Teensurance by Safeco

[mjm2005]

Ok, let me first point out my current situation. Just so there aren't any incorrect assumptions.

I am a current college student. I also have very recently entered the wonderful world of driving (4 years ago? Permit at 16 or so, and I just turned 20. So let's just say 4 years.)

Now, I have been fortunate enough to have a car and insurance provided to me over the past few years. And, I am grateful for that. Yes, there is a great amount of worry that parents have when their children first start to drive. They are concerned about their teen. They are concerned about their car. And, they are concerned about their assets. This is part of the reason why I have decided to get my own insurance and purchase/lease my own car. Not only does this provide relief for my parents, but it creates a tremendous amount of responsibility for me.

However, how much strife is this service going to cause between parents and children? Yes, it might be the parents’ car. Yes, it's under their roof. Yes, it's their food. Fine.

But, isn't this a bit extreme? We have to resort to GPS tracking and email/text updates to watch our children? Oh, and place it there without them knowing it? That would be such a great conversation to have if your teen happened to do something "wrong." Here’s a sample of what could and probably would happen if you just stuck that GPS tracker in there without your teen knowing.

Oh, hey were you speeding today?
No.
Oh, well, I know that you were.
Well, I didn’t speed. You’re wrong.
I have proof.
From what? Did you see me speed?
No.
Then what?
Oh, I have a GPS tracking system in your car.
WHAT? I HATE YOU!
It’s for your own good! I love you!
I hate you! Don’t ever talk to me again! Don’t you trust me?

Frankly, I think this opens a whole range of liability issues and problems. Just think about what might happen? Keep in mind that this Teensurance Big Brother service isn't a mandate. I can foresee a great amount of passive rebellion due to this small device and constant watchful eye. More people could be put at risk. Your teens could make different decisions than they would have.

For example, what if your teen decides to abide by your rules for YOUR car, but dismisses them for other people’s cars? Your new teen driver might just have to gain those first crucial years of learning how to drive in someone else’s car. What if they get in an accident in that other person’s car? What if they leave their car at home but get into an accident because they decide to ditch the overprotective GPS system and ride with another new driver. What if your teen is responsible but is forced into a situation where he has to drive or ride with someone they’d rather not because they are too afraid of that tracking system in their own car. This service doesn’t track other drivers.

There is no responsibility created here. No freedom. Your teens will not be able to make decisions on their own. Instead it’s fear. Hmm, I want to stop at the mall on the way home from school. Or I want to go to Starbucks and get a quick snack. Why is mom calling me? Oh she saw that I’m not going directly home. I hate this. I don’t think I want to drive their car anymore.

So now, not only are you potentially damaging the built up trust you have with your teens, your concern now has to be shifted to other teen drivers when they go out. I have a feeling that many of these Teensurance teens will opt not to drive. Or at least not to drive their own car. You might trust your teen, but do you trust their friends? Do you even know their friends? Did you have any part in seeing how they drive? Are you their parents? Can you punish their friends? And now that trust is possibly reduced. They might disregard those rules and rebel even more than normal. What can you do? Kick them out of the house? Disown your children? Is that the type of options you wish to be faced with?

It is a much better solution to build trust between you and your children. It is much better to proactively respond to potential problems, rather than watch, police, and punish. It is much better to instill in your teen a sense of responsibility. This will not assist that. This will destroy any progress you might have made and disrupt what you thought was a utopian environment.

Although I do recognize some of the benefits of Teensurance. Yes, the GPS could be helpful. But the minute to minute updates and alerts are not necessary. If they are, your teen should not be driving in the first place. If you need or think these alerts are necessary, then you might want to rethink your parenting methods. Maybe something needs to be addressed. I do think that alerts or status updates might be helpful in a limited sense. But services such as OnStar already offer them (I believe). Let’s say your teen has disappeared and is unreachable, and this is very unlike them to do something like that. Then the ability to see where they are could give you some peace of mind. But have emails sent to you every minute if they are off route is a bit extreme, isn’t it? Also, the car unlocking service would be beneficial, but OnStar provides that as well.

If you need to track your teens, then should they be driving in the first place? Maybe they should wait a year or two. Maybe I don’t feel safe with you allowing your teen to drive, but you don’t trust them enough that you have to watch over their each and every move. That you don’t trust their driving or decision making ability.

Just be prepared to open yourself up to all kinds of liability issues and potential fights due to this service. Oh, your teen might be driving a junk car to start out with? But again what about their friends? Do you insure their friends? Can you afford to even? You and your teen might be able to afford the repairs on their used Honda Civic, but what if they are allowed to drive a friend’s car and get into an accident? What if that friend has a very nice car which neither you and your teen can afford to fix? What if your insurance drops your or raises your insurance because they won’t cover this damage on a non-covered car? Oh, yeah, you might say, “I trust my teen to make the right choices. I will tell them not to drive other people’s cars.” But what if they don’t listen? And if you trust them so much then why do you track them? And then you’d have to lie to the insurance companies and say that you knew about their driving friends’ cars and allowed it, if you wanted to receive any sort of help with the damages. What if you get sued?

Oh and to take a less selfish approach, what about this? What if your teen chooses to ride or drive another car that isn’t as safe as his own? What if they are hurt or killed, but they might have been fine if they were riding in the safer normal car? And those statistics are somewhat flawed. Some have to do with other drivers being at fault. How am I to protect myself from getting hit by an unsafe or drunk driver?

I just feel that this service will cause more problems than it would solve. Maybe I should rephrase my opinion. Maybe I should say that the abuse of Teensurance would be horrible. That constant tracking and updating would be poor. However, the OnStar-like features it offers could be beneficial and create peace of mind.

The best option would probably be to get the car in your teen’s name with their own insurance. Also, you yourself should have some sort of liability umbrella insurance to protect your assets. And, if you were that worried, install OnStar. But this real-time tracking is horrendous, thus why I think Teensurance is horrible.