The AutoGuide Show talks with IIHS staff about teen-driving safety, including what they observed in crash and avoidance testing. Hosts challenge the “cheap beater” idea, arguing that better crash protection and crash-avoidance features matter more than treating the car as disposable. They also cover when teen risk peaks, how to shop using crash-test ratings and “zippier” trim cautions, and why AEB and blind spot detection are especially helpful. The episode wraps with guidance on used-car picks and where to find IIHS resources.
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00:09
Company
IIHS
IIHS is a safety organization that tests cars and gives safety ratings. They help explain which vehicles do better in crashes, which is especially important when talking about teen drivers.
00:17
Brand
Audi
Audi is a car brand. In this part of the show, the host mentions Audi released a new high-performance supercar.
01:04
Term
avoidance testing
Avoidance testing is a set of safety evaluations that measure how well a vehicle can help drivers steer or brake to avoid a crash. It typically looks at real-world scenarios like sudden obstacles or lane changes, focusing on collision-avoidance performance rather than just crash impact.
06:35
Term
crash test ratings
Crash test ratings are scores from safety tests that show how well a car protects people in crashes. The tests look at things like how the car holds up and how well seat belts and airbags work. Higher ratings generally mean the car is safer in a crash.
06:51
Term
horsepower
Horsepower is a number that describes how much power the engine can make. More horsepower usually means the car can accelerate faster. For teen drivers, the concern is that faster acceleration can make speeding easier.
The Mazda 3 is a small car that’s often considered a good safety pick. Here, it’s mentioned because the speaker thinks some versions are appropriate for teens, especially the less powerful ones. The goal is to avoid trims that feel too fast.
07:16
Term
turbo
A turbocharger helps the engine make more power by pushing extra air into it. That often makes the car accelerate faster. The host is saying turbo versions may be too quick for teen drivers.
07:47
Term
EVs
EVs are electric cars that run on batteries instead of gas. The speaker is asking whether teens are crashing them more, but says EVs are still relatively rare. So the crashes that get reported may seem like a bigger problem than it is.
08:08
Concept
hot topic coverage
Sometimes the news focuses more on certain kinds of stories, especially when something is new or popular. That can make it seem like there are more crashes than there really are. The speaker is saying EV crashes get attention, even if EVs are still a small part of the cars on the road.
09:00
Term
plaid mode
“Plaid mode” is a special driving mode in some Teslas that makes the car accelerate harder. It’s meant for maximum performance, so it can be too much for a new teen driver.
The Toyota Corolla is a very common used car. The host is saying that, historically, people often chose it for teen drivers because it was considered a safe, sensible option.
The Honda Civic is a long-running compact car that’s often recommended as a practical, widely available used option. In this segment, it’s mentioned as the kind of “safe bet” used car people used to buy for teen drivers.
10:19
Term
crash avoidance features
Crash avoidance features are safety technologies that try to stop or reduce crashes. They can help the car react faster than a driver might, especially if the driver doesn’t see something in time.
10:56
Term
active safety systems
Active safety systems are safety features that try to prevent crashes while you’re driving. The host is saying they’re increasingly included by default, so you don’t always have to pay extra trim pricing.
The Ford Mustang is a sports car made by Ford, usually with a powerful engine and a driver-focused feel. It’s popular with people who want something more exciting than a typical everyday car. When it’s called a “dark horse,” it means it can be better than some people expect, depending on the version.
Hello and welcome to the AutoGuide show.
This week we speak to the IIHS about teen safety when it comes to driving.
I review the Salem TerraMax RT off-road tire and Audi just dropped a new supercar.
We'll be back in one second.
Okay, welcome back.
We have a very special guest with us.
Rebecca, if you could just introduce yourself and what you do.
Hi, my name is Rebecca Wiest.
I'm a senior research scientist at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
I've been there for about 10 years and I am I study a lot of different things,
but I'm our young driver expert.
So I study all things to do with why teenagers may or may not be bad drivers
and how to make them, you know, safer.
Yes, well, that's the topic we're going to dive into.
I just want to quickly point out I got to visit your facility twice
and every time so impressed.
It is such an impressive place with all that's being done there
and all the different test areas that are set up.
I got to see a couple crashes and I got to see some avoidance testing.
It was really it's quite the place.
I mean, if anyone it's not open to the public to go just visit.
But if anyone for whatever reason gets an opportunity,
it's definitely impressive place to visit.
So teen drivers, it is the area where I think there's potentially the most stereotypes.
You ask a lot of people, every teen driver is a terrible driver
and they shouldn't be on the road.
But I mean, we were all teen drivers at once and we survived and we're still here.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
So let's start with since you're you work right there.
What is sort of I would say misconception,
but something people usually do for teen drivers that's probably not the best idea.
I mean, an easy one that I've always said is like, oh, we'll get him an old beer.
It's like, well, that's probably the least safe car you could put your teenager in.
Yeah, I mean, the so.
Teenagers are.
This is a little bit less of an issue than I think it may used to have been
because like when I was a teenager in like the mid aughts,
it was still kind of possible to like have a part time job and by yourself,
the worst car possible that was like sitting and rotting in somebody's front yard
like I have a car now and it cost a thousand dollars
and I can afford to insure it myself using my babysitting money.
And like, that's not really a thing anymore.
Cars are too expensive for that.
So the impulse is, oh, the kids definitely.
And I think the desire to put a kid in a cheap beater,
like something that you don't feel attached to is this assumption that they're going to crash.
And like, that's not necessarily true.
And also, if they're going to crash, don't you want them in something
that's going to protect them from the forces of that crash?
Like if you if you know your teen and you assume they're going to wreck their car,
first of all, you need to practice more with them because driving is a skill
that you can develop and you can become better at with practice.
And they're not going to do that all by themselves.
They need somebody to help them out.
And, you know, it's easier said than done.
It puts a lot of work on parents.
But like you can you can pick a car that helps your that has
features that help your teen avoid a crash.
And you can also pick a car that's going to protect them in the unfortunate event of a crash.
The cheapest smallest thing possible, the thing that like,
presumably costs less upfront is probably going to cost you more down the line.
Yeah, I think it's sort of a well, they're not going to take care of it or they might
scratch or whatnot.
But yeah, it's it's something that, like you said,
it's going to protect your life if it works well.
So is there are there some vehicles on the road today that sort of meet that perfect point of
they'll they're very safe, but they're also not going to break your bank.
So the like, there's kind of a sweet spot where it comes to like, there are a bunch of
different criteria that you can kind of lump together that target just like safety in general
and also things that are specific to teens.
So like IHS every year releases a list of recommended vehicles for teens,
it includes new vehicles, if like you have some money to spend on this,
or if maybe money is not an object in this particular situation, or like,
there are a whole bunch of used vehicles and they run the gamut from things that are,
you know, 10 to 12 years old at this point, or things that are like a couple of years
used. And like the prices on our list range from just under $5,000 to up to like $45,000.
So the inclusion criteria, like we get into the nitty gritty a little bit when we're like
really kind of picking and choosing what kind of things to include and exclude,
but like the criteria in general are pretty straightforward, right. So like,
teenagers are beginners, they're beginners, like that's why teenagers are bad at driving,
teenagers are still learning to drive. People who have been driving for a long time kind of
forget that this is a complicated task because we like if you've been doing it for a long time
and you do it all the time, it's just kind of automatic, like you just do it without really
thinking about it. There's so much to the driving task that you know how to prioritize,
you know what to pay attention to and what to ignore. And teenagers are still figuring out
how to do that because it's all new. So it's just like very, very demanding. So you want a car that's
going to, you know, help them avoid some of the distractions that might be going on while they're
figuring out how to drive. You want a car that's going to help them maintain control of the vehicle
if they're driving too fast for conditions on the road, right. And like misjudge what's going on
because it's going to happen. And then you want something that is protective in the event of a
crash. So we're looking in like the Goldilocks space of like size, nothing too, too small because
they're not protective in a crash. So our bottom size limit is like 2,750 pounds. So not like no
micro mini cars, those kind of fall off the list. We have a handful of small, like technically small
cars on the list and then a bunch of midsize and large sedans and small and midsize SUVs. No large
or extra large SUVs, no minivans, no pickups. Because bigger cars, first of all, having a whole
bunch of peers in the car is one of the biggest risk factors for teenagers. They have a bunch of
other kids in the car with them or a bunch of other people in the car with them that creates
distractions. We don't want that. Also, bigger cars can have a longer stopping distance and
is not ideal. And they can be a little bit harder to handle and like kind of understand where they
are in space. And that makes them difficult to park and maneuver. We want to make sure that they
have the best crash test ratings available. For new cars, that's, you know, the testing that we're
doing now. And for every subsequent year in the past, that was, you know, the testing that was
being done at the time. Because we don't, you know, do this year's testing with 10-year-old cars.
And then they, we want things that, let's see, what like lower, not like lower horsepower,
we're not saying like take the engine out and put a lawn mower in, but like avoid like the zippier,
sportier versions of engines, like we're not recommending sports cars. There are a couple of
cars on the list. Like the Mazda 3 makes it like there's a bunch of Mazdas on the list. And there
are like sporty versions of Mazdas and like standard versions of Mazdas and like maybe avoid the turbo.
Because teens are disproportionately involved in speeding related crashes and we don't need to
make that any easier. Yeah, that's a good point to bring up because, I mean, when I was starting to
drive and I was in the early 2000s, well, in really late 90s, I got my license, but I got my own
cars in the early 2000s and things weren't that quick. I mean, back then, you know, 200 horsepower,
that was a fast car. But nowadays, things are safer than ever, but they're so quick. Is there
an issue that you've seen or is it too early still with EVs? Because they're all so quick and
powerful. Are there any more disproportionate teen speeding or incidents with them or is it just
they're not really in the EVs to begin with? From what I've seen, they're not really in the EVs to
begin with. I mean, EVs are such a small port, like it's growing, but it's such a small portion of
the fleet that it's really like the crashes make the news. So people think that it's a huge problem
and it's just because it's being covered because it's a hot topic. And, you know, because those cars
are so expensive. And as we have established, people tend to put their kids in the cheaper car
that's available. Like, nobody's buying a $70,000. Well, somebody's probably buying a $70,000 car
for their kid. But like, most people are not going to buy like a fully electric vehicle,
brand new. And like the prices just kind of aren't like, we're not quite in the place where
we're seeing them like pervasive and like the teen fleet, we're among teens that are driving them.
So I've definitely heard of this concern. And I do think it's something to keep an eye on because
they're so zippy off the line, right? They don't have to have to shift up, they can just go. I've
been in a Tesla doing what like plaid mode, where it goes zero to 60 in like two and a half seconds
or something. And that's like, no, we don't put children in those. But because we have such a
strict upper price limit on our list, then don't make it. So when I was younger, and even somewhat
recently, is it still the good old, oh, a teen driver will get them a used Civic Corolla, like
those used to be sort of safe bets? Is that still in there? Or has safety advanced so much
in the last couple of years? It's hard to go back too far with that kind of car.
I don't remember if the Civic is on the list, but like, you're not going to be surprised by
anything that shows up on this list. Like there's a bunch of Mazdas, Toyotas, there's a bunch of
Hondas, you see Subaru's all over the list. There's a couple of like things that you wouldn't
necessarily expect like there's an Alfa Romeo on the used list. And I saw that and was like,
huh, I haven't thought about it in a while. But it meets all of our criteria. And like,
we're not going to like kick it out of bed because it wasn't thinking about it.
And yeah, like there's a handful of like, there's a couple of Fords on the list,
there's a couple of Chevy's, like there's it's a solid representation of the market.
And yeah, because of the upper price limits that we have on the different criteria on the
different categories. So our used list is broken down into best and good, the best are equipped
with crash avoidance features and the good ones are not, because you don't have to have like
crash, you don't have to have automatic emergency braking to keep your team safe while they're
driving. It's just like a nice extra layer of safety, right? So like, you don't have to spend
that much money to keep your kids safe. It's just if you would like to, you can and it's not a bad
thing. And yeah, there, I'm like, I every year I look at the list and I'm like, Oh, right, those
exist. All right, those. So many manufacturers like Toad is one of them. And Subaru's getting
there too, where all that safety active safety systems are just standard. So you just get it
now. Whereas before you'd have to pay and go up trim levels, but Subaru's a good one you brought
up. I completely forgot about that. That's one of my go-to's when people ask me, I say, you know,
get yourself a couple year old Impresa or more so even the cross truck with small engine because
you get sort of decent safety in the size and the ride height. The one I've been recommending
to people and this is more for someone going off to college. So maybe a little bit older, I guess
a later teen early twenties is the Chevy tracks on the list because I always say like that has
such a sweet spot as terms of technology and features for the price. And it has some of
Chevy's safety systems. It was one of those cars too, where it didn't celebrate numbers,
but it was a solid vehicle. So you could probably pick one up pretty affordable on the used market.
It's not going to be as much as say a used camera or a cord, let's say, but you should
start to get good safety out of it. Yeah, it's a little bit of a dark horse because everyone's
like, oh, that exists. But yeah, it's a solid car and it hasn't been for a long time.
And I know a lot of families. I mean, my sister and brother in law are one of them where they have
a new driver, brand new teenage driver. So their most recent vehicle purchase that they made a year
before that was along the lines of this is the one that they're going to drive for the first time.
And I mean, they asked me for, for advice to tell them what to buy. They said,
this is what we're going to get. I said, oh, that's, that would be a great car. They ended up buying a,
I think a three year old Jetta. And I said, you know, it's a, yeah, it's a nice, big,
easy to drive car, but it's full of safety. It's got a lot of the safety systems built in
because it's mid trim. So I think that's important too. I think people, when they look at a list
like this, they think, well, I'm not even going to buy my kid a car or my kid can't afford a car,
but they're probably going to drive yours. So that should be consideration too. Because if you have a
heavy derango, that might not be the best thing that they're borrowing on the weekends.
Yeah, no, this, so this is something that comes up a lot because like, I think a lot of families
are priced out of like, oh, it's a graduation gift where here's the keys to your brand new car,
like that I think is the archetype and like, it doesn't really happen anymore. I mean,
maybe it does somewhere, but I think it's a lot less likely. And I think people are either
thinking about like, I think more people should be thinking about this when they're, you know,
their kids are young and like maybe elementary school age, because so many people, half of people
get a hand-me-down vehicle, like the parent goes out and buys something new and the kid gets the
older vehicle. And like, again, if the hand-me-down vehicle is not terribly safe, then like, that's
not great. But our list is very useful for people who are maybe shot like in the market now, if
they're in the market for a new car that they're planning to hold on until it like falls apart,
something my family does, we buy a car for life. And you're planning to, you know, maybe hand that
car down. It's a really great way to be like, okay, this is equipped with the best things that we
can get now. So in the future, it's going to, you know, we know it's crash worthy, it's not going
to stop being crash worthy over time. And it's got all of these safety features. That's great.
Also, yeah, people, I think, even if you're not buying a car for your kid to drive as a primary
driver, one of the safest things to do, especially as kids are starting, like teenagers are, their
highest risk period is within that six months of first getting their license and driving independently.
Like, they're actually pretty safe when they're on their permit because they're driving with
somebody else in the car with them. And then they get their license, they start driving independently,
there's nobody like extra in the car to help them think through driving and to point out like
risky things and to like, keep them in check. And so that's when the risk goes up and it takes a
while for that to taper off and for them to develop their safety habits. So like, during that time,
if they're just sharing a household car, if they have shared access to a household car,
then they're going to, there are more points of contact between the teen and the parent, they get
to check in more often, the parent gets to see how they're driving, they have maybe slightly
limited access to the car, so they can't just go out whenever they want to. And it just like,
helps them develop better habits. So yeah, I think your friends were right on the money
buying something and then, you know, making sure that it's safe for the entire family,
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