We love our kids, and as much as we want to let them do whatever they want (i.e: drive and stay out late), but we also want to make sure that they come home safe and in one piece.
If you’re a parent and you’re thinking of getting your child a new set of wheels this coming New Year, you will find this article by the IIHS – Insurance Institute for Highway Safety – very useful.
ARLINGTON, Va. — Many teenagers are driving vehicles that don’t offer good crash protection and lack important safety technology, new research by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows. To help guide parents toward safer choices, IIHS has compiled its first-ever list of recommended used vehicles for teens.
IIHS is known for its ratings of new vehicles, but for many families, a 2014 TOP SAFETY PICK or TOP SAFETY PICK+ isn’t in the budget. In a national phone survey conducted for IIHS of parents of teen drivers, 83 percent of those who bought a vehicle for their teenagers said they bought it used.
With that reality in mind, the Institute has compiled a list of affordable used vehicles that meet important safety criteria for teen drivers (see below). There are two tiers of recommended vehicles with options at various price points, ranging from less than $5,000 to nearly $20,000, so parents can buy the most safety for their money, whatever their budget.
“A teenager’s first car is more than just a financial decision,” says IIHS President Adrian Lund. “These lists of recommended used vehicles can help consumers factor in safety, in addition to affordability.”
With that in mind, just how then do we mix safety with economical and practical budget-friendly cars that are within our savings? Before you purchase your child’s car, it might be safer to start by renting cars first prior to buying one. That way, you can see just how responsible your kids are when they are left to handle the car on their own. By renting, special occasions would be a perfect time to lease; and exotic car rentals are one of the best options you can have to ensure that the cars you are borrowing confine to the standards and guidelines of safety in the road.
The next article from Forbes will give you some great tips on how to choose the right car for your kids, keeping in mind both safety and practicality in terms of price:
Though statistics suggest today’s teenagers aren’t as eager to get behind the wheel as were their car-crazy predecessors, obtaining a driver’s license and driving one’s first car remains an important rite of passage for young adults. Unfortunately, a recent study found that many teens are driving vehicles that are woefully insufficient in terms of crash protection and safety technology.
This is particularly crucial, as car crashes remain the leading cause of death among Americans ages 15 to 19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
And lastly, still from Forbes, here in the article The Safest Used Cars For Teen Drivers, the website gives us the following recommendations such as:
The group’s recommendations are guided by four main principles:
• Young drivers should stay away from high horsepower. Powerful engines can tempt teens to test the limits.
• Bigger, heavier vehicles protect better in a crash. The recommended list does not include minicars or small cars; small SUVs are included, as their weight is similar to that of a midsize car.
• ESC is a must. This feature helps a driver maintain control of the vehicle on curves and slippery roads; it reduces risk on a level comparable to safety belts.
• Vehicles should have the best safety ratings possible. At least good ratings in the institute’s moderate overlap front test, acceptable ratings in its side crash test and four or five stars from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
