"insuring car" system could work, IF, they restrict engine size you can drive. For example, you can't drive car which is more 1.4L till you are 21 years old. OR like for motorcycles, you have to ride 125cc for 2 years and then you can go onto a more powerful ride.

Thats going to work no better than restricted 49cc or 33bhp bikes,

You get 1390 cc cars with 178bhp and even 999 cc with 125 bhp.

A 68 bhp is enough to do 110 in.

I suggest that the Government do Lease cars like Peugeot 'Just add petrol' or the the VW Up! lease scheme that you will get in Germany.

Low income or young working or in training people that need a car can get a Lease or HP vehicle with restricted output that needs to be

put in for 6 monthly Tachograph checks.

Anyone under 21 that wants to buy there own cars can only purchase from an approved list and also needs their car checked.

or

Since we are in the times of Smart phones etc, we could just get away with swipe cards or similar that limits cars like at Indoor Karting tracks.

again it wouldnt work,

It would still be like at the Karting track, the workers always end up with the Governor off!

Maybe easier to stick with what we have, just pay for your insurance if you need or want a car!

george

Starting to sound a bit commy now with the whole "you can only drive something that we approve", tbh the system we have could work with a few minor modifications, like a graded test so that proven better drivers get it cheaper insurance, and they lower the cost of the lesser powered cars as the main problem seems to be small engine cars costing too much to insure therefore making it almost impossible for a young person (without a job with good pay) to drive without some sort of financal help from friends/relatives

1.2 polo-750+quid (estimate)

Insurance 1200+ (just after passing)

Thats the sort of thing that dosnt make sense, even if they can afford to buy a car there going have to pay the same again if not more to insure it, and then again the next year and the next until there about 21 when it starts to get reasonable (so i hear anyway)

I agree. I would rather pay through the nose for insurance than be restricted to engine size/output/type of car. Afterall we live in a free democratic society.

the people saying this no doubt passed at 17 and enjoyed those first years of driving and the unlimited freedom, fun and excitement it brought? I wouldn't want to take that away from younger people.

I'm not sure 'excitement' is desirable when driving on roads - save it for the track.

FWIW I didn't pass until I was 18 and after that was allowed to drive my parents' cars every now and then, initially with them sitting next to me, then later on my own. I didn't have my own car until I was 22.

And you can't say that women are better drivers.

It used to be said that women tended to have lower speed bumps, so less damage, reduced insurance risk. I'm not sure if it's still the case though.

In some European countries you insure the car and not the drivers which to a certain degree makes sense

So that means safer drivers subsidise those that are riskier. Do you think it's fair to stitch up safer drivers like that?

'excitement' doesn't necessarily equate to dangerous driving. It could just be the excitement of being able to go new places, or go and see friends who don't live on the bus route etc. You sound awfully bitter that you didn't have your own car at 18 - does that mean everyone else should suffer?

Safer drivers don't subsides dangerous drivers. It means your insurance is a direct reflection of your car choice. For young people it would mean that your parent's would have to let you use their car; which when I first past the thought of loosing my dad's NCB was the biggest deterrent. Moreover, it would make motoring affordable to young people. But of course, young people are the work of the devil, they're all lunatics who don't need or for that matter deserve the convenience of a car. Make them suffer...

'excitement' doesn't necessarily equate to dangerous driving. It could just be the excitement of being able to go new places, or go and see friends who don't live on the bus route etc.

I'm not sure you understand the word 'excitement', or at least are using a different meaning to the one I grew up with.

You sound awfully bitter that you didn't have your own car at 18 - does that mean everyone else should suffer?

Not bitter, but just pointing out how the sense of entitlement to having the freedom a car offers seems to be getter younger and younger, and also that I have little sympathy when people find they are unable to have their cake and eat it. There are other modes of transport that some could use, including various forms of two wheels. I remember a fellow student at 17 came into the town from the countryside each day on a motorbike - it had a coffin-like 'side-car' fitted as it significantly lowered his insurance premium. Also, while it might be better to have a newish car from a driver & passenger safety point of view a much older car will often be cheaper to insure even if it lacks street cred.

Safer drivers don't subsides dangerous drivers.

In this country we insure cars for specified drivers, including 'any driver' policies. These are certainly available but cost quite a lot more, because the risk is higher. They used to be quite common, but the developing claims culture has put up premiums for everyone significantly, so whereas it didn't used to be much cheaper to insure for driver only, for example, these days it is. You are suggesting that we move to a different insurance arrangement which insures the car for any driver - this means that those groups of drivers that are less likely to make a claim would be paying more than they do now, and riskier drivers would pay less - a subsidy.

It means your insurance is a direct reflection of your car choice.

That is how it works now, but with the added benefit that if you are willing to restrict cover to certain people you are able to get a lower premium.

Firstly, I would just like to clarify that I have a relatively good grasp of English - passed my GCSEs and everything! - subsequently I do understand the meaning of excitement. I suppose what you are failing to grasp is that it is relative so I can have just as much fun/excitement driving out to a part of the country that I've never been to before as I can drifting round a roundabout at 1am in the morning... Assume you feel the same?

So as you're not bitter about the si****ion, how's about helping out the OP with some good suggestions as to how it could be made cheaper/fairer/more achievable for young people to get behind the wheel?

how's about helping out the OP with some good suggestions as to how it could be made cheaper/fairer/more achievable for young people to get behind the wheel?

Perhaps you missed them but here they are repeated - first of all accept that it probably is reasonably fair based on risk, (much higher for the youngest drivers), and exacerbated by the claims culture that inflates premiums for everyone. Next, premiums tend to be lower a few years after gaining the full licence even if a policy isn't held in the intervening period, so to begin with consider alternative means of transport where practical to do so, and perhaps try to be a named driver on a parent's car to be able to drive occasionally, (even if it is with a parent in the car), to keep your hand in. If you really need a car consider old cars that aren't popular with other young people. Some have found that cars old enough to be insured on a classic car policy works for them, and anyway consider a restricted mileage policy.

Perhaps you missed them but here they are repeated - first of all accept that it probably is reasonably fair based on risk, (much higher for the youngest drivers), and exacerbated by the claims culture that inflates premiums for everyone. Next, premiums tend to be lower a few years after gaining the full licence even if a policy isn't held in the intervening period, so to begin with consider alternative means of transport where practical to do so, and perhaps try to be a named driver on a parent's car to be able to drive occasionally, (even if it is with a parent in the car), to keep your hand in. If you really need a car consider old cars that aren't popular with other young people. Some have found that cars old enough to be insured on a classic car policy works for them, and anyway consider a restricted mileage policy.

Classic car insuruance is available only if you are 21+.

Just got another quote for 1.2L Fabia Classic - £6500

Edited 30 June, 201213 yr by hunker7

Classic car insuruance is available only if you are 21+.

Apparently not true - but you probably need to call various insurance companies to get quotes. If you do an internet search a number of young drivers mention getting classic car insurance by phoning up.

A Fabia 1.2 Classic almost certainly isn't old enough for a classic car policy - try getting a quote on, say, a 1996 Felicia instead.

Edited 30 June, 201213 yr by AnotherGareth

I want 2nd golf then. I have done some research on classic car insurance for young drivers, but all named drivers must be 21 or over.

Apparently not true - but you probably need to call various insurance companies to get quotes. If you do an internet search a number of young drivers mention getting classic car insurance by phoning up.

A Fabia 1.2 Classic almost certainly isn't old enough for a classic car policy - try getting a quote on, say, a 1996 Felicia instead.

It's true. Most classic car insurance policies aren't available to anyone under the age of 21. I found Mini's were and Austin A35s but that was about it. Certainly not my 1989 Skoda Rapid (for a Skoda to be considered a classic it had to be pre-1979 which is far out of the league of first car and not all that daily friendly).

Incidently my first car was the Rapid - cost me £175 - not cool and not new but still utterly uninsurable at 18. I had old motorcycles too, also not allowed on classic bike policies. And even if you can on a classic policy they are often very restrictive and don't cover commuting - so you couldn't use your car to get to and from your place of work/education say.

I think its a bit insulting to young people out there to assume that 'we' all get brand new cars at 18 paid for by our parents. Some do, but I can assure you that it is generally the minority and most work damn hard for their car. My friend is a case in point. He was at college with me and worked in the evenings in a call centre. He saved up and bought a £300 Corsa. He then insured it - I don't remember the exact figure but considerably more than the car's value - 6 weeks later his car was stolen and burnt out. His excess on the policy didn't even cover the value of the car so he lost everything and had to borrow, skimp and save to start again with another car some weeks later.

AnotherGareth, I just think you need to lay off the prejudices against young people. Assumptions simply make an ass out of you and me.