Helping Teens Choose Safe Cars (NAPSA)—Carcrashes are the number one killer of American teenagers, with about 20 young people dying on U.S. highways each day. Yet a recent survey found less than half of parents check on the safety of the vehicle they’re consideringfor their teens. To help drive down crash statistics, a number of families and organizations have public programs to help make teen drivers safer. For example, Carfax, a com- pany consumers use to check the history of used cars, recently launched the Carfax Safe CarSafe Teen Driver Program. It features an interactive website with comprehensive information on safe driving and an e-mail service that sends weekly tips to parents and teens. The company has gathered information and resources from a vast array of the industry’s top experts. Many of the e-mail tips are designed to remind parents of techniques they may already be practicing every time they get behind the wheel—but that they may be hard pressed to remember wheninstructing their eager teen. In addition to driving information, experts at Carfax offer valuable advice to help parents choose safe, reliable cars for novice teen drivers. They recommendparents: Buy old, large cars such as station wagons or four-door When buying a used car for your teen, be sure to check its history. That can tell you if it has been rebuilt in the past andifit’s not as safe as it could be. sedans with small engines for their teens. These vehicles tend to be more solid than many smaller cars and can better withstand impacts. Learn the vehicle history. Has the vehicle been in a crash before? Has it been rebuilt? Wasit in a flood? These are the types of details in a vehicle’s history that can affect how safe it is today. * Do not race into buying cars for their teens. Waiting just one year can help keep a teen safer. Sixteen-year-old drivers are 12 times more likely to be involved in vehicle crashes than any other age group. For more information, visit www.carfax.com and click on the Teen link.
