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Help Your Teen Arrive Alive -- by Picking the Right Car for Them to Drive By Eric Peters, AOL Autos  |
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Teen drivers already have the deck stacked against them -- without their parents making matters worse. Yet sometimes parents of teen drivers actually help to increase the odds their kid will end up having an accident -- even though it's the last thing they ever intended.
There's the fast and flashy car, for example.
It shouldn't be necessary to tell an adult that it's probably not the best idea to give a 16- or 17-year-old driver with at best a few months of behind-the-wheel experience a car that is capable of 140 mph. Yet it's a common theme in the obituary columns: "Local teen killed when his (insert make model of flashy, high-powered sports car or sport sedan here) veered out of control and struck oncoming traffic." We had four local kids killed near my hometown last week -- all 17 or younger. The driver was 16 and change. The car? A bright red Mitsubishi 3000GT -- a high performance sports car -- and the worst possible choice for a 16-year-old kid next to a 1000 cc sport bike and a fifth of Jack Daniels. The teen driver of the 3000GT took a decreasing radius turn too fast; the car began to skid, tail out? -- and the panicked, inexperienced kid predictably lost control, veered across the center line and struck an oncoming truck loaded.
A tragedy: But even more tragic is that it probably wouldn't have happened had the kid not been playing Mario Andretti in a fast sports car -- probably showing off for his friends.
Well, he showed them all right.
The bottom line is the parents of the dead teen allowed their child to drive a car that was wildly inappropriate -- with awful results that could have been foreseen had they thought about it just a little.
Every 16-year-old boy (or girl) wants a sexy, flashy, sporty car. It's perfectly natural. But giving an inexperienced teen driver access to such a car is the equivalent of giving a puppy free reign of your living room and being surprised to find a pee stain on your expensive carpets the next day.
The problem is especially acute today -- because there are so many cars with horsepower/capability levels that ought to give any thoughtful parent serious pause. These cars have "limits" well above those of even experienced drivers -- and make 100 mph blasts (or taking a sharp curve at 20 mph over the posted limit) seem like no big deal. This easy speed is very deceptive, as well as intoxicating, to an inexperienced driver -- who doesn't know his own limits, let alone those of the car. And when the car finally reaches its limits of grip, it's almost always well beyond the limits of that new driver's skill -- and ability to correct.
Result? Straight into the tree, off the road -- or into oncoming traffic. And a new obituary in tomorrow's paper.
A kid's first (and even second) car should never be a fast car -- ever. Unless of course you're looking to save some college tuition expenses. Get your kid something sensible, safe -- and fairly slow.
That means no sports cars. No sport sedans. And steer clear of over-large SUVs -- because they don't handle or brake well and for a young, inexperienced driver, that lost of margin of built-in safety is not what you want.
And above all else -- avoid "show-off" cars that inevitably tempt a young driver to try to impress his friends with what it can do.?
What you want is a pokey-looking but solid, reliable car for them to gain priceless experience in with the least amount of risk exposure. Something like a hum-drum family sedan or wagon with basic all-season tires that will begin to squeal and protest audibly well before they reach their limits of adhesion? -- unlike the sticky high--performance tires found on high-performance cars, which can hold tenaciously right up to the point of maximum adhesion -- then let go suddenly.
A modern four-cylinder engine is almost always plenty sufficient for safe merging/passing/pulling into traffic. A teen does not need a V-6 (let alone a V-8) engine anymore than a skid row bum needs a bottle of Night Train.
Look for a car with anti-lock brakes and at least dual air bags. Electronic traction aids can also help keep a young driver out of trouble.
But the bottom line is a teen's car should be about getting from point "a" to point "b" safely -- period. Let them worry about style and power when they're older -- and have some miles under their belt, as well as (hopefully) the perspective that comes with growing up.
Until your kid is 18, it's your call. Do them a favor and help them make it there.
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