out into the street and expect you to stop for them and of course you are required to by law,” Lynne said. “But in other states people stand at the crosswalk and look both ways before crossing. Here, people just don’t do that.”

Rhody said that the problem with teenagers is that they do not realize how much skill and thought is required to drive safely.

“I think that teenagers are more prone to think that stuff is never going to happen,” Rhody said.

Lynne said that she feels that Piedmont teenagers are, for the most part, good about safe driving.

“They seem to have a very strong sense not to text and drive,” Lynne said. “I want them to continue to act responsible, to drive responsibly.”