Teen Drivers and Older, Smaller Cars

Are you in the market for an economically advantageous car for your teenager to kick around town in? Are you thinking a smaller, older car might be just the ticket? You might want to rethink that after a study found that more teenagers die in older cars, especially those smaller in size. It would stand to reason that such cars would be the least likely to excel in crashes given the older protective technologies, or lack thereof, and smaller area of the vehicle. In fact, researchers found that four out of five teens killed over a five year span were driving cars at least six years old; that nearly half of teens killed in the same five year span were driving cars that were at least eleven years old; and that a third of these teens were driving small or mini cars.

Teenagers are at a higher risk than more experienced, older drivers of being in a fatal collision. They tend to have that invincible attitude young people often have so they are not as careful, may engage in riskier driving, and may not pay attention to laws telling them not to engage in distracted driving or to wear their seat belts at all times. This carefree attitude, coupled with the lack of experience of the teen driver, can cause deadly accidents in a car unable to protect as well as larger, newer models with more safety features.

Often parents do not have the luxury of purchasing newer larger vehicle models for extra drivers in the family, often teenagers. Fortunately, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has come out with a guide for parents concerned with safety and budgets when buying cars for their precious teenagers’ use. If you or someone you know has already become the victim of a crash, do not hesitate to contact Inserra & Kelley for expert, caring assistance in an unfortunate, unwanted accident.