Buying The Right Car For Your Teen

Take a deep breath . . . now think about this:  your teenager will be driving this year or next.

Before you put your teen behind the wheel, you may want to ask, “Does my child need their own car?”  I’ve been told plenty of teens do great without their own Jetta.  They walk . . . take buses . . . ride a skateboard or their bikes.

The radio hosts of NPR’s CarTalk polled 5,000 listeners on whether or not a 16-year-old should have his own car. Sixty-seven percent of those listeners responded with a resounding “no.”

Now for the tough stuff . . . AAA claims teenagers have an alarmingly high crash rate – four times higher than that of adults.   CarJunky.com reports a young adult driver is killed in a car crash every 15 minutes.

With that in mind, here are four rules any parent can use when choosing your teen’s first set of wheels:

Rule #1: The newer the car, the more safety features in the car.  According to AAA’s Westways magazine, most parents think giving your teen the family’s 10-year old clunker is the way to go. However, if SAFETY is your major concern, the family’s throwaway car might not make safety sense. 

Consumer Reports magazine states, “The later the model year, the more safety features there are on it . . . try to find a good mid-priced, mid-sized car, ABS brakes, dual-frontal air bags."

Here are some resources for families who must purchase a previously-owned vehicle:  To understand the pros and cons of buying a used car, check out The Consumer Guide Used Car Rating Guide. You can also find safety information about a previously owned car using the following resources: U.S. Department of Transportation, the Insurance Information Institute, and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Whatever you buy, be sure the car at the very least comes equipped with working air bags and anti-lock brakes.   

Rule #2: The bigger the car, the better the passengers do in accidents.  You may think a smaller car is easier to handle for the new driver. However, people in smaller cars have injury rates almost 70% higher than those in larger sedans. About Personal Finance suggests bigger cars have a greater ability to absorb higher impact collisions.

In an April 2007 report on driver death rates from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, their list of 16 car models with the highest death rates includes 11 small cars! 

What about SUVs?  According to Edmonds.com these “lite trucks” have a low death rate.  However, they can be difficult to handle in a road emergency.  Haven’t you wondered why SUVs are required to carry a label on the visor warning that “abrupt maneuvers” should be avoided?

Rule #3: The faster the car, the faster your kids will drive. Actually, high-horsepowered cars promote speeding and more risk-taking. Why put the temptation before your teen by making all those extra rpms available to his adolescent whims?

Rule #4:  The better the sound system, the more distraction for your teenager. According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, adjusting the radio or scanning for channels is the number one behind-the-wheel distraction among young drivers.  Now we have more distractions with iPods and iPhones with their small screens that need the driver’s attention to locate the music. As much as I love these gadgets, they need to be removed from your teen’s audio arsenal when driving.

John   
Email John:  johnsblog@teshmedia.com

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