The IIHS also says parents should avoid vehicles with "performance images" like small, racy sports cars or cars with turbocharging because they are likely to encourage speeding. Smaller cars also offer less protection for the occupants, so mid-sized or larger cars are a better bet, according to the III.

"Teen drivers not only lack experience, for many of them immature behavior, such as speeding and reckless driving, is common," says the IIHS. "They may drive cautiously when mom or dad is in the car, but when they're on their own or with other teens, bad driving is often the norm."

Information from the IIHS from October 2000 says that the risk of being involved in a crash per mile driven among 16- to 19-year-olds is four times the risk among older drivers. Risk is highest at ages 16 to 17. The crash rate per mile driven is almost three times as high among 16-year-olds as it is among 18- to 19-year-olds.

To find out how a car you're considering stacks up in crash tests, use the Insure.com Car Crash Performance Tool. In general, mid-sized cars such as the Chevrolet Impala and Volkswagen Passat score high on both frontal crash test ratings and overall crash test results. They may not be the coolest cars your child could drive, but they are among the safest.

Saving on insuring a safe car

Once you've picked out a car, how can you go about saving on insurance rates? You've already taken the first step. A safer car is less expensive to insure in most cases. You can get "safe car" discounts of up to 5 percent in some cases for having air bags or factory-installed mechanical seat belts, antilock brakes, and antitheft devices such as alarms. There are other steps you can take to lower your costs:

• Add your teen to your existing auto insurance policy. Because parents will often qualify for good-driver discounts that teens don't get yet, adding a teen to your policy often means they don't pay quite as much. It also means that you qualify for a multiple-car discount by having more than one car covered by the same insurance company.

• If your child has good grades, ask your insurer about any "good student" discounts. Many car insurance companies provide small discounts for students who maintain B averages or better.

• If your licensed child is under 21 and goes to college more than 100 miles from home, you can save a few pennies because it's assumed they won't be driving your car year-round.

• If buying another new car has you concerned, bear in mind that you can save as much as 5 percent on insurance for a car that has never been titled. Older cars can be less expensive to insure because they are less expensive to repair, but they also offer fewer safety features. It may be worth the trade-off in peace of mind to buy a new car for your child.