Sixteen, the age of freedom. Or maybe the age where you drive your moms 2009 Toyota Sienna around the parking lot at Rural King and she yells at you for tanking every pothole in sight. Either way, you are legally allowed to get behind the wheel after taking (and passing) your permit test. Never have the early birthday people been so lucky. Theres nothing like picking up your friends and going to Sheetz on a random Tuesday night, am I right? While these students are legally allowed to drive, there still are bumps in the road (get it?). Lets see if these Knoch sophomores are NASCAR ready, or need to hit the parking lots again.

Sophomore Avery Adams got her license in early March. Before getting her permit on her birthday in August, she said her dad would let her drive his truck around empty parking lots to get in some practice and prepare her for actual driving. 

Despite her prior driving experience, her parents (like all parents) would still always have something to correct her about.

“They would remind me to do things as I would do them. As I reached for the turn signal. My dad would tell me to turn them on (VERY annoying,)” said Adams. 

My dad does this too and I can confirm that it is, in fact, very annoying. I can see the stop sign David, obviously I’m gonna hit the brakes soon enough. 

Adams said that she was most nervous about the most stereotypical thing to fear on your drivers test; parallel parking. 

“I failed that on my first driving test,” said Adams. Second time’s a charm!

When asked if she’s a good driver, Adams answers with “I’m not the best driver but I’ve never hit a curb sooo that has to say something. I would consider myself a good driver.”

Sophomore Karlee Buterbaugh has also recently acquired her license after her early August birthday. Like Adams, she also has past driving experience. 

“I used to drive around my grandmas because there was nobody around and it’s all old people that don’t care,” said Buterbaugh. 

I’m assuming her grandma lives in some sort of retirement community/neighborhood, but out of context it sounds like she would literally drive around her grandma. Doing some donuts around meemaw, you know?

Staying on the theme of corrective parents, Buterbaughs’ are no exception. 

“My mom used to panic when she thought I should hit the breaks earlier, but I was completely fine,” said Buterbaugh. 

Like Adams, she was also most nervous about parallel parking when taking her test.

“I was shaking. It’s all technique and I was scared to mess up, even though I was ready,” said Buterbaugh. 

Despite the worries about her test, she passed her first time! She also believes she is a great driver. I’ve been in the car while she’s driven before and I can confirm that she’s pretty good. Other than that one wrong turn that led us directly into the heart of Pittsburgh, it was a good experience. 

Both girls are most excited about the freedom of “going anywhere anytime without it being out of your parents’ way” and “being able to drive to Target and jam to music with friends.”