My son has crashed his car.

Horasio

frosty wrote:

I know,but I am a nervous wreck,I just want to protect my son.We live in an area full of boy racers,we can hear their cars screeching round corners,they speed through our town,the country roads have a speed limit of 60 mph,they dont have the experience or skill to drive at these speeds,the roads are full of sharp bends, not a week goes by without a young lad being killed leaving his poor family devastated and heart broken.I made my son do a pass plus course to give him more experience.I know I shouldnt label all young lads the same but it is a high risk group.Maybe city and small town driving is a little bit safer than rural driving.Maybe I just worry too much.

Without being flamed for being sexist but I passed my test at 18 and feel I was more responsible than average male of my age then.

The insurance does reflect that males pay than females for car insurance in that age group.

Teenage males are a real worry tho'. We do our best as parents but peer pressure is so strong.

I don't know the answer as in this day and age a car is virtually essential at any age but there are some real idiots out there, of all ages.

Horasio

nearlyrich wrote:

My DS has been driving since he was 17 and he has never had a crash or got any points on his licence but he has had to pay over the odds because of the mad ones.

I can understand the OP's point but I would have thought that young people in rural areas with poor public transport would have more respect for their passport to freedom.

I agree. My son had to pay twice the rate of a female of the same age.

Trouble is when you get a bunch of young guys together, something happens to them. Not being a male, I don't understand what happens, maybe it's bravado, or immaturity or boredom. Maybe some young or not so young males can answer this question.

Horasio

tomstickland wrote:

I don't think anything much can be done; I passed my test at age 17 and didn't have any problems. Why penalise everyone because of a few?
There is a concept of personal responsibility for making decisions.

What you need is some videos about car accidents for him to watch.

Boy racers are notorious for a surfeit of enthusiasm above ability. Where they go wrong is in going too fast too soon rather than slowing building up to it. To a certain degree you're battling against the habits of men though; I'm 33 and still see cars as a source of entertainment rather than a utility for getting from A to B.

Trouble is you can show videos till the cows come home but they think it happens to others and they are OK and can handle it.

I hope you are a safe driver tho'. My entertainment comes from the music I play. The actual driving is a drag these days compared to when I passed my test 24 years ago - too many cars!

Horasio

flang wrote:

i know the feeling my towns full of boy racers!!!
dont take this personally but people like your son really do pee me off, something really needs to be done!
im a young driver 21 i drive safely, dont speed, dont have a modified car, dont drive in circles all day yet I have to pay increased insurance costs because of the few that drive like fools!
Personally i think the legal age to drive a car should be raised!
17 is just to young !!

In some respects I agree, 21 and 25 are definite maturity milestones.

I passed my test at 18, I was married and was more mature for my age but some older people can be boy racers.

I remember this argument when I was 17, more about car insurance rates but what can be done? The more mature youngsters would lose out because of the immature ones.

Horasio

I am sorry for the news. You must feel really gutted but all we can hope is that he learns his lesson. I would make him pay for any extra expense.

He will be the one who will have to regain the privilege of driving again.

tomstickland

Not being a male, I don't understand what happens, maybe it's bravado, or immaturity or boredom. Maybe some young or not so young males can answer this question.

What happens when you get a group of males together then they think "hey no women to tell us off, let's have fun" and about 70% of men think anything involving speed, corners, sliding around is fun. Think skateboards, mountain bikes, motorbikes, skiing. Hell, I even enjoy trying to get my shopping trolley round the corners sideways in the supermarket, the aim being to clear the corrner with minimal effort and just missing the shelving.

I was telling my mother about mountain biking and going on about the fun of jumps and clearing air etc and she looked at me and said "are you 13 or 33?".
Driving for entertainment doesn't mean driving everywhere at stupid speeds, it means enjoying the driving. Sure, following a procession at 40mph down coutry roads is on a par with watching paint dry, and so is most regular hours driving in the UK.

Bamber19

CCStar wrote:

Without being flamed for being sexist but I passed my test at 18 and feel I was more responsible than average male of my age then.

The insurance does reflect that males pay than females for car insurance in that age group.

Teenage males are a real worry tho'. We do our best as parents but peer pressure is so strong.

I don't know the answer as in this day and age a car is virtually essential at any age but there are some real idiots out there, of all ages.

this seems to be changing, there are a lot more young girls now who are into modified cars and driving faster than they should. I'm also seeing a worrying amount of females who pack their cars full of trinkets and cover the parcel shelf in stuffed toys, which must surely make it very hard to see out the back window. I think the current system where all young drivers are paying for the mistakes of other young drivers is wrong though, i can't remember who it was (they don;t do it anymore anyway) but there as an insurance company who at one point offered you half your policy cost back as a young driver if you made no claims in the first year, this seemed quite fair but obviously didn't work out financially as as i said the offer no longer exists.

deanos

The premium will come out of the claim i beleive.

deanos

The premium will come out of the claim i beleive, so if he gets a payout of say £1000 for the written off car ,but owes £700 for the insurance he will only receive £300

impy78

deanos wrote:

The premium will come out of the claim i beleive.

It won't, as the premium will be used to pay for the damage to the other cars as well.