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What Should Every New Driver Know?

Getting the keys to your first car (even if it belongs to your mom or dad!) is considered a rite of passage by many teenagers. With this important step toward adulthood comes many responsibilities — insurance being one of them.

Following are questions teenage drivers and their parents should consider when shopping for auto insurance.

Why are insurance rates higher for teenagers?

According to the National Safety Council, young drivers as a group are involved in more car accidents than any other driver age group. Lack of experience, higher accident statistics and more costly accidents result in higher insurance rates for novice drivers, especially those under 25. But there is some good news: As long as drivers maintain good driving records, auto insurance rates tend to decrease with age.

What are inexperience points?

Every newly licensed driver, regardless of gender or age, is assigned three insurance eligibility points for being an inexperienced operator. (See page 9.) For every year of experience, one inexperience point is removed.

If you start out with three insurance eligibility points, you have little room for error if you want to remain in the voluntary market. If you have seven or more insurance eligibility points upon renewal of your policy, you and possibly your family may have to seek coverage in the assigned risk market.

If you commit any of the following motor vehicle offenses (see chart on page 22) during the first year of your three-point assessment, upon renewal you may have to purchase insurance in the assigned risk market. In addition, for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) offenses, you could face a delay in getting your license, suspension of your license and/or fines and surcharges.