Somber statistics...

[jgomez65]

I just read a report on some really somber statistics on teen driving, and the numbers are really scary.

I have the rule in my house that my kids will drive when they can afford their own car insurance.

How you guys feel about teen driving?

 

[meow_173]

Well, we never had to pay for our own car insurance. we had to put our own gas in if we were using the car, and have respect for it (keep it clean etc). So thats what i will probably do as well.

 

[Music-dad]

I'll let K get her license as soon as she legally can if she wants....my folks did for us.

I learned to drive in Toronto...up here it's like I'm driving in slow motion in comparison...Meow will know what Southern ON driving is like...

 

[meow_173]

I still refuse to drive in toronto

 

[16th ave.]

as soon as they can save up enough for half the down payment. and atleast pay for the monthly insurance plus possilby half the car payment each month. a car is something they will have to work for the same as dh and me....

 

[Music-dad]

I still refuse to drive in toronto

Hahaha ya, Hamilton is pretty crazy, but T.O. is insane!

 

[bssage]

I had a license at 14 (hardship) and was driving my self to school/work/ect. But I had been driving since I was old enough to sit on dads lap. Its the kids who wait until they are 16 that scare me

 

[fallon]

my kids will get theirs when I feel they are mature enough to handle it

 

[Xero]

Eli will have his when it's legal, but he will be well educated and watched over. We can only do our best, really.

I will probably pay his insurance but he will (probably) pay for gas to go places in it. But it all depends on the kid and the situation really.

 

[AmyBelle]

Driving age is 18 here, so teen driving is that much of an issue. My kids will get their learners permit when they want (law states they must be at least 16) and they will drive their own car when they buy their own car and pay for their own petrol, rego and insurance.
(Although im counting on the transport commisioner putting some bus routes in our suburb for that to make much sense, otherwise i'll live my life as a glorified taxi driver, damn semi-rural community)

 

[mom2many]

When they can pay for it on thier own. Cars are a privelage, not a right. I have seen one to many kids getting car after car that mommy and daddy bought them. They need the responsibility of getting it on thier own in order to respect it.

 

[Xero]

Oh boy, once he wrecked it he'd be carless until he got the money to get his own. I'm not in that catagory of parents, lol.

I'd buy his first one though. My bio mom bought me my car, and I've always had a mature sense of appreciation, so I'm still driving that piece of crap to this day. That was when I was 18/19 though, and I suffered through a lot because my adoptive mom never bothered to take me to get my permit or license and she never would have even THOUGHT about buying me a car. That was something to laugh about. I walked to and from work five days a week and road the bus to school. It was crappy. I couldn't afford a car because she made me buy all my own stuff, literally all of it including gas for her to take me places. I mean, the reason she wouldn't get me my permit was because that meant she'd have to pay a little extra on her car insurance. So yeah, Eli will have responsibility and a sense of money management but it wont be that bad and I will take pride and enjoyment in buying him his first car, and getting him to learn driving as soon as he is old enough to learn.

But if he wrecked it... he'd better start saving. o__O

 

[16th ave.]

When they can pay for it on thier own. Cars are a privelage, not a right. I have seen one to many kids getting car after car that mommy and daddy bought them. They need the responsibility of getting it on thier own in order to respect it.

uh huh. agree. it drives me nuts to see kids driving these nice cars ya know they can't afford with what they'd make at a fast food restraunt...
yet, they're speeding down the roads like it aint nothing and driving all sorts of crazy and nearly running people over with their reckless driving...

 

[Lionheart]

I'm an 18 y/o, and in my family that has 4 teens (yeah, imagine that!) my oldest sibling had to pay for her own car, rego, insurance, etc.
So did my older brother.
As will I, and as will my younger brother.
It infuriates me to know that there are some kids that have parents that spoil them and buy them a car for 16th/18th/graduation presents. Not because i would love to have one for any of those three as a present, but here's what my brain thinks, and any teen with half a brain will think also:

"I know my parents will not buy me a car as they had not bought my older siblings a car. So i need to get a job, make money and buy it out of my own pocket. I'm responsible for rego, insurance, know the risks and have worked my arse off to get the 50 hours of driving time required! I am NOT going to lose this privilege."

To assist your teen, help them gather all the information they need. Help them realise how much a car costs to run.
Also, in Australia, i'm lucky to be living in a neighborhood which has plenty of public transport to all major places i would go to, so for me, it's a simple choice - spend money on a depreciating asset that will cause me to work for this priviledge, or use public transport (not out of laziness but fiscally) or if it's in 20-30 mins walking distance, walk it.

 

[meow_173]

It infuriates me to know that there are some kids that have parents that spoil them and buy them a car for 16th/18th/graduation presents.

I don't really get why this would piss you off to such an extent. There will always be those kids who's parents have all the money or connections and will always have the fancy cars or clothes. Its just something you have to deal with.

 

[Xero]

.
It infuriates me to know that there are some kids that have parents that spoil them and buy them a car for 16th/18th/graduation presents. Not because i would love to have one for any of those three as a present, but here's what my brain thinks, and any teen with half a brain will think also:

That doesn't make sense to me. Why would you care if other parents bought their teens a car? I'm 21 and had five younger siblings (18, 17, 17, 15, and 9), and my mom didn't have the money or the time to teach me to drive or buy me a car (or I guess she just didn't care) and I got the worst start in life because of that. Here in America, we don't always have much in the way of public transport, and what we do have is rather dangerous for a sixteen year old girl to ride alone. You need to take into consideration that some cultures are not the same as yours. Being as such, don't you wonder how a kid that needs to "earn these things" would get to work to do any earning?? Unless you were lucky enough to get a job where you could WALK (good luck), then you were screwed. If my mom had bought me a car, and then told me to get a job and pay her insurance, even pay her OFF for the car, my life would have been a different story. I learned to drive when I was like 18, got my license and first car at 19 with the assistance of somebody else. Its a crappy car, and I had no money saved up for anything (cause I had no way to get to a job), and things could have been SO MUCH different for me if my mom would have just helped give me a better start into adulthood.

You should not look down upon things that are different from the way you have lived before you know better. My son will have a good start and if he fluffs it up, that's his problem. But I will know that I never left him hanging and he will have no excuses once it's time for him to become an adult. And it's only because I CARE about him and want him to have a good start in life, not because I "spoil him". Things aren't always the same for others as they are for you. Keep that in consideration.

As I said before, because I care about him, I will buy my son a decent car and teach him to drive when he's able to if he's mature enough, and he will probably pay his own insurance and gas once he's found a job (that he can DRIVE to). I had no public transport where I grew up, mind you, when I referred to it, I meant the bus that runs in the city where I live now.

 

[fallon]

my parents bought me 2 cars...I don't think I turned out bad because of it, lol. I was also on my own by 17 and working since I was 14. I pay my own way, the cars were there to help me.