By Derek LaFargue, Family and Teen Driver Protection Specialist
The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety announced today their proposal to increase the minimum driving age in all states in the US to age 17. Their reasons are solid and should help reduce the number of accidents involving teenagers.
The Graduated Drivers License program that almost every state has adopted has proven to work. Numbers of teen driver accidents and fatalities have decreased every year since its inception. The GDL program basically adds more supervised driving experience for teens and restricts them from driving during the times when risk is highest. However, more than 5,000 teens are killed in car accidents every year!
Although teens and many parents may not like this change, parents should understand that there are two primary reasons why 16 year olds are most likely to get into accidents- inexperience and immaturity. Parents can help their child get the experience by spending time supervising their teen behind the wheel.
Maturity, on the other hand, can only come with age. The GDL program gives the teen more time for experience but it doesn’t address the problem of immaturity. 16 year olds have the highest crash rate and fatalities of any age group and it’s largely due to peer pressure and not realizing the dangers they face.
16 year olds tend to think they are invincible behind the wheel and when other teens in their car urge them to drive fast, they cave into such pressures much easier.
Whether this proposal is passed in Arkansas or not, there are steps parents can take to reduce the likelihood of their child causing an accident.
Get a home study driving course and spend as much time possible teaching your teen the skills needed to drive safely.
Delay the time before your teen gets a full license. This will help your teen mature and give you more time to supervise your teen’s driving. This will also show how serious you are about their safety.
Get a GPS Teen Monitoring System. This will instantly reduce the likelihood of your teen driving dangerously. If your teen knows that you’ll be alerted, they will be less tempted to speed or break any other rules that you’ve set forth.
Talk to your teen about the dangers. Communication is probably the most effective way to make your teen a safer driver. Share the statistics and the most common mistakes teens make. Then get a contract in writing that states that your teen understands the dangers and will follow the rules you have set forth. You can download a free parent/teen driver contract by clicking here: http://www.teendriverinsurance.com/ar-metro-res.html
Please feel to comment on this blog or to send me your thoughts to derek@metroinsuranceinc.com
Showing posts with label teen driver GPS monitoring. Show all posts
Showing posts with label teen driver GPS monitoring. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Why Are Insurance Rates for Teens So High?
As an insurance agent, this is probably one of the most frustrating questions I get from parents who are adding their teen to their car insurance. I understand this frustration and after I explain the reasons, they usually respond with “But, my teen is a good driver…”
That may be true and you’ve probably spent countless hours helping your teen become a safer driver. If you have, then you should be glad that the chances of your teen getting into an accident will be less likely than most teens on the road. But let me emphasize… Less Likely Than Other Teens… not experienced drivers.
It takes thousands of hours behind the wheel to get the experience to avoid accidents and become the safest of drivers. And this can take years. Here’s a statistic to prove this point.
The crash rate for 16 year olds is nearly 3 times higher than 19 years and nearly 6 times higher than drivers 20 to 24 years old.
Unfortunately, you are going to have to pay high rates for your teen to drive. But, you can take steps to avoid paying the highest rates and keep them down.
Step One- Use an insurance agent that specializes in insuring teen drivers. Family Insurance Specialists represent companies that offer good rates but most importantly offer quality insurance protection that can help you avoid paying out of your own pocket for an accident if your teen causes an accident.
Step Two- Make sure you are getting every discount you deserve. Available discounts may include safe driver, claims-free, good grades, multiple policies with the same company, and in some states you can qualify for a lower rate by keeping a good credit rating.
Step Three- Buy a safe, older, lower profile vehicle for your teen to drive. Make sure it has airbags and anti-lock brakes and is not considered a dangerous vehicle. Your Family Insurance Specialist can help you decide which vehicles are least expensive to insure.
Step Four- Increase your deductibles or drop the collision on older vehicles. If your teen is driving an older, less expensive car, you can “self insure” the car. That means of course, if something happens, you’ll have to pay for the damages to your car, but it can save you a lot of money- nearly 1/3 to 1/2!
Step Five- Get a Teen Driver Monitoring Device installed in your teen’s car. Some insurance companies offer special discounts for these systems. The greatest advantage of these systems is that this will most likely prevent your teen from speeding. Speeding tickets can greatly increase your insurance rates and jeopardize your insurance coverage. Insurance companies know that if a teen driver gets a speeding ticket, the likelihood of an accident in the near future is great. You could get cancelled and it may be more difficult to get another insurance company to pick you up.
To learn more about how you can get the right protection for your teen driver, find out other ways you can save on your car insurance, and keep your teen driver safe visit my website at www.teendriverinsurance.com/metro or call my office at 479-751-5555.
That may be true and you’ve probably spent countless hours helping your teen become a safer driver. If you have, then you should be glad that the chances of your teen getting into an accident will be less likely than most teens on the road. But let me emphasize… Less Likely Than Other Teens… not experienced drivers.
It takes thousands of hours behind the wheel to get the experience to avoid accidents and become the safest of drivers. And this can take years. Here’s a statistic to prove this point.
The crash rate for 16 year olds is nearly 3 times higher than 19 years and nearly 6 times higher than drivers 20 to 24 years old.
Unfortunately, you are going to have to pay high rates for your teen to drive. But, you can take steps to avoid paying the highest rates and keep them down.
Step One- Use an insurance agent that specializes in insuring teen drivers. Family Insurance Specialists represent companies that offer good rates but most importantly offer quality insurance protection that can help you avoid paying out of your own pocket for an accident if your teen causes an accident.
Step Two- Make sure you are getting every discount you deserve. Available discounts may include safe driver, claims-free, good grades, multiple policies with the same company, and in some states you can qualify for a lower rate by keeping a good credit rating.
Step Three- Buy a safe, older, lower profile vehicle for your teen to drive. Make sure it has airbags and anti-lock brakes and is not considered a dangerous vehicle. Your Family Insurance Specialist can help you decide which vehicles are least expensive to insure.
Step Four- Increase your deductibles or drop the collision on older vehicles. If your teen is driving an older, less expensive car, you can “self insure” the car. That means of course, if something happens, you’ll have to pay for the damages to your car, but it can save you a lot of money- nearly 1/3 to 1/2!
Step Five- Get a Teen Driver Monitoring Device installed in your teen’s car. Some insurance companies offer special discounts for these systems. The greatest advantage of these systems is that this will most likely prevent your teen from speeding. Speeding tickets can greatly increase your insurance rates and jeopardize your insurance coverage. Insurance companies know that if a teen driver gets a speeding ticket, the likelihood of an accident in the near future is great. You could get cancelled and it may be more difficult to get another insurance company to pick you up.
To learn more about how you can get the right protection for your teen driver, find out other ways you can save on your car insurance, and keep your teen driver safe visit my website at www.teendriverinsurance.com/metro or call my office at 479-751-5555.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Study Explains the Staggering Cost of Insuring Teen Drivers
Ask any parent who has just added a kid to the family's insurance policy and they'll tell you how expensive it is to have a teen behind the wheel. But the overall cost of teen driving is as tragic as it is staggering.
According to a recent report from AAA, car accidents involving drivers 15 to 17 cost society more than $34 billion in medical expenses, property damage and related costs in 2006. AAA also reports, in 2006 drivers ages 15 to 17 were involved in approximately 974,000 crashes that injured 406,427 people and killed 2,541. Here are more sobering statistics:
According to a recent report from AAA, car accidents involving drivers 15 to 17 cost society more than $34 billion in medical expenses, property damage and related costs in 2006. AAA also reports, in 2006 drivers ages 15 to 17 were involved in approximately 974,000 crashes that injured 406,427 people and killed 2,541. Here are more sobering statistics:
- According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among U.S. teens, accounting for 36 percent of all deaths in this age group.
- The risk of motor vehicle crashes is higher among 16- to 19-year-olds than among any other age group, and per-miles-driven teens ages 16 to 19 are four times more likely than older drivers to crash, says the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
- Risk is highest at age 16, and the crash rate per miles driven is twice as high for 16 year olds as it is for 18 and 19 year olds, according to the IIHS.
- IIHS statistics show that 16- and 17-year-old driver death rates increase with each additional passenger.
Parents can reduce the high cost of insuring their teen drivers. There are special discounts that can really make a big difference in how much you will have to pay for your teen to drive. Some of these discounts include:
- Good Student- If you teen driver has a "B" average or better, you can save up to 10%.
- Multi-policy- If you insure your home and cars with the same company, you can save up to 15% on both policies
- GPS Teen Driver Monitoring System- There is one company that offers a 15% discount for installing this unit in the teen driver's car
- Safe Driver- If your family has a clean driving and claims record, you can save up to 15%
- Good credit- Some companies reward responsible customers based on their credit. This can be very significant and can save you as much as 35%.
The bottom line is that the most responsible families will pay the lowest premium. Stress to your teen that avoiding tickets and accidents is most critical to not only keeping your insurance rates down, but of course, assure the safety of your teen driver and others.
You can learn more about ways to save on your insurance and how you can keep your teen safe by visiting my website at www.teendriverinsurance.com/metro.
Wishing you and your family the best in health, happiness and prosperity.
Derek
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
News Alert! Free Installation of GPS Teen Driver Monitoring System
Hi,
I just received some exciting news from one of our insurance companies, Safeco. This company has been on the leading edge of teen driver safety and working to reduce the number of accidents involving teen drivers.
Last summer, they launched a new system called Teensurance to help their customers keep their kids safe. This is a GPS based system that is installed in the teen's car and alerts parents of dangerous behaviors such as speeding, driving beyond an allowed territory and breaking curfew.
Well, Safeco just announced that they are now offering this system to any parent that wants to get this system installed in their kid's vehicle. They will pay for the installation and the unit if the parent agrees to a 2 year contract. Similar systems can cost as much as $800.
There is a $14.99 per month monitoring fee which gives the parent website access to create and adjust the parameters for the alerts, view the location of the vehicle and it will even allow you to un-lock the car doors in case your teen gets locked out.
Along with the GPS system comes roadside assistance and other teen driver safety tools. If you would like more information, visit my website www.teendriverinsurance.com/metro or call my office at 479-751-5555.
Derek
PS Safeco is offering a 15% discount for anyone that is a Safeco customer or that becomes a customer. This 15% discount, in most cases, will pay for the monitoring fee just from the savings on their insurance. Call my office to become a Safeco customer and take advantage of this big discount. Considering the high rates for teen drivers, this could really be significant.
I just received some exciting news from one of our insurance companies, Safeco. This company has been on the leading edge of teen driver safety and working to reduce the number of accidents involving teen drivers.
Last summer, they launched a new system called Teensurance to help their customers keep their kids safe. This is a GPS based system that is installed in the teen's car and alerts parents of dangerous behaviors such as speeding, driving beyond an allowed territory and breaking curfew.
Well, Safeco just announced that they are now offering this system to any parent that wants to get this system installed in their kid's vehicle. They will pay for the installation and the unit if the parent agrees to a 2 year contract. Similar systems can cost as much as $800.
There is a $14.99 per month monitoring fee which gives the parent website access to create and adjust the parameters for the alerts, view the location of the vehicle and it will even allow you to un-lock the car doors in case your teen gets locked out.
Along with the GPS system comes roadside assistance and other teen driver safety tools. If you would like more information, visit my website www.teendriverinsurance.com/metro or call my office at 479-751-5555.
Derek
PS Safeco is offering a 15% discount for anyone that is a Safeco customer or that becomes a customer. This 15% discount, in most cases, will pay for the monitoring fee just from the savings on their insurance. Call my office to become a Safeco customer and take advantage of this big discount. Considering the high rates for teen drivers, this could really be significant.
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