First, the type of car you drive has a direct bearing on whether you can get cheap student car insurance.  Basically: any high-performance car is going to raise insurance rates.  A sports car is a red flag to insurance companies, since sports car drivers are not exactly known for driving in the slow lane or cruising calmly along.  Expensive automobiles are pricier for your insurer to repair or to pay off if the car is totaled.  A four-door sedan with an economy engine will offer the best insurance rate – even if this isn’t exactly what most young drivers dream of.

Since young drivers tend to get into more accidents within their first two or three years of driving, you can expect to pay somewhat higher rates during this period.  But, after three years, you get a bit of a discount if you’ve kept up a good driving record.  Another thing you can do to reduce your student car insurance premium is to take a safe driving or defensive driving course soon after getting your driver’s license.  The absolute best way to lower the cost of your insurance is to avoid getting traffic tickets and to not accrue any insurance claims or accidents – so be sure to obey traffic laws!  (And as a bonus: students with good grades also get a reduced rate.)

Finally, the type of coverage you choose will have a huge effect on the price of your insurance.  The most expensive option is full coverage, which includes comprehensive and collision coverage.  Comprehensive covers windshield repair and damage to your car that’s not related to car accidents – like vandalism, theft, and incidents involving animals – and collision coverage fixes vehicle damage after an accident if you were at fault.  A cheaper option is to get liability-only insurance.  It basically just covers damage or injury that you might cause to the other driver as well as his/her vehicle and property.  (But if your car is financed, the lender will require full coverage to protect their interest until the car is paid off.)

So in a nutshell, just remember: cheap car insurance for students is out there for you so long as you keep these basics in mind.  Most importantly, always observe traffic laws and avoid high-risk driving behavior!

If you’re trying to get your drivers license, we highly recommend that you check out the website of your state or province’s Department of Motor Vehicles. It’s seriously a goldmine of all the (free!) driving-related info you could ever need. There you’ll find everything from driving manuals to sample written tests, information about fees, and any and every form you might require. In many states you can even go ahead and schedule your driving test online!

So we’ve compiled a handy list of DMV websites for your convenience:

And don’t forget to check out the virtual drivers ed game!