General Casualty offers auto buying and insuring tips for you and your teen
By Gary Tribbey
Personal Lines Business Analyst
What kind of car should your teen drive? Parents won’t always be with their teens to guarantee they are making wise driving decisions, such as wearing a seatbelt, traveling the speed limit, acting responsibly and driving attentively. But they can make sure their children are driving safe, reliable vehicles.
Gary Tribbey, General Casualty personal lines business analyst, shares some vehicle information to consider when selecting and insuring a car for your teen.
- “Grocery-getters” are the way to go: A slightly older model, four-door sedan is a sturdier vehicle and will help prevent the temptation to drive fast, keep your teen safer in an accident and likely cost less to insure.
- Buy newer and safer: Newer vehicles, up to six to 10 years old, tend to offer more safety features. Look for a car with a sound structural design; seatbelts, airbags, and head restraint systems; anti-lock brakes and daytime running lights.
- Choose safety over high performance: Vehicles with performance features, such as turbo-charged engines, can encourage speeding. Avoiding vehicles with these features reduces the chances of a speed-related crash. Insurance companies also rate sports cars or performance vehicles higher because data shows they’re statistically more likely to driven faster and more recklessly.
- Pick a color, any color: Contrary to popular believe, a vehicle’s color has no bearing on insurance rates. No correlation has ever been found between the color of a car and the likelihood of the driver being involved in a crash.
- Do your homework: Before you make a final choice on a car for your teen, take advantage of the consumer information available on car safety that’s available online or from speaking with your auto insurance agent. Be sure and find out how your child’s vehicle type, academics and past violations will impact his or her individual rates and coverage options.
Gary also reminds parents and teens that drinking and drug use can have a very costly effect on auto insurance premiums, as well as health and safety. “Just one alcohol or drug violation could make a teen ineligible for standard auto insurance,” says Gary. “If the youth is forced to switch to a nonstandard insurer who handles high-risk drivers, annual insurance premiums could more than double. That means a 16-year-old male with one drinking violation could end up paying almost $4,000 a year just for car insurance.”
About the author: Gary Tribbey is a personal lines business analyst for General Casualty Insurance Companies and has 32 years of insurance experience. He speaks regularly at a Sun Prairie program for driver education students and their parents about the factors affecting auto insurance rates for teen drivers.
For more information please contact Anne M. Smith.