<p>Know that AAA covers the <em>person</em>, not the <em>vehicle</em>. So if your son or daughter has AAA and is in someone else’s car that breaks down, they can use one of their service calls if the driver doesn’t have AAA. This is particularly helpful if you’re in a scary or dangerous situation. There are times when changing a tire yourself is just too dangerous.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Better crash avoidance can help a driver avoid needing the crash protection characteristics. Plus, the bigger vehicle in the example linked in post #52 did not protect its driver very well in a crash with a smaller vehicle.</p>
<p>But then the emphasis on crash protection over crash avoidance may be due to most drivers being rather passive ones who won’t make use of improved crash avoidance characteristics (better handling and braking, better outward visibility), or aggressive ones who will use them to take bigger risks. An active and defensive driver will be the one who most benefits from better crash avoidance characteristics.</p>
<p>OP- No the 18 year has not hit anything yet.
I’m not sure about the tipping of a land cruiser but the our expedition seems fine. Here’s my thoughts as I look in my driveway.
If our expedition were to hit our 2013 Toyota I’m pretty sure the Toyota would be totaled. Yes it has air bags but still it’s not as big and heavy and depending on how they collided could be the difference in life and death. In a head on collision the expedition front end/engine would smash into the driver of the Toyota because the Toyota in so much lower to the ground. Granted I hope my son is never in a head on collision but that’s my thinking. </p>
<p>Now it’s going to depend on how someone drives so yes our smaller car has more “zip” to avoid an accident. It’s just that I drive both of them and most drivers give the expedition more “respect” as in they don’t try and cut right in front of you and tend to give me more space than when I drive the smaller cars. Even my husband has commented on that when he has had to drive the expedition to work.</p>
<p>We have a curfew here… and they do road block checks on some Friday/Saturday nights. It’s expensive if someone under 18 gets caught. Some of my sons friends got tickets last year after school events. Which is another reason I didn’t let him drive after dark until he was 18.</p>
<p>Ahh, ok. That is true. The majority of the times that I drove past curfew is when I was coming home from work or coming from a friend’s house. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>For our kids, we tried to give them cars deemed reliable by our mechanic which were older and heavier. S got a 1992 BMW. D got a 25K mile 2006 Volvo. We kept the 1998 Volvo and 2000 Toyota van. After S’s BMW died, it was replaced with inherited 2002 Mercedes coupe, with sentimental value and only 25K miles. We wanted to be able to sleep soundly at night, feeling our kiddos are in safe vehicles. </p>
<p>Because they have older cars, we like them having the 100 mile tow available from AAA.</p>
<p>Many insurance policies now include some towing and breakdown coverage. I got AAA for my boys though. In his first year of driving son had a tire blow out on a major highway. I told him to get himself up on the grass as far as he could (out of the car) and call AAA. No way is anybody in my family changing a tire on the highway. Maybe they won’t use it for 10 years, but its peace of mind.</p>
<p>I was well aware of the danger of stopping on the roadside because a neighbor girl killed a guy she hit while he was in the shoulder of the same highway as sons tire blowout, getting something from his trunk. His vehicle was not broken down, he just made a dumb decision to stop there (plenty of exits to pull off on). Somehow she drifted (cell phone ruled out) and hit him. She was an excellent student and “good” girl. You just never know…</p>
<p>You can get AAA student coverage very very cheap. It won’t have 100 mile tow but will get them to safety. You can also get the travel discounts etc. You have to specifically ask for the student coverage.</p>
<p>I’ve always preferred AAA to my insurance co’s road service because AAA doesn’t need $ upfront, and AAA is everywhere. And the driver, rather than specific vehicle, being covered is nice too.</p>
<p>My cousin broke down in the middle of the Everglades one night coming home from Miami on either Alligator Alley or the Tamiami Trail. Not sure if he called for road service or if a tow truck just happened along and stopped to help him, but the tow truck driver was really drunk and my cousin ended up driving the tow truck back to town with his car hitched up on back of the truck while the tow truck driver slept riding shotgun.</p>
<p>Whoa, thanks for all the replies and advice! Here’s another question: Do you give them a debit card to pay for gas? We’re in PA, and 99.9% of the gas stations are self-serve, and you pay at the pump (or go into a 7-11 type store to pay with cash). I’d rather she not have to go into a store to pay with cash, so am thinking we’ll need to get her a debit card or pre-paid Amex gift card or something… Your experience?</p>
<p>Thanks so much!!!</p>
<p>I’ve always paid by card. It keeps the time that I spend at a gas station to a minimum. Get in. Get out.</p>
<p>If she doesn’t have a debit card, I’d get her one now. My S has one tied to his bank account where his paycheck is deposited. It comes with a savings account and he can transfer money between the two. </p>
<p>The good thing is they are both tied to my account. I can see where he spends money and reimburse him if he buys me groceries or something. We will keep this arrangement for the first year of college at least and then reassess</p>
<p>In my family, parent provided cars have a 12am curfew regardless of the age of the child driver. I drove a parent provided car until I was 23-- I ceased to have a real curfew around 18, but that car had to be in the driveway at midnight so I could only stay out later than that if I was not driving. Which I invariably was, so my parents had an easy way to justify keeping me on a curfew for a long time. They didnt let up until I stated dating my fianc</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>How old is the Expedition? The Expedition is similar to the F-150; those similar to the pre-2004 F-150 would likely have similarly poor front offset crash protection. As noted in the previously linked article, a 2001 F-150 driver died when hitting a 2007 Fusion (about the same size as a Camry).</p>
<p>Well I’m kind of getting off topic but…</p>
<p>We have the 2001 expedition 4wd XLT with the heavy duty towing package. Ford redesigned it in 2003. The front and side safety ratings are 5 stars. Our 2013 Toyota Camry hybrid has 4 stars for front impact and 5 for side. </p>
<p>We have had 3 “incidents” with the expedition. #1. Husband backing up in a parking lot. He backed into a ford pickup truck(I don’t know which brand/model). The pickup truck front end got smashed in. Our expedition had a scratch on the back bummer. #2. I was driving on the highway at about 70 mph. Another expedition came up on my drivers side. It veered into my lane our sides bumped and we both kept keep going. It didn’t do anything to my vehicle. #3. Husband has had a number of flat tires on the highway at 65 mph(or higher) he’s never had a potential roll over problem. Because the two cars are side by side in the driveway I can see that the engine/hood of the expedition is at the same height as my head would be in the Camry. </p>
<p>Here is a video of a 2000 ford Expedition Frontal Offset Moderate Overlap Crash Test. I believe that there are differences between the Ford 2001-150 and the Expedition’s because the crash dummies in this test did pretty well. I believe my son is safer in Expedition than the Camry and my son does too.:)</p>
<p><a href=“https://dragtimes.com/video-viewer.php?v=eeU_ByqDs_M&feature[/url]”>https://dragtimes.com/video-viewer.php?v=eeU_ByqDs_M&feature</a></p>
<p>OP- son has a checking account that is linked to our account. He can not transfer our money into his account but I can transfer money from ours to his.
He uses the debit card for gas. He will be using the same card at college this fall. It seems to work well for us.</p>
<p>A TON of rules, too many to list. </p>
<p>Obviously, abide by state laws</p>
<p>No unnecessary distractions early on - radio, friends, cell phones, food, etc.</p>
<p>Later they could play the radio with reasonable volume, but could not change stations, and they could have 1 friend in the car, and a bottle of water or something to drink.</p>
<p>They are OUR cars, not the kids’, although they each drive one exclusively. We pay for everything, but they have to ask permission to go anywhere except work or school.</p>
<p>All the standard rules regarding curfew and conduct apply.</p>
<p>When I had a car as a teenager, my parents paid the insurance, but I made the car payment, gas and maintenance. It was my car, so I used it as I pleased. My parents DID threaten to take it away for habitual violation of curfew. 
I was 18 at that point, taking 21 hours at CC as an honor student and working part time. We found some middle ground and I got to keep my car.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The front end is likely similar in design to this F-150:</p>
<p>[IIHS-HLDI:</a> Ford F-150](<a href=“http://www.iihs.org/ratings/rating.aspx?id=7&seriesid=327]IIHS-HLDI:”>http://www.iihs.org/ratings/rating.aspx?id=7&seriesid=327)</p>
<p>Note that the other video of the 2000 Expedition in a front offset crash test was only at 30mph, not 40mph.</p>
<p>My biggets rule was that I did no want my D. to be driven by her friends, I wanted her to dirve them or go by herself, but be a driver, not a passanger.<br>
We have swithced the ownership of her car to her as soon as she had reached certain age (I do not remember when it makes sense). We did not want her to drive OUR car, the car should belong to the driver, this is our family rule.</p>
<p>ucbalumnus - Obviously you and I aren’t not going to agree on which one of my vehicles is safer to for my son to drive. How about we just agree we BOTH think the other person is wrong.:)</p>
<p>AAA card for the daughter has worked several times, in the snow!</p>
<p>Debit card-with us being able to deposit into the account and we bought a local gas “gift” card with a set amount of dollars for her to spend on gas.</p>