Art kids turning on phones, computers instead of draggin' main?

Give me the keys and get out of the way!

That's traditionally been the cry of American 16-year-olds, but that tradition is changing, according to a University of Michigan Transportation research Institute study.

As the birthplace of the auto industry, Michigan has a major stake in the issue, and we have to wonder if the trend hasn't played at least a marginal part in the automakers' woes.

From 1983 to 2008, the share of 16- to 39-year-olds with driver's licenses declined markedly, according to the study out of Ann Arbor.

About 69 percent of 17-year-olds had a driver's license in 1983, but that dropped to 50 percent by 2008. Nearly 92 percent of Americans age 20-24 had driver's licenses in 1983, down to 82 percent 25 years later.

There are a lot of possible reasons: a car, gasoline and insurance is out of reach for many working for minimum wage, and more and more young adults are moving to big cities, where a car can be as much a liability as an asset.

Plus, graduated drivers license systems hold off granting full privileges to young drivers for the first few years.

And, the study cited social networking, which may reduce the need for face-to-face contacts among young people. There's no need to "drag main" when you can keep track of all your friends electronically, or so the theory goes.

There's no known connection, as the late Paul Harvey would say, but teen births declined in every state from 2007 to 2010, with the largest drop in Arizona, 29 percent.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported teen birth rates stayed about the same in Montana, North Dakota and West Virginia, and Mississippi retained first place, with 55 births per 1,000 teenage girls.

Nebraska ranked 30th, with 31.1 births.

Less dragging main, more electronic communication and lower teenage birth rates?

We know what you're thinking, and you're right: there's no app for that ... yet.