A teenage driver in your household can be a heavy expense, especially if you plan to add him or her to your current car insurance policy.
It is not uncommon for a car insurance premium to increase from 50-100% after adding a teen to any given car insurance policy. Car insurance companies base premium rates on a number of different factors, but teen accident statistics and statistics related to teen driving behavior affect premium rates the most.
It is estimated that more than 31% of teen driver’s killed in 2006, were under the influence at the time of the accident. According to research, teen drivers also:
* Talk on cell phones while driving (56%)
* Speed up at yellow lights (64%)
* Speed to keep up with traffic (69%)
* Admit to being distracted when other passengers are in the car (47%). In fact, according to the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS) teen driver death rates increase with each additional passenger.
While the state of teen driving behavior and accident statistics may sound hopeless, it’s not. There are several things you can do to avoid accidents and in turn, lower your car insurance premiums such as enrolling in a defensive driver or driver safety course, limiting the number of passengers in the car, and limiting nighttime driving.
