My daughter turns 15 soon and is very excited about getting her learner's permit and starting to drive. I'm worried about her driving, and feel as though I'm losing control of where she goes, what she's doing, when she's coming home - all that stuff. But when I say that, she says I don't trust her and blows up. Learning to drive is a very recognizable step away from parental authority and toward greater freedom for adolescents, which is one reason why many teens look forward to it so eagerly. Let's begin with the practical aspects of teen-age driving.
Teenagers often seem to believe that driving is a right.
We encourage you to talk with her in terms of it being a privilege - something about which you two have to work out some ground rules before she proceeds very far in the process. The laws governing teen drivers have changed recently, so be sure to inform yourself about what your responsibilities are, and what the steps are that your daughter has to fulfill in achieving her goal as an independent driver. You'll probably find that others are struggling with the same concerns, and at least one family may already have laid down some ground rules that you can adopt. The parent-child clashes that you describe seem to stem from the very different perceptions that you and your daughter have. She is turning 15, and probably feels infinitely more mature than she did a few years ago, before she started high school.