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Tips for Parents of Teen Drivers: Teaching and Trusting your Teen to Drive, Should my College Student Bring their Car to Campus?

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As the mother of 2 and the CEO of an online car insurance shopping platform, I’m constantly reminded, both at home and at work, of the worries parents have when their children are old enough to drive.

The worry of your child being in an accident and the expensive costs of a new car insurance policy can make it seem like allowing your child to get their license was a mistake.

I found that my anxieties largely subsided the more I educated myself about it and I wanted to share the tips I found the most helpful in this round-up.

1. Tips for Parents Teaching their Teens How to Drive

Your teen just passed their learner’s permit test and while they couldn’t be more excited, you couldn’t be more nervous.

These anxious feelings don’t make you an untrusting parent. You just know that car accidents are the #1 cause of death for people age 15 to 24 in the US.

Prepare your child for the road without straining your relationship with them. Be involved with their driving practices and license/permit studies. Have an open, calm discussion about the most common driving practices that lead to teen car accidents, your state’s permit driver laws, etc.

Continue reading for tips on how to be a calm passenger when your teen’s behind the wheel.

2. Should my College Student Bring the Car to Campus?

A lot of planning goes into getting your child to their first year of college. You help them plan their class schedules, living arrangements, and most importantly their budget for things like textbooks, tuition, rent, groceries, a social life…..is their room in your finances for their car on campus?

Teen drivers have the highest insurance premiums of individuals on the road, an average of $416 a month. Add that to expensive university parking permits (usually a few hundred dollars a year) and the cost of gas and you’re looking a pretty hefty bill for something you might not even use that often during the semester.

Research your child’s university parking policies, the location of their campus, and services like Zipcar, Uber, and Lyft.

Learn how to calculate how much it’d cost for your teen to have their car on campus.

3. The Safest Cars for Teen Drivers

Like any parent you want the best for your child, but a brand new top safety pick vehicle isn’t always in the budget. That doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice safety for affordability.

There are many fairly priced, used vehicle options that meet teen specific safety criteria. A survey conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found that 83% of those who purchased a vehicle for their teens, chose a used one.

Safety criteria for your teen driver’s vehicle includes things like low horsepower, crash avoidance technology, a large size SUV, and more.

Read on for a complete list of safety criteria and new and used cars that meet this criteria.

4. 10 Ways To Save On Your Teen's Insurance Policy

The easiest way to save money on car insurance for your newly licensed teen driver is to add them to your family insurance policy! Not only is it impossible for drivers under the age of 18 to purchase their own auto insurance policy, a stand alone policy for anyone under 25 years old will be extremely expensive....an average of $600 a month expensive.

Adding your teen driver to the family car insurance will save both of you money by unlocking multi-policy and multi-car discounts.

Read on for 9 other ways to save big on your teens car insurance.

5. Your Teen Driver's Car Insurance After your Divorce

Divorced couples with a teen driver have many questions about which auto insurance policy their child should be covered under. How should parents allocate accountability and payments of their teen’s car insurance premium once they start driving?

Generally, insurance companies recommend policies based on the parent’s custody status whether your have primary custody, joint custody, or your ex-spouse has primary custody.

Read on for teen driver policy solutions and discounts.

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