Teenagers, the least trusted individuals on Earth

Time and again in school, I and my classmates are battered by the teachers about how this is our most important year ever, blah blah blah. Yes, we know. It is of course my GCSE year and to be honest, that is a little scary. My point is that because we are made to focus on the exams so much approaching in May ’14, we are never really given the chance to think about the future.

About as thrilling as it's going to get for a 17 year old

Of course being me, the thing I have thought about the most is being able to drive soon. I will be able to start taking lessons soon and I hope to pass with flying colours. Of course, it’s not really that simple. To give you an idea of how much of a car geek I am, I have studied the Theory Test since I was 9. Could explain why I’m awful at maths; all the brain space is taken up by useless (at the moment) UK driving theory.

But enough about the boring driving tests, what about my first car? Believe me, I have done extensive research on Auto Trader. My parents are probably worried about me since I use the application pretty much every day. Naturally being a typical teenager, I wanted to find the fastest car for the lowest insurance. The best I found was a 1.4l Vauxhall Corsa. 0-60 is dealt with in 10.5 seconds but insurance is ‘only’ £2k. That is cheap for a 17 year old.

Insurance though, it really annoys me. Only recently, was the sexism put right. I am certain girls are much more easily distracted at the wheel with their makeup and even mobile phones since they always have to answer every message instantly. Also, the price is so high, it is usually many times more than what the damn car is actually worth. Take a £1000 Audi A3, for the 17 year old to insure it, it would cost them just shy of £10,000. You certainly get the image they don’t want youngsters on the road.

We aren't all like this, I promise!

Actually, to be fair they do have a point. The amount of times I have seen 17 year olds in their silly modified cars speeding along the road is countless, but at least they are speeding and not… going slowly. This is my biggest annoyance. They say speed kills. For sure, it does to an extent. But you are far more likely to be killed by someone doing 10, not 100. Think about it. You are on a country road doing the NSL, but around the blind bend is an old geezer doing 20. You cannot react in time and you have a fatal accident. If he was speeding, that would not have happened.

And old people do not see the squeeze in insurance prices. I am adamant they are more dangerous drivers than new 17 year olds, because their reaction times would have significantly decreased and also most likely the test they took to drive is nothing like the test there is today. And yet their insurance maybe rises 10% and that is about it. It really annoys me to say the least.

So, I want to propose something. Make new drivers start in the middle of the insurance ladder. Let’s say about £500 for my Corsa. Therefore, it shows a slight bit of trust and also is more affordable for the vast majority of drivers who actually never need to have an insurance premium so high in the first place. The good drivers get cheaper, the bad ones get higher premiums the following year. I don’t see that as a bad idea.

But I doubt it will ever happen. People always say there is no such thing as teenage stereotypical views in modern society, but there clearly is, and it’s right under gocompare.com. Don’t worry, I will not mug you on the street. Let’s all trust a teen.

This post was fairly boring, I know, but this was something I need to get off my chest for a long time. I am certain there would be people who disagree with every single thing I have just said, but hey, middle finger to you.

-JC