Car insurance for young driver's news
25/08/2009
Drunken teenager drives car into house
A drunk and unlicensed teenager has seriously endangered his chances of obtaining car insurance for young drivers by crashing his father's car into a house extension after taking the keys without permission.
The 18-year-old was driving the Ford Focus in Thornley, County Durham when he crashed through a fence and into the extension that was being built onto a family home.
The occupants of the house, which included four children, were woken at 1.10am by the loud bang that the crash caused when it hit the house. Thankfully the car just missed the main part of the family home and no one was injured.
The court was told how a local milkman and an off-duty police officer chased the two teenagers who ran from the car.
After a breath test, the driver of the vehicle was found to be over twice the legal drink drive limit with an alcohol reading of 76.
He admitted taking the car keys after his father had gone to bed but claimed that his passenger had pulled the handbrake causing the vehicle to veer out of control and into the extension.
The estimated cost of repair for the damage is between £15,000 and £20,000 but as the car insurance policy did not cover the car being taken by a family member, the insurance company will only pay £5,200 towards structural repairs.
If the driver is to take out an insurance policy for young drivers in the future, he may well find that his record for drink driving will cause his premium for young driver's car insurance to rocket.
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