When I was in high school my 22-year-old brother was teaching his fiance how to drive. She was 19. It’s hard to imagine being 19 and still not having a license, but I forget that people do this all the time.
My brother is an awesome guy, he’s now married to the woman and I have three great nephews and nieces by them.
But not all was happy land over a decade ago.
My brother’s lady was in the driver’s seat at his apartment complex and they were just pulling in to park after a trip to the grocery store.
She needed to correct her parking attempt, as we all sometimes need to, and she thought she had put the car in reverse. Instead, it was still in “drive”, and she touched the accelerator and was heading the wrong direction.
In panic mode, my brother’s fiance shoved her foot down harder thinking she had her foot on the brake. That made them jump the curb. She took her foot off the gas and then hit it again and drove his 1999 Honda Civic through some bushes into the side of the building!
Read my article on the Pros and Cons of Buying A New or Used Car
Fortunately, no one was hurt and she nor he are traumatized. She’s a good, safe driver today. No one was harmed and those trusty bushes stopped too much damage from being done to the building.
Even still, the damage just to the fender of the car was hundreds of dollars. My brother had to pay over $1,000 to the apartment complex for the damage done.
It was a frustrating and somewhat scary experience. Especially for a guy about to get married, $1000-$2000 out of pocket for a silly accident hurts when you’d rather spend that on your honeymoon.
Ever since then I’ve wondered how a person training to drive (who’s not a teenager covered under their parent’s policy) can practice driving legally, and without the major liability of not having insurance. Alas, I’ve been ignorant for a long time! There is a pretty simple solution, in the US and really even around the world. Searching for “short-term car insurance” will bring up good options for you. For our European readers, here’s a great site I saw devoted to the very subject for cheap learner driver insurance.
Don’t make a $1,000, $,2000, or even $10,000 mistake. If you’re learning to drive, or letting someone use your car to learn to drive, don’t get hung out there. Get some temporary insurance so you don’t bankrupt yourself!
