Do newly qualified young drivers understand the significance of having an accelerator under their right foot? Richard Grubb, RGA Insurance Consultants and Risk Managers explains the role parents have in ensuring children become safe drivers, own suitable cars and manage their car insurance premiums appropriately.
Young drivers often feel invincible as they start asserting themselves as individuals. It is critical for you, as a parent, to help your children understand the role they play in a collective society and the consequences their driving has for themselves and others.
Instilling Good Driving Habits
Families, and particularly parents, play a critical role in educating and influencing children to become safe drivers with sound road habits.
It is good practice to send your children for advanced driving courses to help them better handle the road, especially in an emergency. However, it is still up to you to instil the importance of becoming safe drivers in them and explaining why they should never behave with daring on the road.
Read more: 7 Safety Tips for Young Drivers
Providing Maintenance Tips
By offering young drivers good advice on vehicle maintenance and roadworthiness you help your child understand road safety in a broad context. Here is an example of a tyre inflation tip you could share:
Maintaining the correct tyre pressure is critical as it affects fuel economy, vehicle handling, braking distance and tyre lifespan. Find out the correct pressure for your tyres by looking in your vehicle owner’s manual, online, or on the small sticker often found on inside one of the doors or inside the filler cap.
These and other tyre safety tips could keep a young person safe on the road, or even save a life.
Read more: Why the Correct Tyre Pressure is Important for Safety
Choosing the Right Car
Everyone has the right to freedom of choice, however, when you choose a car for your child, safety above status should be a key consideration. Reliable airbags and a solid design should also be factored into your choice.
There is a trend observed amongst insurers which shows that the wealthy are buying even more expensive, faster cars for their children, which is risky. Especially as “drifting” is becoming such a popular practice in South Africa, making youngsters with powerful rear wheel drive cars a danger on the roads.
Expensive vehicles, like GTIs, are an enormous theft risk. Youngsters don’t always realise this and may park in unsafe places, especially when out at night. This makes their vehicles an easy target for theft.
Teach your Children about Car Insurance
Shock statistics reveal that only one third of drivers on South African roads have car insurance. If your child had a road accident without car insurance this could affect him/ her for many years to come, if not indefinitely.
You can help your children avoid costly mistakes by educating them about car insurance and giving them these worthwhile tips:
Value
The cost of a car’s insurance is related to its value. Alert your children to this when they buy their own car, especially if they are also starting to pay their own vehicle premiums.
Vehicle’s Use
Explain to your children how important it is for them to specify the use of their vehicle carefully in their policy when taking out car insurance. It is critical for them to identify whether they only use their car for study, work, and socialising, or also for commercial reasons, such as a part-time job. For example:
If a youngster had an accident while fetching fresh goods for a restaurant where he or she had a part-time job, the claim could be rejected if the policy did not state the car was being used for business purposes. It is important for your children to be aware how they use their car to ensure their motor insurance policy covers them in any eventuality.
Location
Location matters, and policies must be updated when your child moves from one dwelling to another. Should your child move to a less secure residence after leaving home, premiums could increase. Conversely, if he/she moves out of a crowded city into a quieter location, this would probably result in lower vehicle insurance premiums.
Support Young People
Young people deserve a break. They are our country’s future drivers and motor insurance holders. They need guidance and support as they set out on the road towards becoming competent, accountable drivers.
Improved driving amongst young people will ensure South Africa enjoys safer roads and will result in more affordable motor premiums for all citizens using our roads to travel through our beautiful country.
Whether you are a parent or a young driver, at Supa Quick your safety is our concern. Stop in at a Supa Quick fitment centre for a free vehicle safety check to help you keep driving – accident-free.
Disclaimer: This information is for educational, or entertainment purposes only. The views expressed here are not that of Supa Quick. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability, and accuracy of this information. Any action you take upon the information on this site is at your own risk. We will not be liable for any losses and damages in connection with the content on this site.
