Teen safe driving programs: Key benefits and savings

Overview: Teen safe driving programs offer valuable support for families helping new drivers build skills, develop safe habits and potentially reduce insurance costs. Many insurance companies provide options ranging from enhanced training courses with structured lessons and practice — such as State Farm Steer Clear — to usage-based programs, like State Farm Drive Safe & Save, which use technology to monitor driving behavior and provide personalized feedback and scores. Participation in these programs can improve teen driving safety and may qualify families for insurance savings.

Watching your teen get their driver's license is exciting, but it can also bring worries. Teen drivers have higher accident rates than any other age group, which can lead to costly insurance premiums and safety concerns. Beyond basic driver's education, you may want to seek additional support. Insurance companies offer teen safe driving programs designed to help your teen develop safer habits and potentially even earn auto insurance discounts.

The benefits of teen safe driving programs

Insurance companies offer teen driving programs designed to:

• Help teens become safer drivers. Safe driving programs help teach important skills with hands-on, real-world practice, helping new drivers develop safer habits behind the wheel.
• Help you save money. Many teen driver programs include auto insurance discounts for teens that can help lower your premium.

These two combined may help you feel better about your teen’s safety and could make your insurance costs more manageable, potentially reducing your overall worries.

Two main types of teen safe driving programs and potential savings

Insurance companies typically offer two main categories of teen safe driving programs — enhanced training and certification and usage-based insurance (UBI)/telematics. Here’s a quick comparison:

Enhanced training and certification programs

Enhanced teen driving programs, such as State Farm Steer Clear, are designed for young drivers who want extra support as they build basic skills. These programs typically feature online learning modules, supervised driving exercises and digital progress tracking. Teens can practice essential safety techniques — like hazard awareness and avoiding distractions — while receiving regular feedback.

For example, State Farm Steer Clear is available to drivers under 25 and involves interactive lessons, real-world practice drives logged via a mobile app and completion tracking. Upon finishing the program, teens may qualify for auto insurance savings that reward their commitment to safe driving.

Benefits include:

• Helping reinforce safe driving habits
• Built-in confidence through structured practice
• Potential for insurance savings

Usage-based insurance and telematics programs

Technology-based teen smart driving programs are becoming standard in car insurance. Usage-based insurance and telematics solutions, such as State Farm Drive Safe & Save, use a smartphone app (sometimes with a beacon device installed in the vehicle) to monitor driving patterns and feedback based on driving behavior. These systems track details like speeding, braking, acceleration, cornering and may include phone use detection.

State Farm Drive Safe & Save provides drivers with a driving score and feedback to help them understand how their driving behavior can impact safety and insurance costs. Potential savings through insurance discounts are directly linked to driving performance — the safer the driving habits, the more families may save on insurance premiums. The premium adjustments are based on trip data collected from enrolled vehicles and apply to all eligible drivers, not just teens.

Key benefits include:

• Data-driven feedback for safer driving
• Promotion of smooth, cautious behavior
• Potential for ongoing insurance savings

How your family can help maximize the value of safe driving programs

Teen safe driving programs can be most effective when combined with strong family safety practices. Setting clear house rules about curfews, passengers and cellphone use is vital. Providing a reliable, safe car and modeling responsible driving as a parent builds trust and sets the standard for your teen.

When you combine insurance-sponsored programs with home-based guidance, you may help create layered safety for your teen — and potentially see lower insurance costs as a result.

Why exploring these programs benefits teens and parents

Whether your family chooses hands-on certification courses or digital telematics, teen safe driving programs offer benefits beyond basic training. They help equip young drivers with essential skills, promote ongoing improvement and can unlock valuable auto insurance discounts for teens. Programs like State Farm Steer Clear and Drive Safe & Save encourage safe habits that promote teen driving safety, while giving families the tools to potentially help manage costs and help keep everyone safer on the road.

If you're interested in learning more about these programs, available discounts or want to discuss coverage options, reach out to your State Farm agent.

You can get an auto insurance quote now, or give us a few details and a State Farm® agent will reach out to you.