He wanted style, high performance and maybe a little bit of bling. But his mother had a different idea about the car he would soon be driving. Like most parents, Kathy Clarke of LaGrange, Ill., placed importance on the car's purchase price, safety features and cost of car insurance. "Style" wasn't required for her teen driver.
The car "had to be safe, reliable and not expensive," says Clarke, a mother of two teenage drivers. "Those were our factors."
Safety is probably at the top of every parent's list -- and for good reason. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, or IIHS, 16- to 19-year-olds face four times the risk of being involved in a car crash than that of older drivers. Risk is highest at age 16. The crash rate per mile driven is twice as high among 16-year-olds compared with 18- to 19-year-olds.
The statistics are scary. It's no wonder many parents experience a strange mix of fear and joy when their teen first receives a driver's license. But here are six ways to minimize those fears.
1. Pick a safe car
Teens are not experienced drivers, which elevates their crash rate. According to the IIHS, "young novice drivers are at significant risk on the road because they lack both the judgment that comes with maturity and the skill that comes with experience."Putting teens behind the wheel of a high-performance sports car or a large SUV is a bad idea. Sports cars tempt teens to put the pedal to the metal. SUVs, while they can be appealing to a 16-year-old driver because they have plenty of room for friends, have a much higher probability of rolling over in an accident because of their higher center of gravity, according to the Insurance Information Institute, or III.
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Affordable and safe choices for midsize cars include the Chevrolet Impala, Ford Fusion, Honda Accord and Volkswagen Passat. Even slightly smaller cars, like the Ford Focus or Honda Civic, are recommended by experts for beginning drivers (see the end of the story for a list of safe cars for teens). But be wary of certain small cars that offer less protection for occupants.
2. New or used?
If you can afford to buy your teen a new car, you'll garner the latest protection features such as air bags, anti-lock brakes and electronic stability control (technology introduced in the 1990s that improves the safety of a vehicle's stability by detecting and minimizing skids). Of course, you can also expect higher collision insurance premiums on a new car.But you don't need to buy your teen a new car for it to be safe. Clarke and her husband chose a 10-year-old Saturn for their 16-year-old son, and it's proved to be safe and reliable.
"It's not the most glamorous car, but it had the right price, and it seemed to be in good condition," Clarke says.
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So if you can't afford a new vehicle, an older model in good working condition is a fine choice as well.
3. Check the car's crash test results
Whether you choose a new or used car, it's a good idea to check its car crash ratings. Not all new cars perform the same in crash tests. Insure.com's Car Crash Performance Tool contains information about vehicles that have been crash-tested by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the IIHS. The tool has safety ratings for car model years 1990 to 2009. Among other things, the cars were tested for their frontal impact, side impact and rollover performance.In addition, the IIHS identifies top safety picks for new models annually. Cars, trucks, SUVs and minivans are categorized by size (large, small and midsize). The institute rates vehicles based on high-speed frontal and side crash tests plus evaluations of seat/head restraints for protection against neck injuries in rear impacts.
"They are good indicators of which is the safest car for your teen," Worters says.
Continued: 10 safe cars for teens
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