If you have a lead foot but are unwilling to quit playing "Speed Racer" on the highway, driving one of these least ticketed cars could help:
This list was complied from a study conducted by ISO (Insurance Services Office) Quality Planning.
16 Step Home Study Teen Driving Course Offered at No Cost to Parents
Washington, PA — Car accidents are the leading cause of severe injuries and death among teenagers all across the U.S. and inexperience is the leading factor in these accidents. “New drivers just don’t know how to react to dangerous situations that, many times, they get themselves into.” says Ret. Master Police Officer James Poer who has investigated car accidents for 30 years. “Education and most importantly, experience, is critical to helping kids learn how to avoid dangerous situations and how to react when they encounter dangerous situations.”
Driving school experts recommend 100 hours of behind the wheel experience before a teen drives unsupervised. Unfortunately, driving schools can’t provide this amount of experience. Depending on the state, schools are only required to give 4 to 6 hours of driving practice and with so many students in a class, schools simply cannot provide adequate experience. This places the responsibility on the parents.
One way to make the most of this time is to use a home study driving course. By following a structured lesson plan, parents can teach their teens the most important skills to driving safely and make the needed driving time most effective. The Society of Family Insurance Specialists (SFIS) has released a 16 step home study course, The Safe Teen Driver Guide, that provides parents a lesson plan and practice exercises to help them accomplish this important goal. Local insurance agent and family insurance specialist, Billy Proudfit of Proudfit Insurance in Washington helped co-author this guide along with Officer Poer and a certified driving school instructor.
Since learning that auto accidents are the number one cause of death among teens, Proudfit has been on a mission to help parents keep their teen drivers safe. His agency offers many tools including GPS teen driver monitoring systems, free reports with information that parents need to know about, Parent/ Teen Driver Contract, 101 Safety Tips for Teen Drivers and much more. “The Safe Teen Driver Guide is one tool that I have had a great response from.” says Proudfit. “Almost every parent that has received it is grateful for having such a great tool to help them teach their teen to drive.”
Check out the website at www.TeenDriverInsurance.com/AllAmerican, or contact us at 256.765.2200 or 888.765.2201 for more details.
Driver education programs play a role in preparing teens to drive, but should not be viewed as the end of the learning-to-drive process. In order to develop safe driving skills, inexperienced drivers need opportunities to improve through gradual exposure to increasingly-challenging driving tasks. Teens become safer drivers with more driving experience.
In some states, the completion of driver education qualifies a teen for full driving privileges. The National Safety Council believes this is not a wise approach. Research shows that significant hours of behind-the-wheel experience are necessary to reduce crash-involvement risk. Parental involvement and state-imposed Graduated Driver Licensing play important roles in developing skills.
A recent IA&B newsletter reports that 2008 statistics show a 30% fraud increase in Pennsylvania. The Top 5 motor vehicle insurance fraud schemes include:
