Teenage Driving

Automobile crashes are the top cause of death for teens in America. They account for nearly 6,000 lives and injure another 300,000 teens every year.

    Follow these guidelines for choosing  a SAFE car for your teen.

Avoid:

1. Steer clear of sports cars and other vehicles with a performance image. Sports cars, muscle cars and vehicles with performance features such as turbo charging can encourage speeding.

2. Avoid SUVs. SUVs, especially the smaller ones pose a rollover risk because of their higher centers of gravity. Less experienced drivers may be more likely to use abrupt steering motions, which cause rollovers. This can happen when teens are fooling around, showing off in front of their friends or simply overcorrecting on a turn. Under these circumstances, a more stable vehicle would, at worst, skid or spin out. 

3. Stay away from small vehicles. Because of their size and weight, small cars offer significantly less protection in crashes.

4. Avoid older vehicles. Most of today's cars offer better crash protection then those which were made six to ten years ago. Improved crush zones, better designed safety cages, anti lock breaks and air bags are among the new safety features that older vehicles may lack.

Look For: 

1. Find a vehicle with a sedate image. Cars with fun, sporty, speedy images can encourage speeding and reckless driving.

2. Choose a midsize or full size vehicle. "When it comes to safety, the bigger the vehicle the better," says Kim Hazelbaker SVP of the Highway Loss Data Institute.

3. Check the safety rating and choose a vehicle with good crash protection. Safety ratings are available from either www.highwaysafety.org or www.nhtsa.gov.

Remember, no other type of hazard or behavior claims more teen lives! If you are interested in keeping America's teens safe, please contact us with your comments and questions at fivestarautos@aol.com.