Of course, it is ultimately the parents decision, but you can try to show them that it is not as dangerous as they fear. By the way, how old is the kid? If 16, maybe they want to wait until 18, so the kid is more mature. Maybe they just feel he's not ready. On the other hand, being that neither parent drives, I think they are being overly paranoid. maybe you can try to persuade them by telling them that in case of an emergency, it would be helpful to have one driver in the house. I don't know what they use for transportation now, but there are so many situations where it would be necessary to have a driver, especially as the parents get older.