Online Auto Insurance: Report Highlights Dangers Posed by Teenage Drivers

A new National Safety Council/Allstate Foundation report that calls for nationwide adoption of strict rules on teen driving underscores the risks that continue to be posed by young people behind the wheel, according to Online Auto Insurance (OAI).

Statistics show that younger motorists are far more likely than other drivers to cause vehicle accidents, a fact that has prompted many states to restrict teen driving and has long made cheap car insurance for teenagers practically unavailable for most.

On a per-mile basis, teen motorists "are involved in three times as many fatal crashes as all other drivers," according to federal safety officials.

Source: http://www.nhtsa.gov/Teen-Drivers

According to the Insurance Information Institute (III), younger drivers are dangerous because of a combination of immaturity and a lack of the sort of judgment that can be gotten only through experience in the driver's seat.

That's why beginning motorists are more liable to engage in risky behaviors such as speeding, tailgating, talking on cell phones while driving and paying insufficient attention to the road.

The National Safety Council and Allstate Foundation support legislation currently in Congress that would require states to implement strict graduated driver's licensing (GDL) programs in order to be eligible for millions of dollars in federal transportation funding.

Most states already have GDL programs, which require young people to work harder and longer in order to achieve full driving privileges and impose restrictions including when and with whom teens are allowed to drive. But not all programs are equally rigorous.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), states with the strictest GDL requirements have seen reductions of more than one-third in both fatal and injury crashes involving 16-year-old drivers.

No matter what the licensing requirements are for young drivers in your state, however, III says there are steps that parents can take to keep their teenage children safer behind the wheel:

Pick a vehicle that offers good crash protection.

Enroll your teen in a driver education course or safe driver program.

Discuss the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol or other drugs, talking on cell phones and other distractions.

Set a good example by not breaking any rules of the road.

To learn more about this and other safety and car insurance issues, readers can go to http://www.onlineautoinsurance.com/teenagers/cheapest-young-drivers/ where they will find informative resource pages and a helpful rate-comparison generator.