What Are the Best and Worst States for Teen Drivers?

Summer is almost here. While summer means living it up by the pool and indulging in backyard barbecues, it’s also a particularly dangerous season for teen drivers. More teens get their driver’s licenses during the summer months; an average of 250 teens die per month in the summer in motor vehicle crashes, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Financial information company WalletHub reports that although 15- to 24-year-olds make up only 14 percent of the population, they rack up nearly a third of all costs resulting from motor vehicle injuries. Which states nationwide are the best and worst for teen drivers in terms of both safety and cost?

Related: Study: Newly Licensed Teen Drivers Lack Critical Driving Skills

WalletHub compiled information from 16 different data points to figure it out. Analysts looked at safety data like which states have the highest teen driver fatality rate, the financial implications (both insurance and repair costs) associated with teens getting into accidents and laws affecting teen drivers.

The top five states for teen drivers are New York, Oregon, Massachusetts, Hawaii and Delaware.

And the worst? Sorry South Dakota, Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming and Missouri.

My family isn’t in the free and clear either. We’ll have a new teen driver in our family every other year for the next six years (I know, right!). Our home state of Colorado ranks as one of the five states with the highest number of teens charged with driving under the influence per teen population.

WalletHub experts offer tips for parents of teen drivers. My favorites come from Beth Ebel, associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Hospital. She suggests:

• Learn and follow the graduated driving licensing laws in your state. They work and reduce crash rates.
• Clearly spell out your expectations for driving rules, with the consequences. Follow them.
• Crash rates are lower when teens know they are borrowing your car, rather than driving their own car. If parents are paying for insurance, car or gas, it is a parental car.
• Practice. The more time a teen spends in supervised driving, the safer.
• Model good behaviors yourself: Use seat belts every trip. Put down your phone and take the opportunity to talk with your kids in the car, perhaps asking about the latest in teen music. You’ll be safe and cool.