Why do young people have to pay more for car insurance when old people don't?

Question

Old people cause just as many accidents as teenagers.. why is it 'ageism' to charge them more, but perfectly acceptable to charge young people more?

Answer 1

No, you are wrong--teenagers, especially boys have the highest accident rates and that is why they pay more. New drivers pay more. Cause an accident, pay more, drive drunk ,pay more, etc. etc.

Answer 2

The reason that rates for younger people are higher (which is a generalization) is based on statistics. Sure some old people drive really bad, but they usually avoid areas like a downtown city area where accidents are most likely to occur.

Insurance companies base their rates on probabilities of an outcome (accident) and charge higher rates in categories (under 25) in which that outcome is most likely to occur.

There are several insurance companies that take other things into consideration, such as credit history and ethnicity. Both of these have shown to play large rolls in the likelihood of accidents.

Answer 3

Because young people have not even began to experience life and have no idea hwat they are doing, they make horrible judgments and decisions (we all go thourhg it). Older people just have a hard time due to aging, not necessarily bad decisions.

And also, many older people have been driving and paying ofr insurance for long periods of time, which often results in a good driving record, which results in lower insyrance premiums. Younger people have to prove they are worthy of lower premiums. Kind of like building credit, it takes time.

Answer 4

Older people actually aren't in as many accidents as teenagers and also tend to drive fewer hours a year.

In 2005, according to NHTSA data, despite being composed of only 2 years of eligible drivers, teenagers under 16 were involved in as many fatal accidents, percentage-wise, as everyone over 65. Combined all drivers under 25 caused rougly 33% of fatal accidents. Meanwhile, those 45 to 55 (the same number of ages as those from 15 to 25) caused only 13% of fatal accidents.

Answer 5

yeah right. judging by the way you talk you are MILES from even understanding there's such a concept as experience and I can only hope you are NOT going to total your first car in the first 1000 miles of your driving life.
Here's an advice: Make sure you got oil in the motor as having an engine lock up on you while on the motorway isn't something you ever want to experience.

Answer 6

Insurance is a science based on statistics. Are you purporting that old people have more accidents per mile driven than young people? If so, all the insurance companies would have to be massively stupid to have missed that - an unlikely occurrence.

Answer 7

Age: As a general rule, drivers under age 25 have more accidents than older, more experienced drivers, so their premiums are usually higher. Drivers between 50 and 65 years of age have low accident rates and are sometimes offered discounts. Past the age of 65, accidents seem to increase and rates generally begin to rise again.

Answer 8

not sure where you are getting your insurance but normal they charge by the experience of the drive and your driving record. i know a lot of adults that have a high insurance because of several different things. as long as you keep a clean driving record it will go down. so it is not just teenagers that are being charged high rates.( if my husbands gets any higher I am taking his license away!! lol)

Answer 9

Valid point. I occassionaly see some extremely dangerous elderly people driving recklessly on our highways. Perhaps teens/twenty somethings are typically less responsible and therefore pose a significant danger to other drivers.

Answer 10

Because young people have the feeling of immortality and are far more likely to take risks.

They also have not yet tested their driving skills.

Remember that you really learn to drive after your license is granted. It takes time.