Parents: Are You Buying a New Car For Your Teen? Consider Safety First

Traditionally, the classic car for a new teen driver was a cheap, old passed-down car. In fact, the director of transportation safety for the nonprofit National Safety Council indicated that the rule for a long time was to buy a car that was big, slow, and ugly.  However, this is not the advice that safety advocates provide any more.

Instead, advocates believe that advanced safety features on new vehicles could be instrumental in reducing the risk of automobile accidents occurring. The New York Times indicates that parents are generally encouraged now to buy the safest car that they can afford to purchase, even if that means paying extra to get advanced safety technologies in the car that your kids will be driving.

Advocates argue that teens need safe cars with advanced crash-avoidance features – even though those cars might be more costly than an old beater – because teens are inexperienced drivers and those features could save lives.

However, the safety features are only going to help teens when and if they work properly and there are many instances in which defects or problems develop and the safety features fail to perform as expected. If your car's safety components or any part of the vehicle or its parts doesn't perform the way it should, you should contact a Los Angeles lemon law attorney for help.

Parents Should Look for the Safest Car Possible for Teen Drivers

According to the New York Times, parents should prioritize safety when buying a car for a teen, even if that means paying more than they normally would, because car accident fatalities are a leading cause of death for teen motorists and most accidents occur due to inexperience. The safety technologies found in more advanced and more expensive vehicles tend to reduce the risk of accidents due to inexperience.

For example, safety features that can be found on newer – and costlier -- vehicles include forward collision warning systems that can head off impending rear-end accidents; blind spot monitoring to make changing lanes easier; lane departure warning systems to ensure kids stay in their lane and alert them to drifting; and automatic emergency braking to prevent collisions.

Obtaining some of these safety features when purchasing a car could mean buying a more expensive vehicle model or it could mean paying for costly upgrades to a vehicle you're purchasing. This is especially true because many of the most important technologies are newer developments so you may need to buy a car made after 2012 to ensure you're benefitting from advances in technology.  Still, if these safety tools can stop an accident from happening, advocates argue that they are worth the extra price.

If you've gone to the trouble to research safety features and find the right car for your teen son or daughter, it can be very frustrating if the car turns out to have unexpected and repeated problems. If you find yourself in this situation, you should talk with a Los Angeles lemon law attorney as soon as possible about your options for pursuing a legal remedy.