USA Today is America’s version of The Sun (but without Page 3). This article from it came in via the newsfeeds, and it deals with the type of car parents ought to consider allowing their kids to drive.
The teens often wanted to drive their mother’s far sportier Hyundai Tiburon, but the couple knew that would be a mistake. It was hardly a sports car, but Ulczycki knew the car’s sporty styling would bring out the cowboy in them, even without a high-powered engine.
“Big, slow and ugly.” That’s what parents should keep in mind when considering what car to give or buy a new teen driver, says Adrian Lund, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
The article then confuses the issue enormously by rattling on about “safety features” on newer cars – much the same as our wishy-washy, “don’t-have-an-opinion” journalists do, instead of working with the facts. But it comes back on track at the end:
These days, it’s almost impossible to buy a car that doesn’t have at least 200 horsepower, even a plain old midsize sedan. That makes it hard to set a horsepower limit for a teen’s car. But experts warn to at least stay away from high-performance models that can bring out the worst in drivers.
“Parents have to realize the kind of car you’re driving tends to elicit certain driving behavior,” says Lund. “If it can go faster, it tends to be driven faster.”
Yes! If it can, it will – and if they can, they will! British parents who allow their kids to drive modded cars should bear this in mind. Because what it looks like and what it sounds like is going to have a lot to do with what it’s driven like.