Car insurance – careless driving
By: Chris Rowlands | Posted: 18th January 2008
Young drivers have long been made the scape goat when it comes to pinning the blame for motorcar accidents and driving related offences on a particular group.
To narrow it down further the majority of the blame is placed at the feet of young male drivers under the age of 25 and in particular those under 21.
In fact drivers in this age group were said to be responsible for 15% of all driving convictions according to a survey carried out by esure. As a result car insurance premiums have risen dramatically in the last few years to match the increasing cost of young drivers to the insurer.
The problem it seems comes down to irresponsibility on the part of some of the afore mentioned drivers - with many magazines and websites encouraging performance modification the situation is being made much worse.
Whilst researching the topic I came across some damning statistics:
• 1 in 3 young male drivers will write off their car within the first year of driving compared to half this amount in the case of young female drivers.
• A quarter of “death by dangerous driving” convictions fall at the feet of drivers under 20 years of age even though this group accounts for only 3% of all drivers on the road.
• Each year over half of those found guilty of driving without insurance comprised of the under 25’s age group.
Unfortunately insurers can only calculate the cost of car insurance premiums based on risk factor - due to the high accident rate of this age group all young drivers are faced with similarly high premiums.
To ensure your policy is as cheap as possible you should look to buy a small car with an equally small engine, such as a Renault Clio, Ford Fiesta, Vauxhall Corsa or similar. It is best to avoid older cars with larger engines. They may cheap at the outset but to find young drivers car insurance on these vehicles will prove extremely costly as they are much heavier, less safe and cause more damage to other vehicles.
When looking for insurance online you may want to search for manufacturer specific insurance such as “ford car insurance” as this may help narrow things down a bit and increase your chances of finding a better deal.
About the Author
Chris Rowlands is a UK based author with experience within the financial sector centering on insurances.
This article is free for republishing
Printed From: http://www.articlealley.com/article_252093_19.html
Back to the original article
Tags: age group, risk factor, other vehicles, small car, irresponsibility, car insurance premiums, insurer, older cars, male drivers, accident rate, female drivers, ford fiesta, driving without insurance