Helping Teenage Drivers

There are several things parents can do to help their teenagers be safe behind the wheel. Here are a few tips.

* Coach your Son or Daughter. You should “coach” your teenage driver. Talk openly and frankly with him or her in order to determine his or her attitude about being behind the wheel. Work with your teen to set ground rules, such as the number of people allowed in the car, where the car may be taken, and curfew.

*Utilize Emergency Road Service. If you do not belong to a motor club, you should consider joining one that provides 24-hour emergency road service. That way, your teenager may call for help at any time if they need gas, need a jump-start, are locked out, or need a tire changed. You can also arrange with the motor club to provide service for your teen if they are in a friend’s car.

*Have an Open Discussion about Driving under the Influence. While no one wants to think about the possibility of their teenager drinking and driving—or being in a car with an impaired friend at the wheel—we need to be realistic. History has shown that teenagers will experiment with alcohol. You should make it clear to your teen that driving after drinking is not acceptable. However, if they ever do drink, or are in a car with someone else who is impaired, make it clear to your teen that he or she can call you at any time of the day or night and that you will come to get them—no questions asked.

Two other effective, though more costly, things that can be done are:

*Install a “Governor.” Many vehicles—school buses and certain types of delivery vehicles are good examples—have a “governor” installed in them that restricts the amount of fuel that can be injected, thus preventing the vehicle from being driven over a certain speed. A governor in your teen’s car may help keep him or her within the speed limits.

* Install a Global Positioning System (GPS) in your car. You can program it to let you know where your teenager is driving at any time. With the GPS, you can set a radius of operation and the GPS will notify you if your teen has taken the car outside of that radius. It can even alert you when the speed limit is being exceeded. Finally, a GPS can notify you if the car is being kept out past an agreed upon curfew. We realize that this may seem like a rather extreme measure. Use of a GPS may best serve those parents who have a reason to mistrust their teenager.

When your son or daughter gets a drivers license, work with your insurance agent to review various options for both of you. It is important for you—and your son or daughter—to remember that, yes, your auto insurance rates will go up, but they will come down after a couple years of driving experience. However, the rates will really go up if your teenager has tickets or gets into accidents.

Purchase Proper Watercraft

Coverage for Your New Boat

This is the time of year when many people start to consider purchasing a sailboat or powerboat. Many people, however, are unaware of the significant loss exposure this creates, and some people mistakenly believe that there is coverage available under their personal auto policy. The auto policy, however, does not provide any liability or physical damage coverage for boats. Other people may look to their homeowners policy for coverage. Most homeowners policies, however, only cover certain low-valued or low-powered boats. Thus, you should contact your agent before buying a boat to discuss the proper insurance protection for it. The following tips will assist you in this process.

* If you purchase a boat valued over $1,500, you probably lack proper coverage under your homeowners policy for physical damage losses to the boat itself. A separate watercraft or boatowners policy is necessary to cover boats over this value.

* If you are considering the purchase of a sailboat, inquire about its length. If the length is 26 feet or more, there is no liability coverage under your homeowners policy. For motorboats, there are severe horsepower restrictions for liability coverage. For example, only boats with outboard motors of 25 horsepower or less have liability coverage under most homeowners policies. Yet normally any type of powerboat will have a motor with horsepower way beyond this amount. This liability restriction also necessitates the purchase of separate watercraft insurance.

* Ask your agent about the types of boats you are considering. For example, some insurance companies decline to insure personal watercraft such as jet skis and wave runners, since some of these crafts can reach speeds of 60 mph. The United States Coast Guard reports that these crafts account for a disproportionately high number of accidents. Many insurance companies also refuse to cover houseboats, homemade or kit boats, competition bass boats, and speedboats. You may have to pay a steep premium through a specialty insurance company to insure these types of craft.

*Be wary of purchasing older watercraft. Many insurance companies reject boats over 15 or 20 years of age because they normally account for more losses than newer boats. You may have trouble finding insurance coverage for older boats or end up paying an extremely high premium.

* If you do purchase an older boat, consider ordering a marine survey or inspection of it prior to the sale. This survey will point out deficiencies in the boat that may cause you to reconsider the purchase or renegotiate its price.

* Ask your agent about procuring a personal umbrella policy in addition to a watercraft policy, particularly if you purchase a speedboat, a boat designed for water skiing, or some other craft with a higher potential to cause damage or loss of life. The personal umbrella policy provides excess liability limits above those offered by a watercraft policy. In addition, the watercraft liability limits should meet the underlying limits requirements of any applicable personal umbrella policy. It is usually best to use the same insurance company that writes your homeowners and personal auto policies for your personal umbrella policy.