I'm not sure a $500 POS is the safest choice for a child either.
Small or old cars can be dangerous for wholly different reasons.
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Dad with teenage son torn over getting Performance versus Standard
- Thread starter NevadacityMark
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- Model X
I'm not sure a $500 POS is the safest choice for a child either.
Small or old cars can be dangerous for wholly different reasons.
SmartElectric
Active Member
We have both an S85 and a Smart ED. My son will be driving soon, and it will be in the Smart. It has 8 airbags and a safety cell passenger compartment design. I trust the crash ratings, and since it only has room for one passenger,it removes the possibility of transporting too many friends who want to see how fast the car can go.
I survived an accident in my youth as a passenger in a high powered car, we were wrapped around a fire hydrant on my passenger side, I went to open the door and it fell off...no sh#t.
My son will have the same opportunities to be stupid that I had, but not with the Tesla.
I survived an accident in my youth as a passenger in a high powered car, we were wrapped around a fire hydrant on my passenger side, I went to open the door and it fell off...no sh#t.
My son will have the same opportunities to be stupid that I had, but not with the Tesla.
O-G
Member
Many, many, many years ago when I was 16, my father bought an old beat up Mercedes diesel for my brother and I to drive. It was a heavy, heavy vehicle with less horsepower than a Volkswagen. 4 speed manual on the column, I think it topped out at 70MPH downhill with a tailwind. Best decision my parents ever made. I'd probably be dead with anything like a Performance Tesla at that age. These cars have such incredible performance and handling. They don't spin out going around a corner, they don't burn rubber with too much acceleration, but when you cross the line the results are typically catastrophic. I witnessed a kid roll a BMW going around a corner too fast. Crazy good traction control in a BMW until you push it too far. (BTW my father also sold the family trail motorcycle the week before I turned 16 so that I would not ride it on the streets. That too was a good decision although it sure ticked me off at the time.)
Krugerrand
Meow
16 year old boy + Tesla any model = bad idea. And I don't care how responsible and mature he is. Love the other suggestions for EV's if you want to go that route. Otherwise, what happened to making a kid get a part time summer job to buy a beater that they have to spend all week working on until midnight to fix up just so they can cruise main street on Saturday night, and have it die just as they return home? I have just dated myself, haven't I?
BoerumHill
not great not terrible
I'm not sure a $500 POS is the safest choice for a child either.
More figurative than literal. Can you even buy a car that runs for that little?
As I said on page one, I got my kid a very solid first car. But no way he's driving a a Tesla on my dime.
NigelM
Recovering Member
Uncle Paul
Well-Known Member
Any high powered vehicle in the hands of a young, inexperienced driver is frought with danger.
First bikes have training wheels for a reason.
First bikes have training wheels for a reason.
More figurative than literal. Can you even buy a car that runs for that little?AnxietyRanger said:I'm not sure a $500 POS is the safest choice for a child either.
As I said on page one, I got my kid a very solid first car. But no way he's driving a a Tesla on my dime.
Agreed. Safety technology (crumple zones, stability control, non-locking brakes, various sensors) certainly has evolved over time, so the safest choice is probably something that has relatively modern safety, sufficient size (size is still safety), bright exterior color and sufficiently (but not dangerously) modest performance. No RWD is probably a good call too.
caddieo
Member
The magazine Scientific American had a recent issue devoted to "The Teenage Brain" that categorically emphasizes the lack of responsibility, maturity and proper executive function until the early 20's.
Sure you can. You can even take them racing: 24 Hours of LeMons - Home
ABS is 20+ years old. Stability control is 15+ years old. If buying a car for the 16 year old is an option, there are plenty of safe (ICE) options in the 10+ year old beater category. Not that I'm entirely convinced that a teenager needs (or deserves) their own car. My first car was Dad's 4 year old, 100K mile hand-me-down as a college graduation present. It was a station wagon with fake wood paneling, and it was awesome. :biggrin:
I'm not really sure how I would handle being lectured by my teenage daughter like that. Probably not well, I imagine. :cursing:
Obviously many of the technologies I listed first appeared in (high-end) cars decades ago. However, even those technologies have greatly evolved since - and may have become available in lower-cost cars only later. Also, old cars with wear and tear may not have the same level of safety they did when they were new. Sensorology has also evolved leaps and bounds, with things like both front and rear crash radars are still not all that common.
Anyway, I was not trying to put a too fine a point on the age of the car. Obviously a responsible parent will make an overall assessment on what the safety merits of the particular car are, what the budget can be and so forth. A safe car, of course, doesn't have to mean a brand new (or inventory
) car.
Merrill
Merrill
When I was 16 I had a POS that I tried to fix up, and from that I learned the value of owning something and taking care of it. My parents said they would sell the car to me for $150 and I had to pay for the gas and insurance. Did not own my first NEW car until I was 40. Always had cars that needed continual repairs, so when I could finally afford a new car I really appreciated it. I have friends that bought there kids a new car to go to college, just wonder if they will appreciate them.
SeminoleFSU
Voluntaryist
+ 1 let your son show he can take care of a reasonable car before buying him something this expensive and powerful
Canuck
Well-Known Member
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens.1
Young people ages 15-24 represent only 14% of the U.S. population. However, they account for 30% ($19 billion) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among males and 28% ($7 billion) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among females.3
http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/teen_drivers/teendrivers_factsheet.html
How big is the problem?
In 2011, about 2,650 teens in the United States aged 16–19 were killed and almost 292,000 were treated in emergency departments for injuries suffered in motor-vehicle crashes.1 That means that seven teens ages 16 to 19 died every day from motor vehicle injuries.Young people ages 15-24 represent only 14% of the U.S. population. However, they account for 30% ($19 billion) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among males and 28% ($7 billion) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among females.3
http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/teen_drivers/teendrivers_factsheet.html
Drucifer
Active Member
I wouldn' t do a Leaf. I would do a Volt. Better crash rating - 5 stars - good thing for a teenager to have..
Safety for whom? It's so common that we want our children to be driving large cars "so they will be safe." There are two sides of that coin. As much as we want our kids to be safe, putting them behind the wheel of a Suburban or even a Tesla "so they will be safe" is selfish. I believe there should be a weight limit to what you can drive below a certain level of driving experience as well as above a certain age. Sure "size is still safety" from the inside of the vehicle, but the larger the size of the vehicle one drives recklessly, the greater the extent of the injuries to the innocent victims who are hit. If someone feels their child needs a big car to protect them from themselves, then don't let them have a license.
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Absolutely. High crash rating to protect the driver, small call to do less damage to others in an accident.
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Because they can't travel far?
http://my.teslamotors.com/forum/forums/valet-mode-improvement-suggestions-0
My favorite subject.
I take exception to the 'entitlement' statement as my concerns are safety driven. If you want your teenager driving the safest car available with the longest range (think avoiding late night supercharging in a questionable location), you are looking at an 85/90 model S. However, while my daughter appears to be a safe and responsible driver I would like better control of her ability to tap into the acceleration and top speed on this vehicle. So, Valet mode is a start.
'Safe mode' has been my request to TM and I invite any others that agree to send TM an email.
Thanks
My favorite subject.
I take exception to the 'entitlement' statement as my concerns are safety driven. If you want your teenager driving the safest car available with the longest range (think avoiding late night supercharging in a questionable location), you are looking at an 85/90 model S. However, while my daughter appears to be a safe and responsible driver I would like better control of her ability to tap into the acceleration and top speed on this vehicle. So, Valet mode is a start.
'Safe mode' has been my request to TM and I invite any others that agree to send TM an email.
Thanks
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Realistically, most parents are probably pretty selfish about their children's safety. That wasn't my point, though - I said sufficient size. I don't disagree with your post at all or the moral of the story. Beyond that, liability is a risk too, of course. Nobody wants their kids in jail because they rode someone over with too large a car, so there's that.
For an American, perhaps sufficient size reads out as an F150, to me it reads something a little larger than a Renault Twingo. In many parts of Europe young people often drive small cars - of course different legislation means younger teenagers in Europe roll around in microcars made out of plastic - so just to explain how I think of size. Maybe I should have simply said, a car of normal size.
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