Who needs a car? Smartphones are driving teens' social lives

Thirty years ago, nearly half of 16-year-olds had a driver's license, their passport to independence. By 2010 that figure had dropped to 28%, according to research from the University of Michigan. The cultural shift is largely the result of technology that keeps teens connected to one another and the coolest new stuff without ever getting into a car.

All the adolescent staples — music, movies, clothes, books — are available with a mouse click or smartphone swipe. Driving once allowed teens "to go where you want, do what you want, see who you want and, in some sense, be who you want," said Lindsey Kirchoff, 23, of marketing software company HubSpot and a millennial trend marketing consultant. "The Internet has made the freedom that comes with a license anticlimactic." Getting a driver's license has also gotten a lot tougher. For starters, today's teens are more pressed for time than their parents were. Stiff competition for college admissions means prep courses, SAT tutoring, team sports and other activities to buff up college resumes.