According to the latest research conducted by Admiral car insurance, young driver accidents are twice as likely to occur if 17 and 18 driving records are compared with 30 year olds.  More worryingly, the figures increase six fold if comparisons with drivers aged over 50 are made.

These figures don’t necessarily come as a big surprise to insurance companies, however, what is a bigger concern is the level of injuries sustained by young drivers compared to their more experienced counterparts. For example, accidents involving this age group are five times more likely to involve personal injury. Admiral’s explanation on this fact is that young drivers are more likely to suffer high speed crashes through inexperience and reckless driving caused by peer pressure showing off to friends. Sadly, there are also a higher proportion of fatalities amongst this age group.

Additional statistics that do not bode well include the likelihood that young motorists are also four times more likely to be convicted for careless driving that the average driver.

The end result of this carnage is both financial meaning heavy increases in car insurance for young drivers premiums for all motorists to cover the cost and human suffering which you cannot put a price on. Admiral, like other UK car insurers are actively seeking ways to improve the driving records of young motorists by sponsoring programs like the Young Driver scheme, which aims to provide additional education, and driving experience.

When the cost of car insurance for young drivers has escalated to levels that few of them can afford, the practice of ‘fronting’ is growing at a similarly alarming rate amongst the parents of many young motorists. Put simply, fronting is a way of potentially making huge savings on insurance premiums, but by naming yourself as the main policyholder when you know your son or daughter will be the principle driver is not only illegal, it could have disastrous consequences for both drivers in the event of making a claim.

Independant reports suggest that even though a significant number of parents are unaware that fronting is against the law, a similar number are willing to take the risk when to buy a car insurance policy in their own name for their child could save them hundreds – if not thousands – of pounds. The impact of this common practice could add around £30 extra to the premiums of other, more law abiding, policy holders, but being caught deliberately fronting could not only invalidate your own insurance cover but may involve your child facing court after being charged with driving without insurance.

In either case both the older and the younger driver could find it very difficult to obtain car cover again, the parent also facing losing any no-claims discount, so considering using such a fraudulent tactic to save money on car insurance could easily have the opposite effect in the long run. While some may be genuinely unaware of the consequences of fronting, others may be prepared to take a gamble when it appears that savings can be made, but there are, however, a number of legal ways to cut the cost of a buying a policy for young drivers, the most significant discounts being awarded to those in possession of a Pass Plus certificate.