Young adults are in a bit of quandary these days not because the newest smartphone is in town and they had just bought an older model, but because for all their hardships in taking driving lessons and sitting through nerve-wracking driving tests to get their license, they realise that they can’t afford to drive, after all.

In 2012, Nigel Evans, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons, stated that young adults could face a financial conflict between accepting a job offer and affording the car insurance needed so they can drive to work.  The soaring cost of car insurance has greatly affected the nation’s young drivers, especially those who reside in rural areas that necessitates driving due to lack of public transportation.  Young adults are quoted exorbitant cover costs.  One 18-year-old driver was reported to have been quoted £24,000 for his car’s insurance, a Volvo S40 he had bought for £700.  The car was 11 years old.

Insurance Implications

High insurance costs not only keep young adults from driving; these can also lead desperate drivers to break the law and put themselves at great risk by doing away with car insurance completely.  Young drivers may also be tempted to modify their information to bring down insurance quotes.  According to the Association of British Insurers, one of the factors that are used to set premiums is employment status.  Additional risks are associated with being unemployed, which can be problematic as many young drivers have no jobs to speak of yet, and job-hunting is one of the primary reasons why they need to drive around in the first place.

Traсtor Driver – Moldova Countryside, Moldova by …your local connection, on Flickr.  This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License.

Another reason is the age group that young drivers belong to.  While only 12 percent of license holders belong to the 17-24 age group, 25 percent of road accidents belong to that age group.  Being a young driver is automatically a risk, and explains the higher premiums.  It sounds unfair, especially for young adults who are excellent drivers, but that’s how the insurance industry rolls, until the government does something to help young drivers who are just starting to make their way into the world reduce their insurance costs, such as graduated driver licensing and rate reduction for drivers with clean records.

Rising Costs

Aside from high insurance costs, the cost of cars and fuel are also on the rise.  Well-paying jobs are hard to come by for young adults first seeking employment.  Young people also have other expenses, such as rent, and many have realised that they do not need to drive in order to get to work or school.  Some prefer walking, taking public transportation, or riding mopeds and bicycles because of their more eco-friendly value.

For those who live in big cities, choosing between owning a car and paying rent is a no-brainer.  Owning a car can be a hassle since you would have to get insurance and make sure your car has somewhere safe to park.  It is more important to have a space to call your own that’s preferably near work, and besides, public transportation is much cheaper and easier to use.

The current market and transport regulations are making it extremely difficult for young adults to afford owning and driving cars.  The biggest let-down is the high cost of insurance.  It also boils down as a matter of choice; many young adults have chosen to take alternatives when it comes to transportation.  In a sense, if all young adults can afford to drive, many would still prefer not to.