California Car Insurance for Teens

Auto Insurance in California to Keep your Teen Safe

If you have a job and have to drive an hour or two every day, then driving is not a fun or amusing activity. It’s pretty much traffic and having to hear honks and dealing with less than ethical drivers for a period of time that feels never-ending. The fact that we just came out of work and we are tired and stressed already doesn’t help either.

However, for teenagers, the story is different. Driving has a whole different meaning. It’s a synonym of freedom and access to the world. It also means being independent and being able to go everywhere, at anytime. And most of all, it means looking “cool” in front of friends and attractive members of the opposite sex.

That would be great if it included the responsibilities of having and driving a car as well. For some reason, paying for gas and car insurance is never part of this “looking cool” mentality than teenagers have. No, they assume it’s us, the parents, who have to pay for all these things.

Nevertheless, we somehow give up. We get them a car or let them drive ours. After all, they´re our children and we sometimes feel like pleasing them.

Of course, we have to assume the responsibility for the actions of our teens. That includes letting them drive only when we feel they are ready for it and have complied with all the California law requirements for driving minors, which are:

• Completing a driver education class.
• Get a provisional learner’s permit and not have an accident or a driving related problem for at least six months.
• Get professional driver training for at least six hours.
• Get driving practice for at least 50 hours while in the company of an adult that’s at least 25 years old and that has a valid Californian driver’s license.
• Get a provisional driver’s license issued in California.

Once these requirements are met, minors as young as 15 and a half years old can drive in the state of California.

However, the real evaluation isn’t in the laws or the tests and procedures, but in the good judgment of the parents. If you feel your child isn’t ready to drive, then he isn’t ready to drive, no matter what the law and tests indicate.

Finally, if you do decide to let your teen son or daughter drive, do yourself a favor and get an insurance policy that covers you beyond the requirements of the law and that applies to teen drivers. It’ll cost you more, but you’ll sleep much better.