The object is to shield your teen as much as possible from the natural and inevitable consequences of youth and inexperience. Even if your kid is mature and responsible beyond his years, he or she is still aninexperienced driver. It takes seat time to become familiar with how a car behaves in various situations -- in ice and snow, at night, under unexpected conditions -- and more to the point, how others (that random element) behave in their cars. That initial 12-48 month period is the "danger zone" when accidents due to errors of judgment, lack of experience -- or simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time -- are most likely to happen.
The car you choose for that first year or three of real world behind-the-wheel training can make all the difference between smooth sailing -- and something that didn't have to happen.
Here are some general car-buying guidelines that will help keep your teen driver out of trouble:
* Choose a car: SUVs and pick-ups are poor choices for first-time drivers --especially SUVs and trucks without 4WD. They tend to be light in the rear (because the weight of the engine/driveline is concentrated up front) and thus have a tendency to "fishtail" during panic stops or when the road is slick. You can crutch this somewhat by loading up the bed (or cargo area) with a few hundred pounds of dead weight -- or by purchasing an SUV or pick-up that has 4WD. But even with 4WD, pick-ups and SUVs are less stable, more tipsy, take longer to stop -- and are thus more dangerous for a just-minted driver than a passenger car. It's better to learn the essentials on a car before moving to a specialty vehicle of any type such as pick-up, SUV or sports car.
* Choose a larger car: Bigger and heavier is inherently safer -- especially in the event of a crash into a fixed object (such as a tree) or with a larger vehicle (such as an SUV). Larger cars offer more built-in occupant protection because they're able to absorb more force than smaller, lighter cars. If you go to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's web site (www.nhtsa.dot.gov) you'll see that vehicles in the full and mid-sized category tend to score much better in crash testing than cars in the compact and smaller categories. Avoid subcompact-sized cars -- even if they do get better gas mileage. A very small car stands little chance when T-boned by a Hummer. (A side benefit of a larger car is it can carry more stuff -- a fact worth pointing out to your road-tripping teenage son or daughter.)
* Choose a later model car: Basic reliability can be as important as basic safety. You don't want your kid learning the hard way about bald tires, bad brakes, shot shocks and a worn out suspension. Whatever car you end up buying, take the time to make certain it is mechanically sound and completely roadworthy; have a reputable shop or mechanic you trust give it a thorough once over -- and fix anything that needs fixing. Leave the broken down el-cheapo special "beater" for your son or daughter's second car.
* Choose a car without a wing, hood scoop, loud exhaust, big engine -- or anything else that says "I'm looking for a race": Teens being teens, few have the judgment to resist being egged-on by other teens to "see what it'll do." If it looks fast or sounds fast you can bet they'll want to see just how fast it really is. And the end result is often tragic. Just as new pilots don't start out in F-14s, new drivers should be kept away from cars with capabilities far beyond their limited experience. V-8s should be off the menu, period -- but eyeball even the four cylinder cars out there because some of them may not look like much but are in fact silly-fast things no one under 18 should be allowed near. (Side bennie: You will pay less to insure an under-21 driver if you avoid sporty, high-performance vehicles and stick with basic transportation - mid-size, family-car style four door sedans and wagons especially.)
* Choose a car with ABS and at least dual (driver and front-seat passenger) air bags: Pretty much any car built after about the 2000 model year will have both of these safety features. Anti-lock brakes (ABS) help prevent the vehicle from skidding out of control during a panic stop as a result of the brakes "locking up." Air bags protect against impact forces in a crash -- and are particularly valuable in smaller vehicles as they compensate to some extent for smaller size and weight. If you must buy a smaller car, try and find one with both frontal and side-impact air bags as they will dramatically improve the survivability/crashworthiness of a smaller car. (Bonus: Many insurance companies will discount the premium for a car equipped with these safety features.)
* Choose a manual transmission: In some European countries, a license applicant must take his or her driver's test in a car with a manual transmission -- the logic being that a person who has mastered starting a car on a hill without stalling or rolling backward, who knows how to smoothly engage the right gear at the right time to safely merge into traffic and so on -- has probably mastered the basic skills necessary to be a safe driver. Modern cars are deceptively easy to "drive" in the sense of getting them going -- a 10-year-old could physically put the key in the ignition, move the handle from "Park" to "Drive" -- and floor it right through the closed garage door and straight into your neighbor's kitchen. Operating a manual transmission, on the other hand, is a skill that takes time to develop- and is a great training tool that can help your teen become a better -- and therefore safer -- driver. (Bonus: a car with a manual transmission is usually capable of better fuel economy and is typically cheaper to buy.)
* Choose FWD or AWD over RWD when possible: Front-drive cars (FWD) and all-wheel-drive cars (AWD) have better traction on dry pavement as well as in rain and snow and are thus more controllable than a rear-drive (RWD) car. Rear-drive cars also have a tendency to oversteer (tail out) when they begin to slide out of control -- whereas front-drive cars tend to understeer (the front of the car "plows") , which is easier for the novice driver to deal with. If you must go with a rear-drive car, try and pick one that comes with some form of electronic traction control to limit wheelspin on slippery surfaces and ideally, an electronic stability control system -- which uses the anti-lock brakes to keep the vehicle on course when it would otherwise begin to slip out of control.
Lastly and perhaps most importantly -- do all you can teach your teen driver to drive with respect for others and to obey common sense. Point out examples of good and bad driving -- and show them how it's done by your own good example. Warn them of the dangers of being cocky and overconfident. Deal strictly with poor conduct and bad choices -- and pull those privileges if your son or daughter does something that shows he or she may not have the proper respect for being in charge of a potentially lethal piece of machinery.
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