Families sharing cars' costs

While most 17-year-olds are still in bed, Jacinta Harrison is baby-sitting two children at 6 a.m. Saturdays. During the week, she puts in three hours a day after school at a day-care center in North Raleigh.

That is what it takes to keep her 1992 Toyota Camry insured and gassed.

"It's really expensive to have the car, but I've got to live," said Harrison, a senior at Garner High School.

Many teenagers such as Harrison are wrestling with how to take advantage of their driver's licenses while facing high gas prices and insurance premiums. Like their parents, they're considering carpooling, driving less and delaying getting a car.

"My parents said I could have a car if I paid the insurance -- $1,500," said Andy Cox, 18, a student at Garner High. "I said no way."

Other teens, though, are pushing ahead, whether it means getting more help from their parents or going it on their own.

Either way, it isn't cheap.

Insurance premiums are much higher than for experienced drivers. Car wrecks are the leading cause of death among teenagers, and the risk of a crash is higher among 16- to 19-year-olds than for any other age group, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Those numbers help explain why Harrison pays $145 per month for car insurance. Her mother chips in about $40.

A family adding a teenage driver to a policy on a 1998 Dodge Neon can expect to pay $1,093 more in premiums over a six-month period, said Jerome Murray, an agent for State Farm insurance at Mini-City in North Raleigh. If the teen wanted to be insured on his own, Murray said, it would cost $1,500.

Although it is cheaper to add a teenager to a family policy, Murray said, a lot depends on the relationship between the parents and the teen. If they can't rely on him or her to stay out of trouble, tickets and accidents can quickly pump up the premium payments.

"If you have a child in your home who you have some control of when and where they drive, it's more economical to put them on your policy," Murray said.

Kim Hanchette said she was shocked when she saw that insurance would cost $3,000 more a year to add her 17-year-old daughter, Meggie, and a 1992 Saab to their policy. The parents are paying most of the bill and Meggie the rest.

"I'd like to have told her to pay for it all, but what kid has that much money?" said Hanchette, who lives in North Raleigh.

Hanchette said she and her husband decided Meggie needed to have a car so they wouldn't have to drive her to and from Enloe High School in East Raleigh each day. But Meggie has to pay if the premiums go up for any moving violations or an accident that is her fault.

Insurance alone doesn't keep the car running. Gas does, and it is averaging $2.59 per gallon for regular unleaded in the Triangle, down from $3.01 a month ago, according to AAA.

"I want to drive everywhere, but I can't afford it," said Taylor Hardy, 16, a junior at Garner High. "I'm glad [gas] prices are getting lower."

Hanchette said she and her husband give Meggie $50 per month for gas. They have also asked a friend who rides with Meggie to share the costs.

Meggie isn't allowed to work during the school year; her parents want the senior to concentrate on her schoolwork. That means any additional gas she needs has to come out of the money she made over the summer working as a lifeguard. She usually runs out by March.

The teens whose parents aren't buying their gas are finding other ways to adjust. Travis Wettroth, 17, a senior at Enloe, rarely drives on weekends now. "I bike it on weekends so I can have enough to drive to school," he said.

Harrison is one of many Garner High students who walks off campus to lunch instead of driving. When possible, she also tries to go places in a group.

Carpooling is gaining popularity. Four Enloe students regularly hop into Matt Harris' Chevy Suburban, which gets about 15 miles per gallon.

"If we're going somewhere together, we'll share the costs," said Jonathan Springfield, 17, a senior and one of Harris' riders.

Expenses may be driving more high school students to ride the bus, according to school transportation officials, who say the early numbers appear to be up.

At the same time, Triangle high schools aren't reporting any problems filling student parking spaces, which can cost as much as $120 a year. Bobby Guthrie, Wake County's senior administrator for athletics and driver education, said demand for driver's education continues to increase. Between 9,000 and 9,500 Wake students take it each year.

Harrison said she couldn't imagine life without her car. "You've got to get out," she said. "You have to see friends. Sometimes you want to drive yourself around."

(Staff writers Meiling Arounnarath, Samiha Khanna, Marti Maguire and Patrick Winn contributed to this report.)