[Normy]

I think it varies tremendously with the kid. I knew how to drive my parents car when I was 10, not that I ever did or was even allowed to try. But my dad did sit me down one day in the drivers seat of his Ford LTD and told me that in an extreme emergency....this is what to do. I told him I knew that already. I told him it would scare me, and I remember thinking that driving a car must be a very difficult thing to do. When I was 15 and my dad handed me the keys to the chevette when we were going to fly model airplanes at the club field, I was surprised to find out that driving that car was no more difficult than driving the riding lawn mower around the yard.

Of course, I have good eyes and good eye-hand coordination. I flew radio control model planes at 13, drove at 16, flew Cessna 172's at 19, taught people to fly at 23, was a Boeing 727 captain at 33, and a Boeing 747 captain at 39.

On the other hand...my brother has destroyed most of the cars that he's owned, along with a riding lawnmower [that's....hmm, a long story-!], and when he was a kid he was CONSTANTLY scraped up from falls from his bicycle and skateboard. To this day he lives with my parents [age 39....] who've bought him every single car he's ever owned, and drives like an idiot, his middle finger extended to approximately half the drivers he runs off the road~

You know....it just depends on the kid. Giving a kid a car at 16 isn't a good idea. Getting him/her a drivers license, and letting them practice driving with you in the car is a GOOD idea. That seasons them and lets you know just what their driving skills are like.

N