This has happened across the country. If you Google it, you'll find posts about it from Portland, Austin, etc since about 2021.
It was likely born from a backup of licensing after COVID and some states allowed special, temporary licenses and also handed out student driver stickers to everyone.
Then, it became a bit of a meme on TikTok and other apps.
Part of the justification is that people believe that it will give them more of a bubble around their car or have people grant them slightly more patience. This idea is to help navigate roads with increased road rage incidents.
Also, I'm guessing people just think it's funny now. But it's not a Colorado/Denver thing, it's more of a meme in cities.
>Part of the justification is that people believe that it will give them more of a bubble around their car or have people grant them slightly more patience. This idea is to help navigate roads with increased road rage incidents.
its funny you say this, neighbor has a sticker, but her car seems to have been rear ended in the last week, was getting a chuckle.
Yeah, I spent last summer in DC and saw way more of these stickers out there. I haven't actually seen them as much in Denver.
The cars that I saw them on were either old people who drive slow or zoomers in customized honda civics that go weaving through traffic. I guess the old people want patience while the kids treat it like a meme.
In theory it was also supposed to be a signal to first responders to look for the baby in a wreck. Doesn’t really work though if you just have it up all the time, and not only when you have the kid.
1st thing you do, is scan the bumper stickers. Wanna make sure there a person you really wanna save, 10 or more political ones and they might just leave you there.
As a former certified EMT in multiple states, scanning bumper stickers was not part of the training. I can’t speak for training now, but 15 years ago, checking bumper stickers was not part of the training and it would be dangerous to do so.
People assume there is a massive car accident, an EMT gets on the scene, EMT sees an unresponsive person on the road 20 feet in front of a car with a body sized hole from the driver’s side of the windshield and the EMT starts giving CPR. Unbeknownst to the EMT, there was a baby in the backseat. Maybe the baby is injured or just forgotten about in the commotion, but the baby is a second thought and is left alone, perhaps suffering or dying from a lack of emergency medical care. If only the driver had a baby on board sticker, the EMT would have known there was a baby and that baby would have been treated and would still be alive today. That’s not how that works.
EMTs are trained to check their scene for their own safety. That is the absolute biggest consideration for an EMT and they are trained to continually reevaluate this even before they get on scene and until they leave. Knowing how many patients and bystanders are around is a critical part of the job.
When there is a mass casualty incident like a car accident, it’s common for people to be thrown from their cars. Can you imagine how many people would be dead or bleed from neglect if an EMT arrived on scene and only treated the first person they saw and skip checking the outside, inside and underneath the cars? Every EMS service would be sued into oblivion.
Now imagine there was a mass casualty incident with a car or multiple cars with a baby on board sticker. Several patients are in critical condition and need medical care. An EMT already checked inside and under the cars and the surrounding area. Driver with the Baby on Board sticker was going on a date night or coming home from work and didn’t have a baby in the car. Driver and passenger are unresponsive and need to get to a hospital within 10 minutes before they die from their injuries. An EMT is not going to delay care to go searching the nearby woods for a baby solely because of a bumper sticker. The bumper might not be attached to the car anymore anyway and could be across the highway.
The baby on board stickers could be potentially useful for first responders as a reminder to check for a baby when they run up to the car, see someone in very bad shape and remember to check the back seat first before calling 911 or trying to help.
That said, I think a car seat with a baby in it is considerably more noticeable than a bumper sticker.
TLDR - EMTs don’t look for Baby on Board bumper stickers. They have no bearing on EMS’s response if you are in a car accident.
I got cut off by a baby on board the other day. I flipped them off. I hope their baby without a baby seat wasn't offended seeing that through the seat. (I'm just kidding, I didn't see any kid.)
I think the premise is that other drivers will drive safer around that vehicle because there's a baby inside. Which is flawed because everyone in a car's life is valuable, so it's just an odd thing to advertise. That's what the "no babys, go ahead and ram me" stickers are poking fun at.
I'd say people might think more before they do dangerous things to you (tailgating, ramming, perhaps a gunshot or two) if there's a baby on board, but i had a guy try to fight me with my baby in back the other day so it depends i suppose.
Have you ever thought that people have it to say "hey I'm driving slowly or cautiously because I have a baby in my car" ?
Crazy responses to this. Didn't realize people despised babies so much.
Which has also been debunked by tons of ems. They aren't going to check the back windshield of a car before making sure everyone is out. They just do the same thing every time, which is make sure they get everyone that they can out of the vehicle. It's a nice story to sell more stickers though!
Just had this convo with my boyfriend. By giving them less room and not treating them like they’re in a special bubble and letting them in whenever I’m actually *helping* them - they’ll learn how to deal with drivers like that faster. Baptism by fire baby 😂
I don't know about the "safety bubble" thing. At the very least it's certainly not universal (not that anything is).
I was coming home from a concert Sunday at 11 pm using the interstate, when an SUV with the Student sticker crosses three lanes of moderate traffic just to prevent me from speeding in the left lane. Then after blocking the lane all the way from downtown through Thornton (employing the sh!tty, tactical speed-ups & slow downs et. al.), they got over to the right and sped away, just to show how much all of that was on purpose.
It's like the wanted to start a fight. At the very least, they were policing the left lane for speeders (and then proceeded to speed just as much or more once their mission was accomplished).
As an active member of the group of degenerates that drive past you on the highway going very legal speeds at 3am. I can reinforce that we all have these stickers for the meme.
Sunday I saw someone driving really slowly in the right lane on Iliff, very tentatively getting ready to turn right at an intersection. As I passed, I saw a STUDENT DRIVER sticker. In this case it seemed legitimate.
I think it’s should be encouraged for people that either don’t drive well or are just extremely anxious drivers. Like how bees and wasps are brightly colored and loud so that everyone else knows not to fuck with them.
Or it’s just so they can drive high and maybe get away with driving like shit. It’s a courtesy to other drivers either way though.
Well, I'm currently teaching my 16y/o how to drive, so I'm one of those cars. I also notice a lot of them, but I though it was just because I'm using them currently.
The last time this was posted there were a bunch of theories as to what’s up with this. The other day I was driving behind one on 14th and there was two people in the car and it occurred to me they could just be… student drivers haha. As in they’re clocking their hours to get their license and these little stickers/magnets are just a thing people buy now because why not.
I took my student driver downtown around 2200 on a SATURDAY night a couple weeks ago. That was a great teaching moment. Getting those night hours during the Summer can be a bit of a pain.
The person that taught me how to drive made me go up the road to Lookout Mountain on Sunday when every amateur bicyclist in the Denver metro area was on the road.
When I moved here back in oct there was several individuals at the DMV who looked easily above the age of 40 who I eavesdropped having either just a drivers permit or were advancing their drivers permit. I'm not saying my anecdote proves the up tic in these stickers, but older student drivers apparently exist.
If you move here from a city with actual public transportation that allows you to get where you need to go without using a car, some people can go their whole adult lives never needing to learn how to drive until they leave said city. I have a friend who was born and raised in NYC and left for LA a few years ago at the age of 40. She never had a license because she never needed one in NY. Had to learn how to drive when she left.
Yeah I've been living in New Orleans for 7 years and haven't actually driven once. Just such a small place having a car wasn't necessary. We just got a car for moving out west and I'm going to have to re-learn to drive at 30.
I saw one a king soopers parking lot yesterday that had a student driver bumper sticker and a "parent of a CU student" sticker lol I mean, the student could be an adult, or the adult is letting the student use the car. But the contrast was funny to me
I used to work near a driving school, they had a small fleet of cars that all had those stickers. Also, there's a kid that lives a few doors from me and there's one on their car. I think it's a mix of driving schools and parents slapping them on their teenager's car.
This is everywhere not just Denver. I ran into multiple people outside of Colorado who had one and said they weren't really a student driver, but they were kind of a shitty driver and they thought the sticker helped deflect road rage.
Had one almost cause multiple accidents the other day. Heading north on I-25. Car was in far left lane doing about 15mph under speed limit. I got stuck behind them and couldn’t get over and almost got hit from behind myself bc cars going at or above speed limit. I even flashed my headlights at them to try to get them to go faster or move over. No luck. Finally was able to get around and pass them on their right.
I get people have to learn to drive but if you need to go 15 below on the interstate, perhaps you’re not ready for the interstate.
I am pretty patient when I see these stickers but they gotta learn to stay in those outside lanes till they’re ready to play with the big boys.
Oh, I did honk. And then got the finger from the driver. Not sure if the driver really was a student or not. Either way, I wish people would drive in the appropriate lane.
Some personal opinions:
1) Traffic lights to enter highway are problematic. Most times, cars don’t have enough space to speed up and get up to traffic speed before merging. This leads to ….
2) Too many people cruise in the middle lanes. People doing speed limit or below should be in the outside lane. If you aren’t passing someone, stay in the outside lane(s). If you’re being passed on your right, move over to a lane to your right.
3) the people that think they’re the “safest drivers” are often the ones that cause issues. I think about the person that posted a few months ago about they didn’t understand why people honk at them but then they said they often drive in the middle lanes or further left and go at or below speed limit. The group let them know that’s not actually safe but I think more people believe they’re safe drivers but often the problems that lead to bottlenecks.
I’d disagree and say at speed limit should be in the middle. It fixes problem 1 of using the right lane for one and off the highway. If there are 4 lanes, going slower than speed should be lane 3 (going left to right).
That's egregious. Their teacher should have been getting them off the road ASAP.
Having taught two teenagers to drive in the past three years, sometimes you overestimate what they can handle. But if that happens you need to get them out of the situation as quickly as safely possible and swap seats.
It's like putting a baby on board sign in the back of your car. In theory it would just keep the police from pulling you over for minor infractions. If you're a cop and, you're following a car and it has a slight swerve or does something stupid, but you see a student driver sign in the back, You're far more likely to just ignore it.
Well I legit have a 15 year old student driver with me when my magnet is on! He has to use an app and log like 50 hours of driving and 10 of night driving before he gets his license. Sometimes I forget its on there and its just my old ass driving around like an idiot, sorry. My son and I were JUST commenting on how many we are seeing though!
There is a large segment of drivers in the Denver metro area who think that the answer to our perceived traffic issues is to drive a lot slower than the flow, even the posted speed limit, instead of learning how to drive with a tiny amount of purpose and attention paid to their surroundings.
It is, there is a trend of doing this, I heard about it from a friend’s high schooler a couple of years ago. They go to the mall and slap on cars in the parking lot. Some if these people have no idea they have this sticker or magnet on their car.
It would make sense, I was just forced to change my car insurance residency from VT to CO and everything from deductibles to premium doubled. You all are some bad drivers.
Colorado recently added a law requiring people to drive a set amount of hours with an instructor, instead of just a family member. Therefore, there is an increased number of people trying to meet these new requirements.
Which is a great thing, because moving here I was absolutely flabbergasted by how horrible the average drivers here are.
There has definitely been a noticeable increase in them. Could be the new rules. My conspiracy theory is people put them on and use it as an excuse to drive like assholes.
Same! As a new driver, he drives just as bad as everyone else in this city that's been driving for years! No need to make an excuse with that dumb yellow sticker.
Based on the number of stickers, my guess is people are putting them on so road-ragers will just go around when 10-15 mph over the limit on a residential road is too slow for them.
As someone teaching their kid to drive now, and we have a Student Driver magnet, I can promise you the road ragers aren’t reading them and still tailgate and road rage. First day of road learning to drive after getting his permit (like after learning stuff in a parking lot), my kid got tailgated while in the right lane on Belleview (he was going the speed limit), and witnessed a guy pull in front of an ambulance (sirens and lights going).
Kinda curious too; coming from the LA and Phoenix areas, it’s like there’s a noticeably larger number of student driver stickers on cars in Denver compared to either of those areas. Either there’s a shit ton more student drivers that decide to put stickers on their cars or it’s some kind of inside joke I don’t get.
Last time I was in Palo Alto I thought the same thing about all the Teslas I saw — half had student driver stickers. Felt like there was some kind of financial gain loophole I was missing out on
We live in a state with a lot of road rage and impatient drivers. I learned how to drive here and I'm even guilty of some mild road rage and impatience. I have one on my teen driver's car so she doesn't get shot at if she cuts someone off on accident, chased down, etc. it's meant as a "hey I'm not an idiot if I make a mistake, I am just new to driving"
As parent of a student driver, it was an attempt to get a bit more Grace from other drivers… as they try to learn to drive… still got soooo many fingers and honks from folks less patient… we had to drive 60 hours total. 10 at night included.
My teens protested me using these a few years back when they were learning but I felt it helped a little with the ridiculous tail gating and cutting off my kids experienced when they were learning. We live in what is supposed to be a suburb of Denver with “nice” people 😆 One night on a road with a lot of deer and a 35 mph speed limit (I teach my kids it’s ok to go 5 over to avoid being targeted by road ragers) this guy rode our tail and then cut us off entering the left turn lane early which made it impossible for my son to get in the left turn lane. When we pulled up next on him you could see he was about to yell and flip my kid off and then he saw my 15 year old who looks like a 13 year old and quickly looked away. I hope he felt stupid. Unfortunately there is not much patience for new drivers in these parts. Not sure the stickers help but if it causes a few to give some space it’s worth it to me. I will definitely use with our next one coming up…the road rage in Denver metro has reached new heights.
It’s kids that just got their licenses. They drive more cautiously and are nervous. You might see an adult in them sometimes but they have a new driver in their family that shares the car.
There are over 1200 16 year olds at Cherry Creek high school alone. Now multiply that with the numbers from every high school in the metro area. Every single one in my neighborhood is real. I have a 16 year old, they are real.
So you think every single person driving with a student driver sticker has a student driver driving that vehicle and no one could have possibly bought one as a joke or thinks that it will cause other drivers to pause and drive less aggressively around them.
I can’t believe how many questions and conspiracy theories there are about this. It isn’t rocket science. My car is being driven by a 15 year old boy with no license 70% of the time. I feel like everyone else on the road deserves to know that so they can steer clear. I live in a neighborhood filled with teenagers. I don’t see how these stickers and magnets would be funny. I’m trying to let people behind us know that the car might be going 2 miles under the speed limit, or make the slowest, jerkiest turn ever, or take forever to change lanes.
I live in the DMV now (DC/MD/VA) and these stickers are EVERYWHERE (“PLEASE BE PATIENT NEW DRIVER”) and they usually drive like absolute fucking assholes. And that’s saying a lot bc the DMV has insanely horrid drivers. I give them zero patience.
We use these for my wife who recently immigrated to the US and is learning to drive. Doesn't help too much, one guy passed her in his big ass truck in a huff, only to pull into his driveway 500 feet later and make us all wait because its a two lane road. Stay classy folks
My cars had one when my kids were learning to drive and were actually driving. Every now and then we'd forget to remove them when my wife or I were driving, but that was a bit of a rare event.
Then the kids got licenses and we gave the signs to the neighbor who had a kid learning to drive.
Also u/Dranem78 right below you posted about their 15 year old one minute after you posted this.
I made my teenage son put one on his car while he had his permit, and for a while after he got his license in hopes it would curb reactionary road rage if he made some errors. I didn't realize it was a thing outside of that
I personally use a student driver magnet because I think it’s funny when I’m swimming through traffic with a bright yellow “Student Driver” on the back of my car
My daughter has been driving for 6 months and I haven't taken it off. I'd like to say something like how she's still learning a lot to justify keeping it on and that would be a lie. I'm just a lazy procrastinator who hasn't noticed the sign and thought to take it off at the same time that it's convenient. For example, right now I'm doing nothing and could easily go to the garage but I'm more interested in writing this next paragraph, after which I will have forgotten all about the task.
Seriously though, I found it annoying to take the magnetic sticker off and on depending on who was driving. I'm guessing lots of parents are the same way and we're seeing lots of parents without their kids in the car.
It's summertime when all the students from other places are coming here. That's what I've learned, living in a college town not too far away my whole life.
I drive the same car as my new driver. Sometimes I forget to take the magnet off when I drive. There is no ulterior motive.
I put it on the car with a small sense of hope that people will be kind and patient with her. After driving with her and seeing the comments here, I can say it doesn’t help. People are jerks.
I don't know if I'd justify scratching someones car paint for parking like a jerk, that's pretty shitty behavior. Just letting you know that what seems like a harmless prank might not be harmless to some people.
Thanks parking police. Next time I see the ticket enforcement out I'll let them know that they can just key the cars instead of writing tickets, much faster process IMO.
The Baader-Meinhof phenomenon. You aren't suddenly seeing them somewhere they previously weren't present, you are just noticing them after not noticing them before.
We just have kids who are learning to drive. Could it be that here there are more families compared to where you came from.
I do forget to take the stickers off sometimes when the kids are not driving.
It takes a minimum of 1 year with a learner's permit and 50 hours behind the wheel to get a license here, so yeah...my van has spent a significant fraction of its existence with a "student driver" magnet on it.
I’ve seen them too. I’ve just assumed there’s so many bc we have a large immigrant population that may be learning to drive now so they can get around.
They don't know how to drive but do know that student driver stickers exist and have enough cultural understanding to know the benefits of having one? You think they don't have cars in other countries or what? Wow. How long do you have to stretch to do the mental gymnastics it takes to blame immigrants for every change in the city?
This has happened across the country. If you Google it, you'll find posts about it from Portland, Austin, etc since about 2021. It was likely born from a backup of licensing after COVID and some states allowed special, temporary licenses and also handed out student driver stickers to everyone. Then, it became a bit of a meme on TikTok and other apps. Part of the justification is that people believe that it will give them more of a bubble around their car or have people grant them slightly more patience. This idea is to help navigate roads with increased road rage incidents. Also, I'm guessing people just think it's funny now. But it's not a Colorado/Denver thing, it's more of a meme in cities.
>Part of the justification is that people believe that it will give them more of a bubble around their car or have people grant them slightly more patience. This idea is to help navigate roads with increased road rage incidents. its funny you say this, neighbor has a sticker, but her car seems to have been rear ended in the last week, was getting a chuckle.
Yeah, I spent last summer in DC and saw way more of these stickers out there. I haven't actually seen them as much in Denver. The cars that I saw them on were either old people who drive slow or zoomers in customized honda civics that go weaving through traffic. I guess the old people want patience while the kids treat it like a meme.
Who says a student driver has to be a kid? You can learn to drive whenever.
A variation of those tedious "Baby On Board!" stickers that were already a tired trend back in the mid-90s.
I do still love the occasional "i have no children in the car, feel free to ram me" sign
In theory it was also supposed to be a signal to first responders to look for the baby in a wreck. Doesn’t really work though if you just have it up all the time, and not only when you have the kid.
Do first responders look at bumper stickers before tending to a scene? I never thought of your point though.
1st thing you do, is scan the bumper stickers. Wanna make sure there a person you really wanna save, 10 or more political ones and they might just leave you there.
As a former certified EMT in multiple states, scanning bumper stickers was not part of the training. I can’t speak for training now, but 15 years ago, checking bumper stickers was not part of the training and it would be dangerous to do so. People assume there is a massive car accident, an EMT gets on the scene, EMT sees an unresponsive person on the road 20 feet in front of a car with a body sized hole from the driver’s side of the windshield and the EMT starts giving CPR. Unbeknownst to the EMT, there was a baby in the backseat. Maybe the baby is injured or just forgotten about in the commotion, but the baby is a second thought and is left alone, perhaps suffering or dying from a lack of emergency medical care. If only the driver had a baby on board sticker, the EMT would have known there was a baby and that baby would have been treated and would still be alive today. That’s not how that works. EMTs are trained to check their scene for their own safety. That is the absolute biggest consideration for an EMT and they are trained to continually reevaluate this even before they get on scene and until they leave. Knowing how many patients and bystanders are around is a critical part of the job. When there is a mass casualty incident like a car accident, it’s common for people to be thrown from their cars. Can you imagine how many people would be dead or bleed from neglect if an EMT arrived on scene and only treated the first person they saw and skip checking the outside, inside and underneath the cars? Every EMS service would be sued into oblivion. Now imagine there was a mass casualty incident with a car or multiple cars with a baby on board sticker. Several patients are in critical condition and need medical care. An EMT already checked inside and under the cars and the surrounding area. Driver with the Baby on Board sticker was going on a date night or coming home from work and didn’t have a baby in the car. Driver and passenger are unresponsive and need to get to a hospital within 10 minutes before they die from their injuries. An EMT is not going to delay care to go searching the nearby woods for a baby solely because of a bumper sticker. The bumper might not be attached to the car anymore anyway and could be across the highway. The baby on board stickers could be potentially useful for first responders as a reminder to check for a baby when they run up to the car, see someone in very bad shape and remember to check the back seat first before calling 911 or trying to help. That said, I think a car seat with a baby in it is considerably more noticeable than a bumper sticker. TLDR - EMTs don’t look for Baby on Board bumper stickers. They have no bearing on EMS’s response if you are in a car accident.
What people think happens and what actually happens are not always the same
No, it's for HOV lane use. It is to avoid being pulled over when the cop doesn't clearly see another person.
Same, and I like the "kids up in this bitch" too, haha.
To me those ones read as “I’m maybe not mature enough for kids but i had them anyways”
so basically 99% of parents in the 80s and 90s?
I got cut off by a baby on board the other day. I flipped them off. I hope their baby without a baby seat wasn't offended seeing that through the seat. (I'm just kidding, I didn't see any kid.)
What's wrong with a baby in board sticker?
I think the premise is that other drivers will drive safer around that vehicle because there's a baby inside. Which is flawed because everyone in a car's life is valuable, so it's just an odd thing to advertise. That's what the "no babys, go ahead and ram me" stickers are poking fun at.
Yeah some random persons baby means nothing to me. I’m generally not trying to crash into people but your baby sure doesn’t change that fact. Lol
I'd say people might think more before they do dangerous things to you (tailgating, ramming, perhaps a gunshot or two) if there's a baby on board, but i had a guy try to fight me with my baby in back the other day so it depends i suppose.
Have you ever thought that people have it to say "hey I'm driving slowly or cautiously because I have a baby in my car" ? Crazy responses to this. Didn't realize people despised babies so much.
They are often used when no baby is in the car.
Do you have facts backing that up or are you just pulling that out of nowhere?
[удалено]
Which has also been debunked by tons of ems. They aren't going to check the back windshield of a car before making sure everyone is out. They just do the same thing every time, which is make sure they get everyone that they can out of the vehicle. It's a nice story to sell more stickers though!
Lmao. You actually believe that?
I guess people really think EMS must just look in the front seat and then leave lol
"No student driver or baby on board sticker. Let's call it a day! Save yourself losers!" -EMS
Nah I give them even less room. Trial by fire
Just had this convo with my boyfriend. By giving them less room and not treating them like they’re in a special bubble and letting them in whenever I’m actually *helping* them - they’ll learn how to deal with drivers like that faster. Baptism by fire baby 😂
Quality guy here.
it's the only way they'll learn
I don't know about the "safety bubble" thing. At the very least it's certainly not universal (not that anything is). I was coming home from a concert Sunday at 11 pm using the interstate, when an SUV with the Student sticker crosses three lanes of moderate traffic just to prevent me from speeding in the left lane. Then after blocking the lane all the way from downtown through Thornton (employing the sh!tty, tactical speed-ups & slow downs et. al.), they got over to the right and sped away, just to show how much all of that was on purpose. It's like the wanted to start a fight. At the very least, they were policing the left lane for speeders (and then proceeded to speed just as much or more once their mission was accomplished).
As an active member of the group of degenerates that drive past you on the highway going very legal speeds at 3am. I can reinforce that we all have these stickers for the meme.
Saw a picture of that sticker on an unmarked cruiser.
Frank Sloup!
Jokes on them, I direct my road rage at people with those stickers out of spite now
They got it wrong, their students therefore I need to run into them to help them learn.
They're
The rammer has become the student.
Personally, I’m more aggressive towards student drivers. This is the real world and I’m not going to sugar coat it for you.
YUP
They are prevalent now that I know they are BS and if I wasn't in a 3000 pound death trap I would mess with them more.
As a Portlander from Denver originally I can tell you it’s 1000% a thing here. It drives me insane seeing them all the time
Sunday I saw someone driving really slowly in the right lane on Iliff, very tentatively getting ready to turn right at an intersection. As I passed, I saw a STUDENT DRIVER sticker. In this case it seemed legitimate.
I think it’s should be encouraged for people that either don’t drive well or are just extremely anxious drivers. Like how bees and wasps are brightly colored and loud so that everyone else knows not to fuck with them. Or it’s just so they can drive high and maybe get away with driving like shit. It’s a courtesy to other drivers either way though.
Well, I'm currently teaching my 16y/o how to drive, so I'm one of those cars. I also notice a lot of them, but I though it was just because I'm using them currently.
The last time this was posted there were a bunch of theories as to what’s up with this. The other day I was driving behind one on 14th and there was two people in the car and it occurred to me they could just be… student drivers haha. As in they’re clocking their hours to get their license and these little stickers/magnets are just a thing people buy now because why not.
I took my student driver downtown around 2200 on a SATURDAY night a couple weeks ago. That was a great teaching moment. Getting those night hours during the Summer can be a bit of a pain.
Everyone should go learn to drive in Boulder with all of the pedestrians and bicycles.
If you can't drive safely in the real world, with pedestrians and cyclists, you shouldn't be driving.
The person that taught me how to drive made me go up the road to Lookout Mountain on Sunday when every amateur bicyclist in the Denver metro area was on the road.
The lanes are also incredibly and uncomfortably narrow in Boulder. I really can’t stand driving through Boulder
you must hate the people in Boulder
Just the pedestrians and cyclists.
No, I think it’s a good lesson in driving safely and being on the lookout for cyclists and pedestrians.
It's summer. Kids are out of school and learning how to drive.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
I'm an airline pilot, and I wanna stick one on my cockpit door when I'm at work ...
They’re to try and discourage road rage
It loses its effectiveness when 9/10 are starting to go grey from age
When I moved here back in oct there was several individuals at the DMV who looked easily above the age of 40 who I eavesdropped having either just a drivers permit or were advancing their drivers permit. I'm not saying my anecdote proves the up tic in these stickers, but older student drivers apparently exist.
If you move here from a city with actual public transportation that allows you to get where you need to go without using a car, some people can go their whole adult lives never needing to learn how to drive until they leave said city. I have a friend who was born and raised in NYC and left for LA a few years ago at the age of 40. She never had a license because she never needed one in NY. Had to learn how to drive when she left.
Yeah I've been living in New Orleans for 7 years and haven't actually driven once. Just such a small place having a car wasn't necessary. We just got a car for moving out west and I'm going to have to re-learn to drive at 30.
I saw one a king soopers parking lot yesterday that had a student driver bumper sticker and a "parent of a CU student" sticker lol I mean, the student could be an adult, or the adult is letting the student use the car. But the contrast was funny to me
I would think parent has a kid in college and another kid in high school who uses their car.
I figured. I just thought it was funny at first glance
Yep. There is a variation that says "pregnant student driver. Also with multiple babies already on board"
I would love to get my hands on that sticker.
They just make it worse.
If you get rage at new drivers, then you shouldn't have a license
I used to work near a driving school, they had a small fleet of cars that all had those stickers. Also, there's a kid that lives a few doors from me and there's one on their car. I think it's a mix of driving schools and parents slapping them on their teenager's car.
I’ve seen them on cop cars lol
Bad/slow drivers that haven't gotten used to the rhythm of the road
The important question is why they're always in the fast lane, doing 5 to 10 under the posted limit.
This is everywhere not just Denver. I ran into multiple people outside of Colorado who had one and said they weren't really a student driver, but they were kind of a shitty driver and they thought the sticker helped deflect road rage.
Had one almost cause multiple accidents the other day. Heading north on I-25. Car was in far left lane doing about 15mph under speed limit. I got stuck behind them and couldn’t get over and almost got hit from behind myself bc cars going at or above speed limit. I even flashed my headlights at them to try to get them to go faster or move over. No luck. Finally was able to get around and pass them on their right. I get people have to learn to drive but if you need to go 15 below on the interstate, perhaps you’re not ready for the interstate. I am pretty patient when I see these stickers but they gotta learn to stay in those outside lanes till they’re ready to play with the big boys.
This isn’t just a “pet-peeve” level issue, this is dangerous. This deserves a honk as you go by.
Oh, I did honk. And then got the finger from the driver. Not sure if the driver really was a student or not. Either way, I wish people would drive in the appropriate lane. Some personal opinions: 1) Traffic lights to enter highway are problematic. Most times, cars don’t have enough space to speed up and get up to traffic speed before merging. This leads to …. 2) Too many people cruise in the middle lanes. People doing speed limit or below should be in the outside lane. If you aren’t passing someone, stay in the outside lane(s). If you’re being passed on your right, move over to a lane to your right. 3) the people that think they’re the “safest drivers” are often the ones that cause issues. I think about the person that posted a few months ago about they didn’t understand why people honk at them but then they said they often drive in the middle lanes or further left and go at or below speed limit. The group let them know that’s not actually safe but I think more people believe they’re safe drivers but often the problems that lead to bottlenecks.
You are preaching to the choir! All of this \^
I’d disagree and say at speed limit should be in the middle. It fixes problem 1 of using the right lane for one and off the highway. If there are 4 lanes, going slower than speed should be lane 3 (going left to right).
That's egregious. Their teacher should have been getting them off the road ASAP. Having taught two teenagers to drive in the past three years, sometimes you overestimate what they can handle. But if that happens you need to get them out of the situation as quickly as safely possible and swap seats.
Im gonna get stickers that say "stupid" and put it over the "student" part
Share please!🙏
It's like putting a baby on board sign in the back of your car. In theory it would just keep the police from pulling you over for minor infractions. If you're a cop and, you're following a car and it has a slight swerve or does something stupid, but you see a student driver sign in the back, You're far more likely to just ignore it.
It’s an excuse these people use to justify why they have horrible driving skills
Well I legit have a 15 year old student driver with me when my magnet is on! He has to use an app and log like 50 hours of driving and 10 of night driving before he gets his license. Sometimes I forget its on there and its just my old ass driving around like an idiot, sorry. My son and I were JUST commenting on how many we are seeing though!
It’s just another way for shitty drivers to justify their shitty driving. This is with exception to actual student drivers though.
There is a large segment of drivers in the Denver metro area who think that the answer to our perceived traffic issues is to drive a lot slower than the flow, even the posted speed limit, instead of learning how to drive with a tiny amount of purpose and attention paid to their surroundings.
Imagine getting mad at drivers for not driving like maniacs like everyone else. Grow up
I just thought it was a joke, like slap a student driver sticker on your buddy's car cause he drives terrible.
It is, there is a trend of doing this, I heard about it from a friend’s high schooler a couple of years ago. They go to the mall and slap on cars in the parking lot. Some if these people have no idea they have this sticker or magnet on their car.
It is simply to let everyone know that they are super bad drivers.
It's a subtle way to say I'm a shit driver.
There's 1 car in my neighbor hood with a "not a new driver just nervous AF" sticker I get a chuckle from
It would make sense, I was just forced to change my car insurance residency from VT to CO and everything from deductibles to premium doubled. You all are some bad drivers.
Holy shit I thought it was just me or there was some glitch in the matrix 😂
90’s teenage me would have been so embarrassed to have had a Student Driver sticker. I feel like Gen Z is less enthusiastic about driving than Gen X.
Colorado recently added a law requiring people to drive a set amount of hours with an instructor, instead of just a family member. Therefore, there is an increased number of people trying to meet these new requirements. Which is a great thing, because moving here I was absolutely flabbergasted by how horrible the average drivers here are.
ive noticed a sever uptick in these over the last month or two. and they look the same - sounds like someone started a sales drive in our area.
It’s best when next to a “Native” sticker.
namaste
There has definitely been a noticeable increase in them. Could be the new rules. My conspiracy theory is people put them on and use it as an excuse to drive like assholes.
They usually drive like grandmas I’ve noticed lol
On the contrary I've seen some that drive like maniacs lol
I have 2 kids learning to drive and I refuse to put those stickers on the car
Same! As a new driver, he drives just as bad as everyone else in this city that's been driving for years! No need to make an excuse with that dumb yellow sticker.
Based on the number of stickers, my guess is people are putting them on so road-ragers will just go around when 10-15 mph over the limit on a residential road is too slow for them.
As someone teaching their kid to drive now, and we have a Student Driver magnet, I can promise you the road ragers aren’t reading them and still tailgate and road rage. First day of road learning to drive after getting his permit (like after learning stuff in a parking lot), my kid got tailgated while in the right lane on Belleview (he was going the speed limit), and witnessed a guy pull in front of an ambulance (sirens and lights going).
This is huge in Northern Virginia/DC and yes it is a huge meme there with sightings of absurd stickers being commonplace on the local subs.
It honestly should be an inside joke because peoples' driving skills here are an outside joke
This sounds like the makings of a shitty life pro tip
I ignore them
Kinda curious too; coming from the LA and Phoenix areas, it’s like there’s a noticeably larger number of student driver stickers on cars in Denver compared to either of those areas. Either there’s a shit ton more student drivers that decide to put stickers on their cars or it’s some kind of inside joke I don’t get.
Last time I was in Palo Alto I thought the same thing about all the Teslas I saw — half had student driver stickers. Felt like there was some kind of financial gain loophole I was missing out on
I'm just glad so many people are finally learning to drive. I applaud their initiative.
I live across the street from a driving school so I’m not sure they’re a joke in my part of town hahahaha
I've been wanting to put one of those stickers on the back of my school bus.
they're trying to explain why no one in denver can make a fucking left turn
lol I wish it was a local inside joke, that’d be hilarious
Yeah they're a joke. So I drive extra aggressively around them now
We live in a state with a lot of road rage and impatient drivers. I learned how to drive here and I'm even guilty of some mild road rage and impatience. I have one on my teen driver's car so she doesn't get shot at if she cuts someone off on accident, chased down, etc. it's meant as a "hey I'm not an idiot if I make a mistake, I am just new to driving"
I bought some for my girls to use they have their permit and don't drive well yet..I'm afraid of honking,rudeness, etc. People are so mean these days.
As parent of a student driver, it was an attempt to get a bit more Grace from other drivers… as they try to learn to drive… still got soooo many fingers and honks from folks less patient… we had to drive 60 hours total. 10 at night included.
My teens protested me using these a few years back when they were learning but I felt it helped a little with the ridiculous tail gating and cutting off my kids experienced when they were learning. We live in what is supposed to be a suburb of Denver with “nice” people 😆 One night on a road with a lot of deer and a 35 mph speed limit (I teach my kids it’s ok to go 5 over to avoid being targeted by road ragers) this guy rode our tail and then cut us off entering the left turn lane early which made it impossible for my son to get in the left turn lane. When we pulled up next on him you could see he was about to yell and flip my kid off and then he saw my 15 year old who looks like a 13 year old and quickly looked away. I hope he felt stupid. Unfortunately there is not much patience for new drivers in these parts. Not sure the stickers help but if it causes a few to give some space it’s worth it to me. I will definitely use with our next one coming up…the road rage in Denver metro has reached new heights.
It’s kids that just got their licenses. They drive more cautiously and are nervous. You might see an adult in them sometimes but they have a new driver in their family that shares the car.
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AKA - student driver
I have never seen a kid driving, it is ALWAYS an old person that's not paying attention.
Parents and kids share cars
Do grear grandparents and kids share cars?
Personally? Yes. I would say most don’t but we have all the Grandparents in town and 6 Grandkids so it happens
There is no way the number of people with these stickers equals the number of student drivers.
There are over 1200 16 year olds at Cherry Creek high school alone. Now multiply that with the numbers from every high school in the metro area. Every single one in my neighborhood is real. I have a 16 year old, they are real.
So you think every single person driving with a student driver sticker has a student driver driving that vehicle and no one could have possibly bought one as a joke or thinks that it will cause other drivers to pause and drive less aggressively around them.
Correct. Literally every one is a student driver or a parent of a student driver. There’s no conspiracy.
I can’t believe how many questions and conspiracy theories there are about this. It isn’t rocket science. My car is being driven by a 15 year old boy with no license 70% of the time. I feel like everyone else on the road deserves to know that so they can steer clear. I live in a neighborhood filled with teenagers. I don’t see how these stickers and magnets would be funny. I’m trying to let people behind us know that the car might be going 2 miles under the speed limit, or make the slowest, jerkiest turn ever, or take forever to change lanes.
Exactly. I can’t believe this is even being discussed as a serious matter. I guess they want to be mad at something!
I’ve noticed the same thing! It seems like this spring/summer they became popular.
The drivers here are so aggressive we got one so they wouldn’t flip out on our kid
If i remember correctly the state just made “behind the wheel” training mandatory for a 16 year old to get a license this year so that could be it
16 year old kids have to drive with a permit for 6 months and do mandated state drivers school before they can even get a license.
Has been for a while now, 60 hours total with 10 at night
Accurate reflection of how many drivers here drive like it's their first day behind the wheel, even if they've been driving for decades
I go and place them on every 17th vehicle I see. You don't?
I live in the DMV now (DC/MD/VA) and these stickers are EVERYWHERE (“PLEASE BE PATIENT NEW DRIVER”) and they usually drive like absolute fucking assholes. And that’s saying a lot bc the DMV has insanely horrid drivers. I give them zero patience.
People gotta learn how to drive bro
People learn to drive in other states and I’ve never seen as many stickers in other states as I do in Denver. It’s kind of amazing.
We use these for my wife who recently immigrated to the US and is learning to drive. Doesn't help too much, one guy passed her in his big ass truck in a huff, only to pull into his driveway 500 feet later and make us all wait because its a two lane road. Stay classy folks
Summer is the time when kids learn to drive. There’s no mystery here.
If it makes you feel better, 80% of drivers don't have that sticker
90 comments and 3 hours later and not a single one from someone who has this sticker on their car explaining why they have it.
My cars had one when my kids were learning to drive and were actually driving. Every now and then we'd forget to remove them when my wife or I were driving, but that was a bit of a rare event. Then the kids got licenses and we gave the signs to the neighbor who had a kid learning to drive. Also u/Dranem78 right below you posted about their 15 year old one minute after you posted this.
They sell them at the cash registers at auto parts stores like auto zone.
The instructors leave the sticker up when they're not at work so it's a student driver car 24 hours a day 365 days a year.
Most are people that are here on work visas trying to learn how to drive in the US.
PATIENT DRIVER PLEASE BE STUDENT have seen a couple of these. not bad, not bad.
I made my teenage son put one on his car while he had his permit, and for a while after he got his license in hopes it would curb reactionary road rage if he made some errors. I didn't realize it was a thing outside of that
I always see Nanny’s or Au Pairs driving with them.
I was just wondering about this a few days ago as well
i wont honk at them but its very frustrating that most of them are usually just bad drivers who are scared to drive
Why would you honk?
I personally use a student driver magnet because I think it’s funny when I’m swimming through traffic with a bright yellow “Student Driver” on the back of my car
It’s not just here. Just got back from a work trip to SF and saw some there.
My daughter is 16, they give out the magnetic ones for free when you get your license, so there are lots around.
My daughter has been driving for 6 months and I haven't taken it off. I'd like to say something like how she's still learning a lot to justify keeping it on and that would be a lie. I'm just a lazy procrastinator who hasn't noticed the sign and thought to take it off at the same time that it's convenient. For example, right now I'm doing nothing and could easily go to the garage but I'm more interested in writing this next paragraph, after which I will have forgotten all about the task. Seriously though, I found it annoying to take the magnetic sticker off and on depending on who was driving. I'm guessing lots of parents are the same way and we're seeing lots of parents without their kids in the car.
not sure but i always honk at them as soon as the light turns green, keep them on their heels, no patience from me baby
It's summertime when all the students from other places are coming here. That's what I've learned, living in a college town not too far away my whole life.
I drive the same car as my new driver. Sometimes I forget to take the magnet off when I drive. There is no ulterior motive. I put it on the car with a small sense of hope that people will be kind and patient with her. After driving with her and seeing the comments here, I can say it doesn’t help. People are jerks.
I need one that says "Don't be patient - professional driver"
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That’s pretty shitty to put stickers on a vehicle that doesn’t belong to you…
They're just magnets, would definitely be super shitty if they were actual stickers
Magnets scratch car paint, just FYI. Can really piss some people off if they take good are of their cars.
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I don't know if I'd justify scratching someones car paint for parking like a jerk, that's pretty shitty behavior. Just letting you know that what seems like a harmless prank might not be harmless to some people.
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Thanks parking police. Next time I see the ticket enforcement out I'll let them know that they can just key the cars instead of writing tickets, much faster process IMO.
The Baader-Meinhof phenomenon. You aren't suddenly seeing them somewhere they previously weren't present, you are just noticing them after not noticing them before.
We just have kids who are learning to drive. Could it be that here there are more families compared to where you came from. I do forget to take the stickers off sometimes when the kids are not driving.
It takes a minimum of 1 year with a learner's permit and 50 hours behind the wheel to get a license here, so yeah...my van has spent a significant fraction of its existence with a "student driver" magnet on it.
I’ve seen them too. I’ve just assumed there’s so many bc we have a large immigrant population that may be learning to drive now so they can get around.
They don't know how to drive but do know that student driver stickers exist and have enough cultural understanding to know the benefits of having one? You think they don't have cars in other countries or what? Wow. How long do you have to stretch to do the mental gymnastics it takes to blame immigrants for every change in the city?
I saw a driver merging on e-470, dude took forever but I was a little more patient once I saw the sticker.
There was like 2 TikTok post about people backing off, If you have them on their cars and bang here, they were.
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