DR. WALLACE: In our driver's training class the teacher stated that a human's reflexes are best between 17 and 20 years of age. If this is fact, why is it that many automobile insurance companies refuse to give us automobile insurance and those that do, charge teens outrageous prices when, physically, we are the best qualified drivers? — Nameless, Miami, Fla.

NAMELESS: It's a fact that human reflexes are best during the late teen years, but having good reflexes doesn't always mean the driver will have safe driving habits.

The problem with teens, especially guys, is that their adventuresome spirit and limited driving experience makes them more of an accident risk. Unfortunately, teen drivers have the highest percentage of accidents because of what I call "youthful exuberance."

Insurance companies are in the business to make a profit and teen policies, for the most part, are not profitable.

IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO STOP SMOKING

DR. WALLACE: I'm 13, and my brother is 12. We live with our grandparents because our parents are divorced. Our mother remarried and is living in Mexico with her new husband. Our father is living somewhere in California. We haven't seen him in over two years. Our grandparents are nice and we are lucky to have them. They give us food and a roof over our heads and that means a lot.

My grandmother is confined to a wheelchair. She also smokes a lot. She is frail, so it's hard for her to light her cigarettes so she asks my brother to get her a cigarette and "Be a good boy and bring it to me already lit." So this is what my brother does.

He told me that he doesn't mind doing it and doesn't inhale the smoke. Still, I think this is wrong and, in a way, is encouraging my brother to smoke when he gets older. When I told this to my Granny, all she said was "Pure hogwash, honey, pure hogwash."

Granny reads your column regularly so I would appreciate it if you could tell Granny that she shouldn't tell my brother to light her cigarette. — Sandra, El Paso, Tex.

GRANDMOTHER: Sandra is right. You can't light a cigarette without inhaling a little of the smoke, and I fear that even if you aren't slowly turning your grandson into a smoker, you are endangering his health with the cumulative effect of all those inhalations.

If you need help when you crave a smoke, have your grandson put the unlit cigarette between your lips and light it.

But I have an even better piece of advice. Even though you probably have been smoking for a long time, it's never too late to stop! Your grandchildren love you. If you quit now, not only would you in all likelihood prolong your own life so you could guide them through adolescence, but you would also give them a shining example of courage in action.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. E-mail him at [email protected]. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.