When your teen receives his or her driver’s license, it’s time to update your car insurance. Most states require a minimum liability insurance coverage. While it’s a good place for a new driver to start, it might not be the stopping point for your family.
Take a look at what you need to know to best protect the new driver in your home.
When your teen receives his or her driver’s license, it’s time to update your car insurance. Most states require a minimum liability insurance coverage. While it’s a good place for a new driver to start, it might not be the stopping point for your family.
Take a look at what you need to know to best protect the new driver in your home.
Be the Example
Your young driver will follow your lead. Are you wearing your seat belt? Do you pull over to answer your cellphone or send a text? Do you follow the speed limit and obey all the road signs?
Even a teenager is paying attention to the things you do (or don’t do) and how you react. If you aren’t obeying the rules of the road, your teen may be more likely to shrug them off too. Set up a new driver for success by staying focused while you drive, too. If you have trouble ignoring your phone while driving, consider a drive-safe app that helps you safely stay connected.
Accident Forgiveness Protection
Mistakes happen. New drivers are learning and sometimes there are bumps in the road — or maybe a dent in your front fender. Teen drivers are more likely to get in a crash at night than at any other time of day, according to The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Limit the drive times of your new driver until your teen has more experience behind the wheel.
Your teen will be better able to react and adjust his or her driving to match evening road conditions once he or she has daytime driving down-pat. If your new driver has an accident, accident forgiveness protection will keep your rates from rising. It’s a simple insurance policy add-on to better cover a new driver.
Uninsured or Under-insured Motorist Coverage
Your teen driver may do all the right things: minding the speed limit, wearing a seat belt, and not driving while distracted — but accidents can still happen. If someone hits your teen’s car, and the other driver is at fault, you may be reliant upon the other person’s insurance to take care of your car and medical bills.
USAA helps military personnel and their families cover any gaps in case another driver lets their insurance policy lapse or lacks any auto insurance with uninsured or under-insured motorist coverage. It’s an extra payment that can truly pay off in the long run.
Limit Teenager Passengers
Even the best new teen driver is still a new driver. When multiple teens travel together, the risk of an accident increases. In a study revealed by the CDC, motor vehicle crashes among teens, aged 16-19, is higher than all other age groups. Adding in other teen passengers only adds to a new driver’s distraction.
Keep your teen’s distractions to a minimum by limiting the number of teen passengers allowed in your child’s vehicle. Restricting the number of kids in a car, and not letting your teen fill the family car with their friends, can help keep your teen safe.
New Driver Considerations
Having a new teen driver in the family can be both exciting and nerve-wracking experience. Keep the danger to a minimum by limiting teen passengers and night driving, and by adding in insurance policies built for protection.
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