What was your first car? Most parents the world over looking for a first car for their 18-year-old will plump for a second-hand, entry-level hatchback, typically, in South Africa, a Toyota Tazz or a VW CitiGolf.
Which is exactly the opposite of what they should be looking for, according to Adrian Lund, president of the US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
They should be considering a big, slow, ugly car, he says - and he's prepared to back up that slightly oddball statement with hard-headed, by-the-numbers insurance industry data.
But he also warned that the car should be new enough to have the latest safety features; old clunkers are not only expensive to run, they offer very little protection to the people most likely to crash them - inexperienced teenage drivers.
BIGGER IS BETTER
Most online searches for 'cars for new drivers' will bring up lists of small, affordable hatchbacks. According to Lund, however, small cars may be economical to buy and run but they don't offer the same protection for their occupants as midsize sedans.
In fact, said Lund: "It gets worse pretty quickly as you go smaller."
SLOWER IS SAFER
Most midsized sedans these days have at least a two-litre engine delivering about 150kW - more than enough for a beginner driver, said Lund. He advised parents to stay away from high-performance models that tend to bring out the worst in young drivers - especially (but not only) male ones.
"Parents have to realise the kind of car you're driving tends to bring out related driving behaviour," he said. "If it can go faster, it tends to be driven faster."
UGLY IS THE NEW COOL
For parents anyway. Old-fashioned, unsexy sedans don’t have the sexy, aggressive stance of a smaller, sportier car, explained Lund, and driving them doesn’t give young drivers the same rush.
"Family-style sedans just don't look like they want to go fast," he commented.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN YOUR TEENS' FIRST CAR
Electronic stability control.
Inexperienced drivers tend to overcorrect if their car skids, so this feature can literally be a life-saver - and it's quite common on better-quality family sedans up to about 10 years old.
Side and curtain air bags
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, younger drivers are involved in more than their fair share of single-vehicle accidents, where the car leaves the road and, all too often, flips.
Add to that the fact that younger drivers are less likely to wear seatbelts, and you have a compelling argument for your child's first car to have all the airbags you can get.
Front collision sensors
Once again, teenaged drivers are historically prone to head-on crashes, so if you can possibly afford to start your teen off in a Volvo or similar sedan with sensors that automatically apply the brakes when a collision is imminent, they may thank you for it one day.
THE BIGGER, THE CLASSIER, THE BETTER
Lund's conclusions may be aimed at American parents, but the conclusion is universal. For the same price as an almost-new two-litre hot hatch, you could send your teenager off to college in a slightly older, but more upmarket four-door sedan that has all the safety features, without the lead-us-into-temptation voomah.
And who knows? A well-preserved 3 Series or C-Class might just start a new trend in classy student wheels.