Many auto insurance companies consider drivers under the age of 25 a higher-than-average risk for vehicle-related accidents; therefore, searching for the best insurance for young drivers is vital.

This high risk of teen accident and death can skyrocket your insurance rates 50 to 100 percent, says Jeanne Salvatore of the Insurance Information Institute (III), and often translates into high teen auto insurance premiums.

But wait—don’t take away your teenager’s car keys just yet. You can save money and afford the insurance you need to cover your teenager…if your teen expends some effort and follows these guidelines:

  • Keep a Clean Driving Record — Just one DWI conviction can raise teen insurance rates from a base premium of a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars annually for at least three years.
  • Earn Brownie Points — Many companies offer discounts to teens that attend high school or college full-time and maintain at least a 3.0 grade point average. Insurance agents also offer discounts to those taking a locally accredited driver safety course or other state-certified programs. (Ask your agent about these discounts, or get online information from the National Safety Council.)
  • Involve Yourself in Your Community — Young people who join certain civic or community organizations such as Eagle Scouts or Girl Scouts may receive discounts from their car insurance providers, says David Champion of Consumer Reports. These companies are trying to find the least risky teens, so they often reward time spent bettering your community with discounts, Champion adds.
  • Choose a Safer Car — Teen car insurance may cost up to 50 percent less if your teen drives a safer car such as a Honda Civic or a Volvo, according to Champion. Newer model cars with airbags are the least expensive to insure—and the safest for your teen to drive. Sports cars, expensive cars, high-performance cars and SUVs carry higher risk and higher insurance premiums.
  • Add Safety Features — Safety features such as anti-lock brakes, traction control, automatic seat belts and side-impact air bags can reduce teen car insurance rates considerably.

Teaching by Example

More young people between the ages of 15 and 20 die in car crashes than from anything else—causing risk for the car insurance company and higher quotes for teen drivers.

One of the best ways to offset this risk and keep teens safe is for adults to set a good example behind the wheel. Parents who actively model safe driving practices like these in front of their teen ultimately produce better adult drivers with lower car insurance quotes:

  • Brush up on state laws. Know state driving and insurance rules, as well as their effect on teen car insurance quotes, and practice them while driving.
  • Enforce safety and low quotes by making your teen participate in Graduated Driver Licensing, a three-step program that helps new drivers practice car driving under lower-risk conditions before becoming fully car licensed and requesting quotes.
  • Set and enforce rules for when, where, how and with whom the teen may drive the car—and practice the same guidelines in the car yourself—to help keep teen quotes low.
  • Ask your car insurance company about electronic tracking devices that monitor the way your teen drives the car—and their effect on quotes. Then use the information gathered to teach teen drivers safe habits and save money with low teen quotes.

Safe Driving Tips For Better Teen Car Insurance

Adding a young person to your auto insurance policy can raise rates 50 to 100 percent. But with a few simple steps, you can help keep auto insurance rates low by insisting your teen follows these rules:

  • Keep the number of car passengers to a minimum. The more people riding in the car, the greater the likelihood of accident—and high teen insurance quotes. In fact, with multiple car passengers, the risk of crashing is three to five times greater than when driving alone, which partially accounts for high teen insurance rates.
  • Slow down. 90 percent of teens admit to speeding—one of the main causes of teen car crashes—and higher insurance quotes.
  • Buckle up. About two-thirds of teens who die in car wrecks are not wearing seat belts. For more advice on the subject, talk to your insurance agent about the effect of accident on teen quotes.
  • Put the phone down. Driving while talking on the phone, dialing or texting distracts a teen, and increases the incidence of car accident and high insurance quotes.
  • Speak up. If a teen friend is driving recklessly, ask him or her to quit—or get out of the car as soon as it’s safe to do so.
  • Stay home when under the influence. 25 percent of teen drivers killed are intoxicated, leading to increased teen insurance quotes.

Experts say the part of the teen brain that weighs risk, makes judgment calls and controls impulsive teen behavior doesn’t mature until they’re around 25.

However, young drivers can overcome most immaturity issues—and keep car insurance rates low—simply by following these guidelines.

Driving is a privilege your teenager should respect, so lay down some ground rules before he or she gets ever gets into the driver’s seat! By laying down a few ground rules, you can help your teen approach the wheel with a mature attitude—and save money when covering your young driver.

Teens in the Driver Seat

American teens are much more likely than seasoned drivers to get involved in car accidents. But for many teens, the real consequences of crashes aren’t always real — until they hit close to home.

Teens in the Driver Seat (TDS), a program operated by the Texas Transportation Institute, seeks to raise awareness of safe driving with a method that not all school districts and municipalities have tried: direct peer-to-peer education.

In TDS chapters (mostly in Texas and expanding to other states), teens talk directly to other teens and help design the program’s curriculum. The program’s website includes stories written by teens who share the hard lessons they learned about driving safety. Members and proponents have cited this teen-to-teen factor as a major strength of the program. TDS claims that it, along with Texas’ graduated teen licensing laws, has reduced crash rates in many cities and school districts in which it has set up shop.

TDS estimates that 3,000 teens die in crashes each year, and tens of thousands more are injured or cause injuries. Its website has a running tally of estimated teen crash deaths so far for the year. High teen accident rates are financially costly as well. Nationwide, the economic cost of car crashes involving teens is $41 billion a year, according to the Texas Transportation Institute. And any family with a teenager knows how much auto insurance premiums can spike when a teen is added to the policy.

TDS tackles these problems by targeting what it sees as the biggest dangers that teen drivers face. According to the group’s research, the top five risks associated with teen driving are:

  • Nighttime driving. In 2009, 26 percent of teen crash deaths occurred between midnight and 6 a.m., according to the Texas Transportation Institute.
  • Speeding. Teens, because of their lack of experience, have trouble determining how much space to leave between their cars and the cars ahead of them when driving at high speeds.
  • Distractions. Cellphones, the radio and other passengers can cause teens to take their eyes off the road.
  • Not wearing a seat belt. Teens buckle up less frequently than older drivers do, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
  • Driving under the influence. The first years of driving are some of the worst to get a drunken driving conviction. A DUI/DWI conviction will raise a teen’s auto insurance premiums and can stand in the way of scholarships and jobs.

Teen Driving Bill Could Create Stricter Rules in Some States

Teen drivers in some states could find their driving privileges more tightly restricted if a recently introduced bill makes it through Congress.

The State Teen and Novice Driver Uniform Protection Act (STAND UP Act) would require all states to adopt minimum graduated driver licensing (GDL) requirements for teen drivers under 18. Although nearly all states already have some form of restricted licensing for young drivers, the standards vary widely.

The federal legislation, which was introduced in March 2011 by U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and U.S. Rep. Tim Bishop, D-N.Y., would mandate national GDL requirements, including:

  • A three-stage licensing system
  • A minimum age of 16 for obtaining a learner’s permit
  • Restricted nighttime driving for unsupervised drivers in the intermediate licensing stage
  • Passenger restrictions — only one non-family passenger until driver is 18 and fully licensed
  • A ban on cellphone use (calls and texting) until driver is fully licensed at age 18

States would have three years to carry out the standards or face penalties that would cost them 3 percent of their federal highway in the first fiscal year, 5 percent in the second year and 10 percent in the third year, according to Gillibrand.

This legislation is the latest attempt to reduce the dangers that teen drivers pose to themselves and others on the road. Because of their lack of experience behind the wheel, they’ve historically been a risky group, as reflected by teens’ higher auto insurance rates. More than 2,300 teens age 15 to 20 died in car crashes in 2009, according to the Saferoads4teens Coalition. And it’s not just teens who are accident victims< — since 2000, nearly 81,000 people in the United States have been killed in crashes involving teen drivers.

The states’ GDL programs seem to be lowering those numbers. States that have adopted GDL programs have teen crash rates decline by 10 percent to 30 percent. Strict GDL laws also reduced auto insurance collision claims from 16-year-olds by 20 percent, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Getting all states on the same page through federally mandated standards would make some states’ rules tougher — and that would make roads even safer, according to Gillibrand.

Today, there are a wide range of GDL requirements, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. Some states, like Massachusetts, require teens be at least 16 before they can apply for a learner’s permit. Montana, on the other hand, allows 14-year-olds to start driving with supervision. New Jersey teens have to wait until they are 17 before they can get even an intermediate driver’s license, while Montana teens can get full driving privileges with no restrictions at 16.

Study Focuses on the Moments Before a Teen Crashes

Teen drivers are more at risk for accidents than experienced drivers. It’s reflected in state laws that restrict their driving privileges — and in their higher auto insurance rates. But what kind of behaviors causes these accidents? A recent study zeroes in on the moments before teen car crashes to determine what decisions — and mistakes — they’re making.

The study, published in the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention in 2011, was performed by Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and State Farm. Researchers took a look at 800 crashes that involved teens at the wheel to see whether they could find some common threads.

What they found seems to indicate that teen crashes aren’t usually caused by aggressive driving and “thrill-seeking,” according to a news release. Instead, most teen crashes were blamed on:

  • Failure to scan (21 percent of teen crashes): Scanning the road visually for potential hazards in all directions is a “high-level” skill that doesn’t become habit until after months of experience on the road, according to the study. While older drivers look to each side and far ahead, teen drivers focus mainly on the area directly in front of the vehicle. This limits the ability to respond to collision threats like a fast car approaching from behind.
  • Driving too fast (21 percent of crashes): This includes speeding around corners and subsequently losing control of the vehicle, as well as failing to take into account conditions like slick or poorly paved roads.
  • Distractions (20 percent of crashes): These included distractions both inside the vehicle (like cellphones and other passengers) and outside the vehicle (like a crash scene).

Researchers concluded that most teen crashes are not related to emotional aggression or deliberate risk-taking, but instead are caused by the simple formula of inexperience combined with immature risk-assessment ability.

A possible solution, therefore, involves graduated driver licensing (GDL) laws, which are already on the books in most states. Almost all states have multistage driver licensing requirements, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. And some of these requirements reflect the study’s findings. For example, before earning full driving privileges, teens in most states are required to go through a stage that limits the number of passengers and bans cellphone use.

It’s no secret to the auto insurance industry that teens pose a higher risk than adult drivers do. The crash rate for drivers 16 to 19 years old is four times higher than that for older drivers, according to the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety. Insurance companies, therefore, charge teens higher premiums to cover their “share” of the damages.

Training Teens at Risk

If you have a teenager at home, you know how unpredictable they can be. But give a teen the car keys and a driver’s license, put him or her behind the wheel, and throw a few friends into the mix, and that impulsivity and unpredictability might just turn deadly!

According to Trafficsafety.org, the biggest risk facing teens today is not drugs, alcohol, school violence or suicide. Instead, teen drivers are more willing to take risks that wiser, more experienced drivers would avoid—leading to motor vehicle crashes that injure and kill thousands of kids each year.

As parents concerned about your children and their safety, you do everything possible to protect your kids and teach them good driving habits. But the pressures of living and working, time constraints and a lack of knowledge and resources can make helping your teenager learn to drive difficult, to say the least.

Still, experts say parental coaching is one of the most effective ways to counter immaturity, and train and protect teenage drivers when they hit the road.

In fact, with the right influence, wisdom and knowledge under his belt, your young driver can get all the tools he needs to avoid becoming a statistic—and influence his friends to become safe drivers as well.

Some Things You May Not Know

  • 84 percent of fatal crashes involving 16- to 17-year-olds are due to a combination of inexperience, distraction, speed, fatigue, driving at night and failing to buckle up. The remaining 16 percent involve alcohol.
  • Two-thirds of teen car occupants killed in car accidents aren’t wearing seat belts.
  • 16-year-olds are three times more likely to die in a car crash than anyone else.
  • Teens driving with two or more teen passengers have a five times greater chance of dying.
  • 40 percent of all teen driver fatalities result from speeding.
  • Two-thirds of fatal crashes involving teenagers are a result of driver error.
  • Young drivers and their passengers are four times more likely to be involved in traffic accidents than older drivers.

Talk about sobering statistics! Tally those up and it’s easy to see the importance of parental influence in safe, responsible teen driving.

Mentoring young drivers and teaching them good habits also helps keep teen car insurance rates at bay—and protects youngsters as they gain the experience necessary to make sound driving decisions on their own.

8 Quick Tips to Keep Teen Drivers Safe

If you’ve never taught a teenage son or daughter to drive, you may be clueless how to do so.

To help you get started, we’ve put together some quick tips to walk you and your teen through the learning process.

  • Read about and enforce the graduated driver’s licensing laws in your state. GDL laws give young drivers increasing privileges over time, allowing them more freedom as they gain experience and learn under safer conditions. Contact your state department of insurance for more information.
  • Schedule lots of supervised practice driving time. Though 50 hours are required in most states, a complicated skill like driving requires more for proficiency. Make use of everyday trips, allowing your teen to drive at different times of day, in various types of weather and under differing conditions, for a full range of driving experience. Practice makes perfect!
  • Use positive reinforcement, praising your teen driver when he uses good judgment or drives responsibly. Conversely, use discipline when needed, explaining what the teen did wrong and how he could have handled the situation differently when faced with it again.
  • Set a good example. Don’t engage in behaviors yourself that you don’t want your young driver engaging in, such as chatting on a cell phone while driving, neglecting to wear your seat belt or speeding. Practice what you preach!
  • Discuss the route together before letting your son or daughter head out in the car alone. Make sure he knows where he’s going, how to get there and what the roads will be like along the way. Leave no room for surprise!
  • Talk about situations that put your teenager at risk, such as carrying other teen passengers, eating or drinking while driving, or getting behind the wheel when they’re drowsy. Set ground rules for these types of activities—and make sure your teen clearly understands the danger involved and the consequences for not following them.
  • Wait at least a year after your teen gets licensed to buy him a car. Meanwhile, let him share the family car. This keeps vehicle access in your control and allows you to impose its terms of use (such as always buckling up, never using a cell phone while driving and sharing responsibility for gas and repairs).
  • Allow no passengers or nighttime driving for at least six months. Your teen’s risk of being involved in a crash increases exponentially with each adolescent passenger and at night. Unless you’re riding along, set a “no peer passengers” rule and require your young driver to be off the road by 9:30 or 10 each evening.

Parents as Role Models

Obvious or not, most teenage drivers look to their parents for advice. Practice the three Cs when teaching your teen to drive: Caring, communication and consequences. With a little time and practice, your teen will learn the skills he needs—and grow into a courteous, safe driver you can be proud of.

Teaching by Example

More young people between the ages of 15 and 20 die in car crashes than from anything else—causing risk for the car insurance company and higher quotes for teen drivers.

One of the best ways to offset this risk, lower teen car insurance quotes and keep their teen safe, is for adults to set a good example for their teen behind the car wheel.

Parents who actively model safe driving practices like these in front of their teen ultimately produce better adult drivers with lower car insurance quotes:

  • Brush up on state laws. Know state driving and insurance rules, as well as their effect on teen car insurance quotes, and practice them while driving.
  • Enforce safety and low quotes by making your teen participate in Graduated Driver Licensing, a three-step program that helps new drivers practice car driving under lower-risk conditions before becoming fully car licensed and requesting quotes.
  • Set and enforce rules for when, where, how and with whom the teen may drive the car—and practice the same guidelines in the car yourself—to help keep teen quotes low.
  • Ask your car insurance company about electronic tracking devices that monitor the way your teen drives the car—and their effect on quotes. Then use the information gathered to teach teen drivers safe habits and save money with low teen quotes.

Practicing Safe Driving

Adding a young person to the parents’ insurance policy can raise car insurance rates 50 to 100 percent.

But if they’re willing to go the extra mile, teens can minimize financial impact and help keep everyone safe by taking these few, simple steps:

  • Keep the number of car passengers to a minimum. The more people riding in the car, the greater the likelihood of accident—and high teen insurance quotes. In fact, with multiple car passengers, the risk of crashing is three to five times greater than when driving alone, which partially accounts for high teen insurance rates.
  • Slow down. 90 percent of teens admit to speeding—one of the main causes of teen car crashes—and higher insurance quotes.
  • Buckle up. About two-thirds of teens who die in car wrecks are not wearing seat belts. For more advice on the subject, talk to your insurance agent about the effect of accident on teen quotes.
  • Put the phone down. Driving while talking on the phone, dialing or texting distracts a teen, and increases the incidence of car accident and high insurance quotes.
  • Speak up. If a teen friend is driving recklessly, ask him or her to quit—or get out of the car as soon as it’s safe to do so.
  • Stay home when under the influence. 25 percent of teen drivers killed are intoxicated, leading to increased teen insurance quotes.

Experts say the part of the teen brain that weighs risk, makes judgment calls and controls impulsive teen behavior doesn’t mature until they’re around 25. However, young drivers can overcome most immaturity issues—and keep car insurance rates low—simply by following these guidelines.

Lowering Teen Car Insurance

Though teens, as a group, carry higher car insurance quotes than adults, much of that cost can be moderated through active learning and safe teen car driving.

So practice safe driving in front of your teen…and require them to follow suit. You’ll keep everyone more secure, keep more of your hard-earned money—and raise a mature, responsible driver your insurance company will love.

Safety Tips and Car Insurance for Teens

Teen drivers have the highest death rate of any age group. More than 5,000 teens ages 16 to 20 die annually in car accidents, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

While getting their driver’s license is essentially a rite of passage into adulthood, it can be enough to make any parent frantic with worry…and make getting affordable car insurance for teens difficult.

But according to the Insurance Information Institute (III) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), there is something fretful parents can do to help protect their teens: choose a safe vehicle.

Along those lines, the III and the IIHS recommend the following tips to ensure new drivers stay safe and get the car insurance they need before hitting the road:

  • Avoid vehicles that encourage reckless driving. Teen drivers not only lack experience, but also the maturity needed to opt out of dangerous activities such as speeding and other reckless driving behaviors.
  • Avoid unstable vehicles. This includes SUVs and pickup trucks, which are less stable than cars because of their higher centers of gravity and the increased likelihood of rollover.
  • Pick a vehicle offering good crash protection. A knowledgeable agent can offer advice, or you can check out vehicle crash test ratings online.
  • Avoid small vehicles. Choose a mid- or full-size car offering more adequate crash protection for your teen. Once again, it is wise to check safety ratings online to compare one vehicle to another.
  • Avoid older vehicles. Today’s cars are much better designed than those of even six to 10 years ago. Choose a newer, mid-sized car with airbags over an older, larger car with no airbag protection.

Driving is a privilege teenagers should respect, so lay down some ground rules before allowing them into the driver’s seat—no matter what kind of car they drive. Then require them to keep a clean driving record, earn good grades in school, involve themselves in the community, and wear their seat belts to earn insurance discounts, stay safe and get the lowest possible rate on car insurance.

Don’t put your teens’ lives at risk by letting them drive an unsafe car. Do your research, involve your kids in car comparisons, and put them behind the wheel of the safest vehicle you can afford. Then require them to approach driving with a mature attitude.

Better Grades Can Mean Better Auto Insurance Rates for Teen Drivers

Auto insurance companies can increase a parent’s premium by as much as 50 percent to 100 percent when a teen driver is added to the policy, according to the Insurance Information Institute. If your teen is a good student, however, you may be able to offset some of the damage to your wallet.

Why do auto insurance companies charge more for teens?

The stereotype of teenage drivers includes speeding, carelessness and probably a lot of time on their cell phones. And statistics seem to back up some of these stereotypes. Generally speaking, teens don’t have the driving experience to respond well to dangerous situations on the road. That, and their potential for recklessness, makes them a big risk for insurance companies:

  • Auto crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
  • More than 80 percent of teen drivers surveyed by the Allstate Foundation and the National Organizations for Youth Safety have talked on a cell phone while driving; 68 percent acknowledged texting while driving.
  • About 73 percent of teens surveyed in Southern California said they had been exposed to reckless driving, speeding and driving while intoxicated, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). It’s worth noting that these teens considered 93 miles per hour the threshold for speeding.
  • More than half of teens involved in fatal crashers were not wearing seat belts, according to the NHTSA.

Good Student Discounts

How do you convince an insurance company that your teenager is more than just another statistic and deserves a lower premium? You might be able to get a discount by showing your teen’s report card to your insurer. Good students are usually eligible for a variety of auto insurance discounts — because, from an insurance company’s perspective, good grades indicate maturity and responsibility.

State Farm, for example, offers student discounts for teens who meet one of the following criteria:

  • Ranking in the upper 20 percent of their class
  • B average or higher
  • Grade-point average of 3.0 (out of 4.0) or higher
  • Appearance on the dean’s list or honor roll

Homeschooled kids can qualify by placing in the top 20 percent for national standardized tests, including the PSAT, PLAN, SAT-1 and ACT.

Nationwide and GEICO also give student discounts to teens with at least a B average; Nationwide’s discount is 15 percent. Your auto insurance company likely will ask for proof of your teen driver’s academic achievements. AAA, for example, accepts a copy of the most recent transcript or report card, or a certification form completed by a school official.

Bad Economy Might Be Costing Teens Their Driver’s Licenses

A recent poll from Nationwide Insurance found that parents are struggling to afford gas and increased auto insurance premiums. That could be forcing their teens to delay getting their driver’s licenses. The study, which took place in Texas, surveyed 326 parents of 15- to 19-year-olds.

It’s no secret that the younger a driver is, the more expensive his or her auto insurance coverage will be. Adding a teenager to an auto insurance policy in Texas, according to Nationwide’s study, will increase a parent’s policy by an average of $1,100 a year. The costs do not end there, however. Gas prices, inflation and insurance combined mean most parents will end up paying more than $4,000 a year to allow a teen to drive.

According to Nationwide’s study, the high cost of teen driving has resulted in a decrease in policies that include teen drivers. Such policies made up 5.8 percent of its policies in 2008 but dropped to 5.4 percent in 2011. About 60 percent of parents said they had to make financial cutbacks to afford the costs of letting their teens drive.

Why is auto insurance for teens so expensive? Insurance costs are based on risk, and studies have shown that younger drivers are involved in more accidents and receive more moving violations than older, more experienced drivers. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the crash rate for drivers between 16 and 19 is five times that of drivers older than 20. Death rates for teen drivers also are higher. IIHS reports that 35 percent of all deaths among 16- to 19-year-olds were the result of auto accidents.

Vehicle damage is significantly higher among teen drivers as well. A 2007 study from IIHS’ Highway Loss Data Institute found that collision losses for cars driving by teens were more than twice those of vehicles driven by adults.

A few tips for saving on car insurance for your teen include:

  • Encouraging good grades. Many companies offer good student discounts for students with a B average or higher. Allstate, for example, offers up to 20 percent off for students under 25 who maintain good academic records. The rationale behind this is that students with better grades tend to be more responsible in all areas of life — including on the road.
  • Signing your teen up for driver’s education classes. An approved driver’s education course will help show that your teen is a responsible driver worthy of a premium discount, according to the Insurance Information Institute.
  • Shopping around. Shop around for insurance quotes, as premiums can differ dramatically from company to company.

Saving Money on Teen Auto Insurance

Adding your teenager to your auto insurance policy can be costly. But teen auto insurance is essential to protect your teen—and your car—in case of an accident.

We’d like to help you find affordable teen coverage. Just fill out our quote box at the top right of this page, and we’ll get you up to five quotes fast. Don’t take any chances… your children are priceless!

Driving is a privilege your teenager should respect, so lay down some ground rules before he or she gets ever gets into the driver’s seat!

More than 5,000 teens ages 16 to 20 die annually in car accidents, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. A greater claims risk and higher likelihood of death mean higher teen auto insurance prices. So keep your teen safe, set your expectations high—and enjoy teen car insurance savings!

Teen Coverage You Can Afford

Your family deserves the best—and that includes teen auto insurance. Don’t pay exorbitant prices for the coverage your teenager needs. Again, let us help you find a policy at a price you can afford! Simply fill out our quote box at the top right of this page, and we’ll get you up to five quotes right away.