First lady says Secret Service agents taught Malia Obama to drive

WASHINGTON -- Some teenagers get driving lessons from their parents. Other teens are taught by licensed instructors.

But Malia Obama isn't your average 16-year-old: Her driving lessons were provided by the U.S. Secret Service.

Asked who taught Malia how to drive, first lady Michelle Obama told celebrity chef and daytime talk-show host Rachael Ray in an interview it was the armed agents who provide around-the-clock security for the family.

"The Secret Service, actually, because they wouldn't let me in the car with her," the first lady said in an excerpt of the interview that was released by Ray's program. The full interview is set to air today.

Michelle Obama hasn't driven herself in seven or eight years, she said.

She added driving gives Malia "a sense of normalcy," helping her feel like the rest of her friends who also are driving. "And my kids have got to learn how to live in the world like normal kids."

When Ray said the Obamas seem "so grounded," the first lady replied her "hope is just to make sure that they (her daughters) come out of this thing as functioning adults, you know?"

Obama, whose younger daughter, Sasha, is 13, said Malia also drives herself around Washington.

"She always has security around, but in order for her to learn how to drive, she had to drive on her own," the first lady said during a separate interview on "Live! With Kelly and Michael" earlier this week. "So once she was legally permitted to drive on her own, she gets in her car."