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Teens

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When it comes to teens and cars (and we were all a teenager once!), we know that when you got your first car, you thought you were a bit of a boy racer.

Showing off to impress the girlfriend and well for the girls it was a bit of show off to the boys that she could drive, and looking cool all dolled up and playing the music out loud, so that everyone in the street knew you were coming.

When it comes to the car insurance, anybody who drives a car, should be responsible for their own car insurance.

Why should the parent be responsible for paying the teens bills, especially if the teen is working, which most teens are these days, and even if they are not, then why are they with a car in the first place?

Most teens live at home, if they can afford to run a car, then they should be affording the car insurance as well as all the other expenses of the car entails.

Do I sound strict. Yes possibly so.

My parents brought me an old banger when I passed my test (I was working as well at that time), but my dad said I would be responsible for all the bills, i.e. car insurance, road tax etc.

Its easy for us to get in a car and just drive, the hardest bit is to maintain a fully functional car without an accident, again whether it is your fault or not.

Then you have to contend with the idiots who take great delight in going around the neighborhood and dismantling cars, i.e. wheels, windscreen wipers, smashing headlights in, etc. So this adds to the cost of your car insurance, as you will have to finance the repairs and on most insurances, you have to pay the excess.

Most car accidents, involve low impact and stupid decision making, thinking you could beat the oncoming car or overtaking the car in front to land up clipping the car coming in the opposite direction.

Driving too fast in a built up area is now very common and making teens pay for their own car insurance will make them aware that if they start getting points on their license for speeding, it will have a knock on effect with their car insurance, hence another reason why teens should pay for their own car insurance.

Lets face it, the teen is driving the car, not the parent and if the teen feels responsible enough to drive a car, then they have to pay the consequences of their own errors for when the car insurance is due to be paid.

Where I live, we have had an increase of what I call mosquito scooters, whereby young teenagers ride up and down our main road, sometimes on their own and then in groups over taking each other and driving all over the road.

In London, England, if you have a 50cc moped you do not need a license?

This seems a complete mockery of the highway code when you think that most of the lads on the scooters are breaking nearly every driving law imaginable and also risking their own lives and the lives of other drivers in their utterly dangerous driving. Who is paying their insurance? If they don't need a license for the scooter, then you can bet your bottom dollar that they wont have insurance on the bike.

Its the youngsters like above, that push up the car insurance and so it should be said that the car insurance for a teenager has to be high until such time they prove themselves to be competent drivers.

Working on some sort of point system, i.e. gaining points for careful driving, making it an incentive to encourage teen drivers to drive with more thought when on the road. I am not saying that all teens are renowned for driving dangerously or irresponsibly, but its the minority that spoilt it for the majority when it comes to the cost of car insurance in the first place. Even so, the teen is in my opinion responsible for the running costs of the car.

Learn more about this author, Holly Golightly.
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