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Learn What to Look for When Choosing a Used Car for Your Teen Driver

If you are a parent looking for the right car for your teen driver, it can be hard to know what is safe, reliable, and also affordable. The good news is that Consumer Reports and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) teamed up to recommend what to look for. They have provided lists separately in previous years, but they used different criteria. This is the first year they are working together to provide the information.

The Problem with Teen Drivers

The fact of the matter is that teen drivers are at a higher risk of being involved in a car accident and are the most likely to be driving older cars that do not have modern safety features. This puts them at a very high risk of being involved in serious accidents compared to the average person. You also need to find a car that is going to be reliable for years, as they will likely be using it through their college days. The list they provided started at $5,300.

Cars Not to Consider

The groups did not even consider vehicles that were sports cars or otherwise had high horsepower. They noted that these could encourage teens to speed, and the most common compounding factor on fatal accidents involves speeding. They also did not consider minicars or any vehicle that weighed less than 2,750 vehicles due to decreased safety, and they did not consider large SUVs because they are harder to handle and often require longer distances to stop.

Specific Factors to Look At

When you are considering which car is safest for your teen, the groups recommend you choose a vehicle with standard electronic stability control (ESC), above-average reliability based on member surveys, four or (preferably) five stars from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), average or better scores on emergency handling tests, good ratings based on all four IIHS crashworthiness tests, and a dry braking distance of fewer than 145 feet when the vehicle is traveling 60 miles per hour.

They also looked at the new driver-side small overlap front tests from IIHS, which has only been done since 2012. This test shows what is likely to happen when a driver hits something with the left front corner.

Has Your Teen Been Injured in a Car Accident?

It is important that your teen knows what to do in the event they are injured in a car accident. The first step should be to get medical care. Once they are safe, they should gather evidence and contact a personal injury attorney. You can give them our name and number and encourage them to call us or you if they are in an accident: Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas at 909-982-0707.