No comment on the male driver statement, same could be said for female drivers
In my personal experience I've seen more serious accidents caused by women than by men
Anyhow, back on-topic.
You can have your insurance filed under your parents name as long as you are a legal dependent of theirs. As soon as you are no longer a dependent it has to go under your own name... there are other ways to do this. I.e. USAA wouldn't let me have car insurance under my own name... so I got rental insurance from them and then car insurance (because I had proof that I was no longer a dependent, that's how I got out of it). Oddly enough, my insurance rates went down DRAMATICALLY when I went under my own name... from $300/mo to $200/mo. So keep in mind, just because it's your parents name doesn't mean you'll get good rates. (Mainly because my mom had been in three wrecks involving trains [don't ask], my brothers had been in several accidents, and all of them had gotten several tickets). Families usually follow the same driving habits
Anyways, good luck with the purchase and car insurance! The main thing to watch out for are the gotchas that most people don't expect... tag & tax and then general maintenance costs. Most people don't expect how much they CAN run up to be (I am guilty of this myself, wasn't aware of how expensive ad valorem(sp?) tax was... and that it was recurring).
And congrats on being responsible and trying to strike out on your own! It speaks greatly of your character.