Did you let you teen get a driver's license?

Question

One of my friends just told me that she won't let her teen get a license until after she is 18 because of the costs involved. The driver's training course is several hundred dolllars and to insure the teen was almost and extra 400.00 a month. In addition, until the age of 18 they would have to be worried about losing everything if their daughter were to get into an accident since ultimately the parents are financially responsible in a teen auto accident and you could lose your home (her insurance agent warned her about this).

We will be facing the same decision. We will have two teens in the house who will want to drive. What experience have you had with the cost involved with your teen having a license? Did you decide not to let them have one?

Answer 1

I did NOT even let my son get a LEARNER'S PERMIT until he was close to 18 and by the time he learned to drive, take the course and written test AND the driving test, he was 18 and working and had to pay for his own insurance even though we had the car insured under MY insurance to make it less expensive for him... it's called RESPONSIBILITY and until these kids LEARN THAT, they should NOT be behind the wheel of a 2000 POUND POTENTIAL KILLING MACHINE......My son is now 29 and a very safe driver and NEVER was all that upset with me for making him wait.

Answer 2

This depends on your families needs. Where I'm from (rural central US) my children will need to get a car when they can apply for a permit, or I'll be running ragged driving them everywhere! Bicycling won't cut it. In larger cities where it is congested and everything is within walking distance, it's no suprise that children don't drive until they are 18 or older.
Our schools teach driver's education and costs very little. As with the insurance, she needs to shop around. You can get policies that are called Umbrella policies that will cover that gap so you won't loose your house if someone decides to sue. If the children want to drive, then they should have started some jobs around the age of 14-15 to pay for the driving courses and help with expenses. It's not bad to give that responsibility to your children.

Answer 3

Of course I would. It is a cost of raising a child and something I would have expected for years. Just like college. If I can afford the raising insurance rates, I would not limit this great moment in their development no more than I would have stopped them from entering kindegarden.

However, many of my friends paid their own insurance when they were in high school. My parents had a deal that if I got a speeding ticket I would then be responsible for the insurance.

Not to mention, driving is a priveledge that allows me to keep them in line. If you have younger children, it is great to have another driver to run errands. True insurance goes up but it is a huge moment in a childs life--as meaningful a birthday as 18 and 21 and if you can afford it, it is time to cut the apron strings and allow them to be mature responsible adults.

That being said I had several friends who had very poor parents and they did not get a license until they were graduating college.

Answer 4

I didn't have a license until I was 18. I grew up overseas and the driving age is 18 there. It really makes a lot of sense. I probably will allow my kids to start getting his driver's license when he turns 17. I really don't feel there is any need whatsoever for kids to have them until they really need it. Maybe that's just me. It's not about money either. It's about safety. Normally, at sixteen or fifteen kids aren't able to make rational decisions and they still lack motor skills as well as the fact that it is SO not necessary. After all, what does a kid do with a car at 16? Drive to school? Take the bus. Go to the mall? I'll drive him/her or they can take the local bus. Go to a friends house? They can walk, take the bus, or I'll drive them. Get into trouble? Heck yes, they can get into a WHOLE lot of trouble! LOL!

Answer 5

If your child is doing good in school, staying out of trouble, etc. then you should not prevent them from getting their license. It is a rite of passage. Tell your child that if they want this privilege then they will have to pay for gas and insurance and I have a very hard time believing that insurance is $400 a month - what were you planning on putting them in, a new hummer? If you have the money to pitch in for a car then do so, if not then they will have to earn this rite of passage. I did.

And as long as your teen is responsible let them do it. If they start screwing up, then take the car. As simple as that. I would also put them on their own policy. I had my own policy when I turned 16.

Answer 6

my son is 15. He will be very limited on how much he drives. And where he drives. He also will have a full time job to eat some of the cost which in turn teaches responsibility !!! I see no reason to make him wait.

He is taking an on line course to do practices tests......... he is reading the book...................... He will have to drive me for the first few months so i can be sure he is ready. He turns 16 in January and will get his then. But i will know where he is at all times.

In fact my company has a drivers program for teens that they install a teen cam, it sends me report cards of his driving, such as swerves, hard stops, ect. and in an accident it will tell if he was in the wrong. It helps make sure he drives safe or he gets caught.

I have a good driving record, So I dont pay alot for my insurance. So I can afford to help him pay on insurance as long as he is trying to help himself. He has a car . That was mine when i bought a new one so there is no car payment but he has to maintain it or at least help since it is his.

In Indiana you can get your license at 15 if you take the drivers course............ But at 16 you can go take a written test, if passed they get a permit....... then the parents drive with them for 80 hours then they can get their license.

Answer 7

Insurance will protect you from losing your home unless the driver (you, your spouse, your kids, etc.) do more damage than the policy covers so I don't see why this is an issue. And I find it extremely difficult to believe that insurance would be raised 400.00 a month.

I would let my teen get a driver's license. Limit their driving, drive with them, etc. to make sure they're safe.

Accidents happen to everyone, not just teens.

Answer 8

as for the cost of the driving lessons in many schools they have a program that can help you with the expense its based on your income, next do you really want to have to drive them around all the time, give them responsibility and make them get jobs so they can pay for there own insurance and gas money ,plus they need that extra driving experience for when they go off to college just lay down ground rules such as curfew and letting them know if they can't pay for insurance and gas then they can't drive!!!

Answer 9

Myself, I waited until I was 17 to get a driver's liscence. I was so into bicycling that I felt I didn't need a car yet.
My daughter (I adopted my cousin) was taught to drive an 18 wheeler (Kenworth) as her first "car", and she would rather stay home and work as a dispatcher for the trucking fleet.

Cars are death-traps. It's safer to walk, ride a moped, or take a train.

If you need anything delivered, you can have it shipped by a trucking firm (professionals).

Answer 10

it'll only be expensive if you don't teach them how to be responsible and defensive drivers and they get in accidents. i personally think it's better to let them learn earlier and let them decide when they should get their license. i mean if they're a really horrible driver and you know it, don't let them get it until they practice more and get better. it really shouldn't have anything to do with the cost. it's a rite of passage and you don't want to take that away from your child.