[Moose72]

I posted in another thread that my 19 y/o got in an accident a few days ago and totalled his car. He was t-boned on the passenger's side. Luckily he wasn't hurt. However, he is a terrible driver- too fast, stops too close to other cars etc. I hate riding with him. How should I treat this? He already has to bike to work and lost his car and will have his insurance rates raised. He just doesn't seem all that upset. Any comments? Is this an age thing or??

My 20yr old boy lost his license recently and I've never been happier about anything in all my life. My friends son is the same age and doing similar things to my son....it's a challenging age for some kids.....very hard to watch as a parent....very nerve racking and grey hair creating. ((Hugs to you and your son)))

[Wild Coyote]

Fast, somewhat careless driving is often attributed to teen/young adult males.
Some insurers automatically give high insurance rates to this category of customers. (It's thought to be due, at least in part, to high testosterone levels.)

My brother died in a car accident at 16, the driver was a young male horsing around with speed. The driver has never gotten over knowing his negligent driving took the life of his then "best friend."

I am glad everyone is okay! So thankful!

WC

I had a high school friend who was notorious for driving fast and stupid. His first winter after getting his license, he crashed his car 3 times into snow banks. In the spring, summer, and fall months, he'd fishtail because he'd drive too fast on bald tires.

He didn't care too much about his car. It was a beatup old Buick that he bought from some old lady who wanted to give up driving.

He'd drive recklessly and would cause people to hit him. (He didn't intentionally make people hit him. The hitting was a result of his recklessness. Like, he'd slam his brakes from not paying attention and people would rear-end him.) So of course, he got insurance money from when people hit him... and what did he do with that money? He pocketed it and let his car collect dents unless his yearly car inspection said he'd have to get certain things fixed.

Eventually, the car became too dented and too messed up to drive. That's when his parents said they weren't buying him a new car. Well, he had A LOT of money he pocketed from his previous dents, so he just used that money toward buying a new car! Go figure! Rinse and repeat...

His parents' biggest mistake was letting him have access to that money. They bought him the car with their own money, and then they let him collect money on it from every dent. They ALSO didn't make him pay for his insurance. If he had to buy his own car with his OWN money, he would have cut that sh_t out. I know his best friend used to drive similarly, but once that guy got his own brand new Jeep, he stopped it.

[jacky8807]

moose you are giving me a heart attack as my oldest is in driving school. and if he's anything like me (i was reckless but not on purpose if that makes sense) then I'm in trouble

[Sunflower123]

Moose, I'm so glad your son wasn't hurt. Do you think it's a young male thing? My 18 year old daughter drives safer then I do knock on wood. I do know my insurance doubled when she became 16 which I was very unhappy about. As I said before, I have a tracker app on her phone for safety because she's a somewhat naive, beautiful young lady but one added feature is that when she drives a screen comes up after she arrives at her destination saying she drove x miles at x mph with x phone usages and x hard stops etc. and has a map locating where she is at. It has provided me comfort many times. Just a thought.

[Moose72]

Originally Posted by jacky8807

moose you are giving me a heart attack as my oldest is in driving school. and if he's anything like me (i was reckless but not on purpose if that makes sense) then I'm in trouble

Well we both can have heart attacks together then! I don't think I or his dad were reckless drivers so I dunno.

[Moose72]

Originally Posted by Jennifer 1967

Moose, I'm so glad your son wasn't hurt. Do you think it's a young male thing? My 18 year old daughter drives safer then I do knock on wood. I do know my insurance doubled when she became 16 which I was very unhappy about. As I said before, I have a tracker app on her phone for safety because she's a somewhat naive, beautiful young lady but one added feature is that when she drives a screen comes up after she arrives at her destination saying she drove x miles at x mph with x phone usages and x hard stops etc. and has a map locating where she is at. It has provided me comfort many times. Just a thought.

Thanks for the thought!