Getting Lower Car Insurance Quotes for Teens

Car insurance quotes for your teen will be much lower if you can help them become a safer driver. Here are some tips for keeping your newly licensed teen safe behind the wheel.

Getting a driver’s license is a major rite of passage that every teen looks forward to. Not only is it a sign of gaining more independence, a license also gives teens more freedom to go out and do fun things with their friends without mom or dad providing the transportation. Yet, for every teenager who can’t wait to get behind the wheel, there’s at least one parent who’s pretty nervous about them being on the road at all. Luckily, there are a number of ways that parents can help teens become safer drivers while still letting them enjoy their newfound semi-autonomy.

The Process of Getting Licensed

The steps that teens need to follow in order to get a license vary somewhat from state to state. However, the majority of states do follow a few specific guidelines:

·         Teens must take an approved driving education class

·         Teens need to have behind-the-wheel training with a certified instructor

·         Teens have to have a permit for a certain amount of time (between six months to a year) before they can take their license test.

·         Teens cannot get their permit until they are 15, and cannot take their license test until they are 16. 

Like every rule, the guidelines listed above may have some exceptions from state to state. For example, states that are highly agricultural may allow teens to get their permits younger, or drive farm equipment without a permit or license. However, for most other states, 16 remains the magic number for finally moving forward with the next stage of life.

Safety in Stages

The American Automobile Association (AAA) reports that only 7 percent of the driving population is made up of teenage drivers. Yet, young drivers account for 14 percent of fatalities in car crashes; traffic accidents are the number one cause of death and injury for teenagers between the ages of 15 and 19, whether or not they are driving yet themselves. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that over 3000 teenagers died in car crashes in 2010. Out of this total, 59 percent of teen passenger deaths occurred in cars that were driven by a teen driver.

The reason so many teens are having problems with road safety is due to a number of factors:

·         Lack of driving skills and experience

·         Poor judgment about which decisions to make in a crisis

·         Taking too many risks on the road

·         Driving with too many distractions (cell phones, texting, music or friends in the car)

·         Excessive hours on the road during high-risk times of day (11 p.m. – 5 a.m.)

·         Drug and alcohol consumption

Looking at this data has led many states to implement a safer approach toward teenage drivers: Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL). This system meters out driving freedom in stages during the most critical early years when teens are still getting used to the road.

GDL programs allow teens to get their license at age 16, as expected. However, even after getting a license, there are still limitations on driving. For example, although they may drive alone without adult supervision, any passengers in the vehicle have to be adults. They may also be limited to the number of passengers they can have. At age 17, some GDL programs allow teens to have up to one other teen in the car, but only in the backseat, and only with an adult in the front seat. Cell phones use is typically not permitted until after age 18.

By slowly increasing the amount of responsibility teens have behind the wheel, these new drives have a chance to get used to being on the road without distractions like friends or phone calls. This allows them to gain valuable driving experience and build up the appropriate knowledge base and reflexes to become safe drivers.

Positive Benefits

There are a number of benefits to GDL programs and helping your teen become a safe driver. For one thing, your car insurance quotes will likely drop considerably. Historically, teens have the highest car insurance rates of any age bracket; going through a safe driver program will offer much better premium costs that can be leveraged further when comparing online insurance quotes. More important than just saving money, however, is knowing that your child is more protected on the road, both from other drivers and from themselves.