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by Leah_Beno

Last Post 4 days, 12 hours Ago


If there is one bad thing about reporting the news, it's reporting the death of a teenager. Unfortunately, teens passing away in car accidents happens all to often. But tonight I learned a little more about a product that keeps teen drivers in check. (or at least makes them think twice about their driving)

Safeco Insurance launched a program called Teensurance, which is GPS tracking system installed inside a teenagers car. Parents use a website to pick personalized settings including curfew, speed, and a range of miles. If ( or should I say when) a teen driver exceeds the setting, their parent is alerted by phone, text or e-mail. Plus, parents can log onto a website at anytime and see exactly where their teen's car is parked.

Safeco buys and installs the GPS device for free and parents pay a monthly $15 charge. The insurance company believes by making teens better drivers, there will be fewer car accidents, few insurance claims, and thus few injuries or deaths. Plus a 15% discount for teen insurance policies actually saves parents up to $200. So the system pays for itself.

High Point Police love the Teensurance idea and one family we talked to says so far it's working. Trey Hamilton is 16 years old and says at first he didn't like the idea of his parents "spying on him." However, Trey does like the other added bonus and security of road side assistance.

I know one thing, if Teensurance had been around when I was a teenager, my high school days would have been much different. I was never ticketed for speeding and have never been in a car accident ( knock on wood) but my mom would have paid any price to log onto a website and see exactly where my little red Saturn was located.

12 Comments |  Add a Comment

Member Comments Total Comments: 12
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JQPublix read my blog view my photos
Feb 23, 2008 | 1:06 AM

I don't think a GPS device can make a teen or adult drive differently. For me it has always been a practice of adhering to traffic laws

TomWiecek read my blog view my photos
Feb 23, 2008 | 7:24 AM

It has been proven in many cases that it does work. Click this link and listen to the story of how one parent caught his teen driver doing a 100 MPH. This happened in September and I talked to this father 2 weeks ago and his son has not gone over his speed limit since.
http://www.teendriverinsurance.com/nc_paramount_tms.htm
l

Jordan37
Feb 23, 2008 | 7:41 AM

Hats off to Paramount Insurance for promoting such a wonderful tool! A story was reported on another local news station this morning about teens drag racing on a rural road in Surry County. If the parents had been notified of the excessive speed maybe it would have prevented the passenger from being critically injured in one of the cars racing. I am sure the parents of the passenger would have appreciated the monitoring system also.

artbyakm2183 read my blog view my photos
Feb 23, 2008 | 9:54 AM

Wow, that is wonderful! I see so many teens on the road driving like they own the road, not paying attention,Speeding and just bad driving in general! I would feel a bit safer knowing they were being watched or "Kept in check". Bravo to Teensurance!!!

flatch read my blog view my photos
Feb 23, 2008 | 10:02 AM

Sounds great, but does it alert the parents or all cops if Ashley and Chad are on the cell talking to Brad and Tiffany while they bounce off parked cars downtown?

ladyred2007 read my blog view my photos
Feb 23, 2008 | 11:14 AM

I think it is a good idea, in some aspects. Anything that will save a life; either their own life,their life being ruined from killing someone else, or someone else's life being taken. I have wanted to say something to our DMV lawmakers about the graduated driver's licenses that they have created in the last few years.
THANK YOU! When the laws changed, not allowing a new driver out after 9 pm, unless it was school or work related, I was so happy. The laws take the pressure off of parents and eliminate the chance that our new teen driver can talk us into allowing them out late at night. Restricting the amount of people they can have in a car is awesome! It reduced the chance that they will cram their car full of kids. I loved it when all I had to say to my son was..you know you can't be out driving after 9 pm. You could lose your priveldge to drive! It was a great change and I hear that more came after my son was older...like cell phones! Lucky parents...I can't wait to see what we will come up with next, to protect my grandkids when they are driving!

TomWiecek read my blog view my photos
Feb 23, 2008 | 12:04 PM

Flatch,
Unfortunately it does not have that feature although I wish it did. According to Officer Jim Poer, distractions is the second biggest cause of accidents with teen drivers behind speeding.
He has a new blog on this subject at www.parentalcourage.com

Wake-Clinard
Feb 23, 2008 | 12:37 PM

The graduated license program is great and has saved lives. However, as a parent of three teenagers I know that many parents either don't understand or have difficulty enforcing the restrictions. And most teens think it is an unenforceable law so they tend to ignore it. Teensurance is a product that can help parents make sure the rules are followed. They can set the curfew time and will know if the child violates the after 9 pm restriction.

This of course means more freedom for the young driver. Now he or she can drive themselves to a sleepover at the friend's house and the parents can know the car will go only there and not be driven after 9 pm. This freedom will also give the child some independence and confidence and not do it at the expense of the parents' peace of mind.

We have this product in my daughter's car and I really can't imagine why all parents of teen drivers wouldn't want this tool. After all, we are talking about their child's life here.

homeschoolmom read my blog view my photos
Feb 23, 2008 | 1:47 PM

Sounds like a great idea, especially since my son has his permit and will be getting his license in Sept.

TomWiecek read my blog view my photos
Feb 23, 2008 | 3:11 PM

HomeSchoolMom,
You can learn more at www.teendriverinsurance.com
Now is the time to start researching this.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Tom

homeschoolmom read my blog view my photos
Feb 23, 2008 | 6:36 PM

Thanks for the info, Tom.

dancomer read my blog
Feb 24, 2008 | 12:54 PM

Sounds to me like it would be a great device for anyone to have in their vehicle. The elderly, and single moms as well could benefit. Some parents might not mind if their kids were keeping track of them at times. I would love to have something like that in my vehicle, and for persons who cannot afford a cell phone they might could afford this.

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Leah_Beno

I am a Fox 8 News Reporter...and loving it!!!

Member Since: 5/3/2007