With Gen Z loosely covering anyone born between 1997 and 2012, we’ve seen the first drivers of a new generation getting behind the wheel in the last few years. While this ought to be an exciting time for new drivers, we’re actually seeing an overall decrease in the number of drivers on British roads, as the cost of lessons proves to be a barrier for entry.
In June 2018, the UK had around 3.9 million 17- to 26-year-olds who held full driving licenses. However, in August 2023, that number had dropped to 3.54 million – that’s a 9.2% decrease in young drivers on our roads. At the same time, the price of a used car has risen by an average of 37% since before the COVID-19 pandemic, and insurance premiums for young people jumped by 21% in Q2 of 2023 when compared to Q2 of 2022. Overall, the annual cost of learning to drive and maintaining a car can reach prices of up to £11,000 nowadays.
So why doesn’t Gen Z want to drive? Alongside the high price of entry, we’ve been noticing a decrease in car confidence among young British drivers. To explain the difficulties that Gen Z face in more depth, we’ve conducted a survey of young drivers to see how they’re losing key motoring skills over time. Here are the key differences in Gen Z driving habits that we noticed:
1. Gen Z are passing their tests in different ways
One important factor in young people’s difficulties with driving is that they’re now passing their tests in a new generation of vehicles. Some features of cars that we take for granted now, such as reversing sensors and cruise control, weren’t always included in older designs.
52% of our respondents say they passed their test using a car that featured a rear-facing camera for reversing and parking, putting them at an advantage to older drivers. However, while features like this are incredibly useful, young drivers risk becoming too reliant on them and struggling to build up the awareness to drive without the need for a camera.
Another change that has led to Gen Z passing their tests in new ways is the rise of automatic gearboxes. More than a third of young drivers (34%) say they got their license using an automatic car. While they make shifting between gears much easier, you aren’t certified to drive a manual car if you have passed your test in an automatic model. This means more young drivers than ever are unable to operate a gearbox without assistance.
2. They’re becoming more reliant on technology
As mentioned, new technology is being added to cars to make them more user-friendly. The top three most common driving skills that our respondents struggle with are parallel parking, driving in bad weather, and driving at night. Cars have started to include more features to help with all of these skills, but how much do Gen Z rely on these features?
When asked how often they use driver assistance programs (e.g. cruise control and lane keeping), 13% of our respondents said they switch them on every time they drive. In fact, more than half of those we asked said they use them more often than not. 26% of young drivers we spoke to also said they use a digital speedometer whenever they drive rather than an analogue dial, while almost half of respondents said they often rely on parking sensors.
Almost a third of our survey’s participants (29%) said they’re easily distracted by technology in their cars, showing that despite the benefits of these new systems, they could affect Gen Z drivers’ focus in important situations. 18% of young drivers said they had caused damage to a vehicle when driving without technology that they were used to, costing an average of £243.44 to repair. This shows that there are real consequences to the lack of confidence that Gen Z has in cars that are missing these features; they don’t just impact the finances of young drivers, but could also lead to serious accidents.
3. The DIY struggles of Gen Z
To finish our survey, we asked young drivers how competent they felt with DIY tasks such as wheel replacements and oil changes. Overall, 25% of respondents said they feel as though they wouldn’t be able to complete these tasks, highlighting some key gaps in the knowledge of young drivers.
We’ve seen a rise in Gen Z drivers using the internet to help with DIY projects or repairs in times of trouble, while older generations are more likely to have the appropriate DIY knowledge ready. Perhaps it’s time to start offering more comprehensive lessons on car maintenance to learners, as car repairs are becoming a less common skillset?
14% of young people we spoke to say that they feel less confident than their parents or guardians when driving, while 59% said they felt more confident. However, almost a third of young drivers also say that they avoid certain driving skills in cars that don’t have assistive technology – e.g. parallel parking without a rear camera, or night-time driving without infra-red sensors. This could show that newer technological advancements are giving drivers false confidence, and they’re perhaps unable to complete certain tasks without the help of a phone or extra tech.
How likely are these trends to continue?
Unfortunately, if action isn’t taken to better educate young drivers, we’re likely to see more young people who don’t want to drive in vehicles without assistive technology. Although it’s becoming more expensive to learn to drive, these lessons evidently aren’t providing enough support to young drivers to help them ditch the gadgets and drive with full confidence.
With 61% of young people saying they would be willing to buy a self-driving car if they became available in the UK soon, we’re likely to see a lot more reliance on technology when it comes to driving. However, when we asked our participants how accurate their dashboard was at noticing road signs if their car model allowed for it, almost 20% of people said their cars were rarely accurate when reading these. If we haven’t reached a point where cars can confidently read road signs yet, how likely are we to trust them to drive an entire journey for us?
Methodology
- Online (CAWI) survey. Survey dates on following line:
- 2nd to 7th June 2025
- UK: Gen Z who drive
- Random 1 in n selection from panel in the UK
- Client name given at "Client:" on front cover
- Individual question wordings shown in top left cell in the tables following. For example:
- 1. Did you learn to pass your driving test in a manual, automatic or semi-automatic car?
- If no question is visible that table may show Registration Data or a Calculated Variable
- 'Sample size is specified on a question by question basis, by the number at the bottom of each table. For example "base n = 2000". Where routing has been applied, and not all respondents have answered a question this is indicated by a lower base size than the full sample. For example "base n = 785; total n = 2030; 1245 missing"
