Assisting your teenager with buying their first car is a nerve-wracking experience. Because there are so many different makes and models to choose from, it’s hard to gauge which safety features are necessary for a teenager behind the wheel.

And, let’s face it – is there anything more important than keeping your new driver safe?

Also, international families and parents whose children plan to travel before college may not be aware of changing global statistics on teenage driving so that the car they choose complies with local regulations that keep safety a top priority for young drivers.

Staying Insured

First things first: car insurance is mandatory almost everywhere, but international drivers need to be extra careful about policies that keep them protected on the road when traveling across the globe.

Be sure to do your homework here as the details are often in the fine print.

For some families, it makes sense to add your child’s car as an alternative vehicle under the parent insurance plan: generally speaking, this is cheaper than a teenager purchasing insurance on his/her own.

However, if your child will be driving as an expat in a new country, adding them to your plan may not be an option.

Be sure to do your homework here as the details are often in the fine print and you don’t want to be finding out after the fact that your young driver isn’t insured.

Purchasing A Vehicle

When it comes down to the nuts-and-bolts of assisting your teenager with purchasing a car, safety is a top priority. Most of the research can be done on the internet using car aggregate sites that allow you to filter through different options in your area.

Nowadays, you can purchase cars with added safety features, such as assisted-controlled speeding, which automatically lowers the speed of the vehicle in risky situations.

Assisting your teenager with buying their first car is a nerve-wracking experience.

In the EU, digital speed-mandates are fairly common, and the EU is expected to pass regulations mandating the technology in all new cars by 2022.

Ultimately, do your homework, and make sure that if you are bargain hunting, an older, more attractive looking price won’t equal expensive repairs, upgrades, or compliance in the coming months and years.

Emergency Kit For Winter

If your child is going to be driving in areas with high snowfall or cold temperatures (we’re looking at you, Canada), you can offset potential obstacles by making a winter safety kit in preparation. Ideally, it’s wise to store a shovel, cat litter, or salt in the trunk of the car.

Cat litter and salt add weight to the trunk, which helps offset the weight of the engine: you can also pour both of these products onto stuck tires to gain traction when digging your car out of the snow.

Conclusion:

Of course, these are just a handful of safety considerations, but for international families, the challenge of buying a car for a teenager is exacerbated by discrepancies between laws and regulations from one country to the next.

However, as your family conducts more research on the car best suited for your children, it will become easier to manage the decisions associated with enabling a young driver’s safety.