Junior Becca Houser said that insurance and gas are the main costs for her when it comes to driving. Photo by: Beca Lee

By Matthew Libersky

One of the majors factors affecting students’ desire or ability to drive is the numerous costs associated with it. From insurance to gas, many PHS students are waiting to drive until they are able to cover these costs.

For most students, insurance constitutes the majority of their expenses related to driving — though the cost and coverage across various plans varies widely. Additionally, insurance premiums are often inflated for young and inexperienced drivers. Junior Ashley Combs said that she used to only have the legal minimum coverage, but “when I got hit by a deer and my car was pretty much totaled, the insurance company did not pay for any of the damages.  I now have full coverage on my new car,” Combs said.

Her new insurance costs $100 per month, but it is covered by her mother — a situation identical to senior Christina Chipman, who only has to pay for her gas herself. Junior Becca Houser said that insurance is a major expense for her, and sophomore Travis Tredway said that he plans to wait to drive until after he gets a job as he would have to cover all the costs himself.

Most students interviewed cited both their parents and their job as the source of their funds allowing them to drive. Combs said “I get the money to pay for everything that I spend money on by working. If I did not have a job, then I would not be able to do half of the things I do.”

As most students receive their cars passed down from relatives or purchased using funds saved up for this one-time expense, most students interviewed saw gas as the most significant expense associated with car ownership aside from insurance.

Tredway plans on driving eventually, but in his search for a car he said that he has to “think about insurance costs for it and the gas mileage of it, because I can not be spending ridiculous amounts of money every week for gas.”

The other significant cost cited by students was maintenance, which constituted a surprisingly small influence compared to the others. Junior Jack Garrison said that almost all of his maintenance consists of “just a routine inspection. Takes a maximum of like 10 minutes.”

All in all, most students see the freedom afforded by car ownership as being worth the time and work investment required to have it.