My teenager wants a sport utility vehicle for Christmas. It's expensive and more car than she needs, but she keeps telling me that she'll be safer driving a larger vehicle. And while she's a responsible driver, I'm not sure I want her driving one of those SUVs. Heed the advice of Julie Rochman, spokeswoman for the Arlington, Va.-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. She explains that many car accidents involving teenagers result at least in part from driving error.
Inexperienced drivers tend to over-correct or drive too fast.
In the case of teenagers, they may pile too many friends into their cars. This can limit the driver's visibility and create dangerous distractions. The risks increase when teenagerss drive SUVs. That's because the high center of gravity creates a greater risk of rollover. In a Dateline NBC segment last month on SUVs, its analysis of fatal car accidents revealed a troubling difference between cars and SUVs.