U.S. drivers pay an average of $2,150 annually for full coverage on their automobile — an increase of more than 63% over the last decade, according to Forbes Advisor. Younger drivers, however, can expect to pay exponentially more for coverage, with the average 16-year-old with their own policy paying $8,765 per year, and 17-year-olds paying an average of $6,829 in annual premiums. Adding a teen driver to an existing policy is often a more cost-effective option, but parents should still expect to pay around $197 more per month for coverage if they go this route. The reason why younger drivers tend to pay so much more for coverage than their older counterparts is because of the amount of risk they present to insurance companies. Motor vehicle accidents are the number one cause of preventable death for those ages 13 to 18, and young drivers are twice as likely to be involved in a fatal accident as adult drivers. The number of teen motor vehicle occupant deaths has decreased over the last few years, but NHTSA data shows that in 2022 there were 2,034 young driver fatalities, 1,033 fatalities of passengers of young drivers, 1,608 fatalities to occupants of other vehicles and 664 non-occupant fatalities associated with young-driver wrecks. In the slideshow above, we'll weigh the pros and cons of adding a teenage driver to your auto insurance policy, courtesy of Compare.com.

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