Confessions of a Driving Instructor

Lessons on how to properly insure your teen driver

Who’s liable?

Moore says many parents believe that if they go for low liability limits ($100,000 for injuries or $50,000 for property damage, for example) for their high school students, the household won’t be harmed if a teen driver is involved in an accident that seriously injures someone. It’s not uncommon for parents to be held responsible for damage and injuries caused by a high school student, even if the student has his or her own auto insurance policy.

“It has happened where the parent’s wages are part of a structured settlement or are garnished to pay for the accident damages,” Moore says. “Parents shouldn’t believe that they won’t be held responsible for the actions of their son or daughter, even if they have their own insurance policy.”

As far as responsibility goes, remind your teen that his or her grades could translate into cost savings. Discounts are available for young drivers, including price breaks for maintaining a B average in school. At Nationwide, the good-student discount is up to 15 percent; at Allstate, it’s up to 20 percent. Some companies also provide savings for students who pledge to drive safely or who participate in driver training courses.

via www.insurancequotes.com

Sam Puri of Insurancequotes.com sent me a link to the above article. Click the link to read the whole thing.

ThaiHealth Promotion Foundation PSA

via adsoftheworld.com

Auckland Transport: Kids see roads differently PSA

via adsoftheworld.com

AFTER WHISKY DRIVING RISKY

via www.flickr.com

Tips On How To Buy A Used Car For Your Teen

Reuters

A variety of used cars are for sale at a car dealership.

It’s that time of year again – back to school. Your teenager has probably been bugging you all summer long for their own set of wheels. While they may be ready to put their school bus days behind them, in this economy most parents aren’t ready to fork over some serious cash for their newly licensed teen. Here are five useful tips on what to look for when buying your child a used car.

Read the full article at www.foxnews.com

The author's five areas of concern (with my spin on them) are:

• Safety - Does the car have a good crashworthiness rating?  What about accident avoidance and occupant protection features? Is the car reliable?
• Driver Education - More than just rules-of-the-road, does your teen know how to develop safe driving habits?
• Monitoring - Monitoring systems encourage your teen to stay on their best behavior.  Systems range in features from GPS location and notification to audio/video monitoring.
• Choosing a Vehicle That Fits Your Needs - Don't just pick a vehicle based on style, consider functionality: number of passengers, cargo space needs, gas mileage, 2wd vs 4wd.
• Sharing the Cost - Additional car payments, maintenance, and insurance add up to a lot of money.  Encourage your teen to treat the vehicle more responsibly by requiring your teen to help with the payments.

I would add that before you purchase a vehicle, call your insurance company with the vehicles VIN.  Your agent will be able to give you a very close estimate of your teen's insurance rate and the agent can tell you what kinds of vehicles have lower rates.

Additionally, I believe that a teen driving contract is one of the most important tools you can use to transistion your new teen driver into a safe teen driver.  The contract ties realistic consequences to unacceptable actions and encourages responsibility by imparting some ownership of the vehicle to the teen.

Teen Drivers and Auto Insurance

The average increase in premiums across 25 cities was 156% after a teen was added to a policy, and that's under the best of circumstances.

By MSN Money partner on Tue, Jul 26, 2011 2:14 PM

This post comes from Des Toups at partner site CarInsurance.com.

If you're lucky, your car insurance premiums will only double when your teenage son hits the streets.

The impact of a teen on car insurance rates is one of the most common questions we receive at CarInsurance.com. And the answer is almost always, "It depends." No two households are alike, and so many factors go into rates that any answer is really a guess.

To get some clarity, we ran comparative insurance quotes in 25 states for otherwise identical families: a father, 49, and a mother, 48, driving a financed 2009 Toyota Camry and a paid-off 2004 Ford Expedition, both with full collision, comprehensive and liability coverage, and no violations or accidents. They live in middle-class suburbs and commute to white-collar jobs. (See: How does your vehicle compare on insurance rates?)

Then we added a teenage boy to the mix.

Fix yourself a drink: Your car insurance is going up

In Scottsdale, Ariz., Culver City, Calif., Black Forest, Colo., Hartford, Conn., and Alexandria, Va., our family's car insurance premiums tripled or worse. The average increase across our 25 cities was 156%.

Read the entire article at money.msn.com

Many variables factor in to auto insurance rates for teenagers, to include your location, vehicle type, driving record, and your teen's driving record. Rates vary from one company to another so it is worth it to shop around. Click the link above to read the entire article and shop smart for an auto policy for your teen.

SNAKE ON A CAR

via www.youtube.com

When you are confronted with frightening situation in your car, it is important to keep your composure. If you panic, you will put yourself, your passengers, and other roadway users in danger.

Like the mom in the video, you should focus on maintaining control of your car. In some (most) situations, you may need to pull over until the emergency is resolved.

Assessing Driver Maturity | Teen Driver Ed

More good stuff from TeenDriverEd.net. This article discusses the importance of assessing a teen driver's maturity in the area of driving.  Click the link at the bottom of this post to read the whole article.

There are three key components to creating safe habits for your new teen driver.  These components are maturity, attitude, and experience.  The first of these, maturity, is the hardest to measure because it encompasses both your teen’s wisdom in driving situations as well as your teen driver’s ability to make good decisions when he or she is not under direct supervision from an adult.

via www.teendrivered.net

Biker Gets Rear-Ended

 

Most collisions are caused by driver error.  In this case, the woman who rear-ended the biker was most likely not paying attention--she may have been talking on her cell phone, texting, or changing her radio station.  

The most important thing you can do to prevent collisions is to pay attention to the driving environment.  Stay engaged in the process of scanning the environment, identifying hazards, predicting how those hazards can cause collisions, deciding on collision avoidance scenarios, and acting on your decisions.

Safety Group Pushing For Tougher Seat Belt, Helmet Laws - News Story - KRDO Colorado Springs

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- You can't get pulled over in Colorado if you aren't wearing a seat belt, but one group wants to change that.Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety are lobbying Colorado lawmakers to make not wearing a seat belt a primary offense. They are also asking for a measure that would require helmets for all motorcycle riders.

"Education only goes so far," said Steven Williams, vice president of National Driver Training.  Williams and his driving school instructors uses every chance they get to pass on the "buckle up" message. But in reality, he said, it is the threat of being pulled over that really changes driver habits.

Advocates said seat belt use typically increases by 10 percent to 15 percent when it is a primary offense. But getting the law passed is not always easy.

via www.krdo.com

There is a delicate balancing act between the government's responsibility to protect us, and the limits of our personal freedom. Seatbelt laws are an example of just such a balancing act. While seatbelts are proven to save lives, many people argue that they infringe on personal freedoms. Where do you stand on the constitutionality of seatbelt laws?