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Since teens lack driving experience, they are a higher risk to
insure; therefore the premiums assigned to them are typically higher
than an adult. But there are steps you and your teen can take to
help reduce rates:
- Keep a clean driving record
- Drive a safe car
- Raise policy deductibles
- Take advantage of insurance discounts
- Safety and your teen driver
If you’re thinking about buying a car for your teen, look
into different auto safety ratings first. Since teens are much more
likely to have a crash than adult drivers, choosing a safe car will
not only give you peace of mind but also help reduce your premium
cost.
Graduated Licensing Laws
Graduated licensing laws may vary state-by-state but they are all
designed to restrict driving privileges for teens, until they gain
experience on the road. Typical provisions of graduated licensing
are as follows:
- Learner’s permit or intermediate license requirements
- Nighttime driving restrictions
- Required hours of adult supervision while driving
- Suspension of driving privileges with a crash
- Additional training requirements after a crash or ticket
- Safety belt requirements for drivers and passengers
- Restrictions on the number of passengers allowed in a car
- Mandatory driver education
- Tougher drunk driving penalties
- Creating guidelines for your teen driver
Even after receiving their license, some teen drivers are not prepared
for driving on their own. Only you can decide when your teen is
ready to drive without adult supervision. While they’re learning,
you can help keep them safe by setting rules about when, where,
how and with whom they may drive.
Put a limit on the number of passengers in the car of teen drivers
Teen drivers are likely to have more trouble focusing on the road
with laughter, music, food and other distractions, all of which
increase with the number of passengers.
- Establish and enforce a driving curfew.
- Check with your local police department to see if your town
has a curfew for minors. If not, set your own.
- Insist that your teen and his/her passengers always use safety
belts.
- Teens tend to use their safety belts less often than other drivers.
Remind your teen that the presence of air bags does not mean he
or she can ignore safety belts.
- Limit or supervise your teen’s driving during times of
high risk.
- The highest number of driving crashes occur Friday and Saturday
nights, and early Saturday and Sunday mornings.
- Set driving area limits. If your teen wants to travel outside
your geographic area, require that he or she request special permission.
- Prohibit driving or riding with others under the influence of
drugs or alcohol.
- In addition to the possibility of legal consequences, tell your
teen you will revoke driving privileges for a given amount of
time.
Good Student Discount
Full-time high school, college or university students (minimum
of 12 units per term) with less than nine years of driving experience
who have attained a current or cumulative grade point average (GPA)
of at least 3.0 may be eligible for a discount of up to 16 percent
on all lines of coverage carried on the vehicle(s) on which they
are rated as primary or additional drivers.
US Teen driver Statistics
- 5,606 teen drivers died in motor vehicle crashes in 1998, compared
to 5,697 in 1997, and 36% fewer than in 1975.
- Motor vehicle death rates per 100,000 people peaked at age 18
for drivers and passengers.
- 36% of the deaths of 16- to 19-year-olds from all causes resulted
from crashes in 1996, the latest year for which this information
is available.
- About two out of every three teenagers killed in crashes were
males.
- Male teenage drivers have higher death rates than their female
counterparts-21 per 100,000 people, compared to 10 per 100,000
for females.
- 53% of all teenage motor vehicle deaths occur on weekends (Fri.-Sun.).
41% of all teenage motor vehicle deaths occur between 9 p.m. and
6 a.m.
- 54% of teenage passenger vehicle occupant deaths were drivers
and 45% were passengers.
- 62% of teenage passenger deaths occurred in crashes in which
another teen was driving. Among people of all ages, 20% of passenger
deaths in 1998 occurred when a teenager was driving.
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