Plant students and parents struggle each year with the rising cost of owning and driving cars. Living in a city like Tampa, where driving is a necessity for many families, especially those living farther away from the school. Our city’s lack of investment in public transportation and walkability has made it car-dependent. This has made it almost a requirement for teens to obtain their licenses as soon as possible (16 in Florida) and has led them or their parents to pay exorbitant insurance premiums.
Insurance rates over the past 20 years have been going up, according to the owner of Dance Insurance Group, Timothy Dance. “Rates have gone up exponentially over the past 20 years here in Florida due to the amount of lawsuits filed here against insurance companies, causing them to have to keep high capital to be able to pay out those lawsuits. The companies are forced to subsidize in the form of higher rates to be able to afford those lawsuits.”
These huge premium increase has made driving simply unaffordable for teens, as people under the age of 21 have to pay a high premium on top of the already high rates as they are treated to be an “at risk driver” meaning that that they are more likely to get into a car accident and are therefore required to compensate for that by paying higher fees.
In 2023, the Florida legislature passed a bill aimed at addressing the rising premiums the state faced. This bill included criminalizing frivolous lawsuits against insurance companies intended to profit from non-existent injuries. The bill also required insurance companies to pay attorneys’ fees when sued.
According to Dance: “This has drastically lowered insurance fees for mature drivers (those over the age of 21) as insurance companies, to stay competitive, are passing down the savings to people. However, these savings truly only apply to those who are over the age of 21, as high-risk drivers such as teens are still paying the same fees.”
Teens and their parents still have to pay high premiums to afford a vehicle that allows them to get to school and run errands they can’t do without one.
Plant High School is situated in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Tampa according to Best Neighborhoods Plant’s zone is tied to median household income of $148,322 which places it well above the national average of $68,000 therefore allowing many plant students to be able afford their cars, however some students are not as fortunate to be able to have such luxury and are therefore stuck without a car because of the high insurance rates.
Many parents of teens choose to buy their teen an older vehicle because it can save on car insurance and, as a result, improve affordability. However, there are safety drawbacks to this, as older cars are far more likely to be involved in accidents. An IIHS study done in 2019 showed that vehicles produced prior to 2015 are over 30% more likely to result in a fatal car accident than those produced post-2015.
Year by caporcelli