Oct. 18-24, 2020, is National Teen Driver Safety Week, making it a great time to promote safe driving habits with your teen. Every teen dreams of the day they get to drive and it's important to teach them safe driving habits right off the start! It's the best way to avoid learning bad habits and prevents unnecessary insurance rate increases due to a teen's bad driving.
What is the first step you might ask? Go visit your local DMV for a copy of the license handbook. Be sure your teen completely reads through the handbook a few times to fully be familiar with all of the material. Have fun with it and give your teen a pop quiz and also check out MVA's website for a practice quiz.
After passing the exam for a learners permit it's important to find the best local driving school for you and your teen. Many people ask when your teen should be added on to your policy and how soon. We like to tell parents to add their teen on as soon as they start driving. As they say accidents happen and with being a new un-experienced driver the likely hood of an accident is quite high.
In terms of accidents it is important to educate your teen on the proper process to follow in the event of an accident. Be sure your teen knows to exchange their information with all parties involved, including names and driver's license numbers; name and contact information of the car owners; insurance company names; and policy numbers. If possible take pictures of the scene.
Cell phones are an important topic to discuss. All teens should know that it is unsafe to use a cellphone while driving but really be sure to have a serious discussion about how dangerous cell phone use can be. While it is important that your teen has their phone in the event of an emergency, that phone should be put away and the notifications turned off to prevent temptation. Teens like to think they can multitask but it is impossible to text and drive without running the risk of endangering yourself or others.
Lastly the question asked by every parent, is it expensive to add my teen to my policy? Yes your rates will see an increase but there are ways we and your teen can help you out. Many providers offer good student discounts for those teens who are in high school or college with good grades. Just be sure to provide a copy of their latest report card to your insurance agent. There also may be a driver training discount available when your teen has completed an approved drivers education program. If you already have your teen added to this policy but don't think you have these discounts added on give your agent a call today!