With more teens obtaining driver’s licenses during the summer than any other season and an average of 220 auto-related teen deaths occurring every month during the same period, the personal-finance website WalletHub followed up on its analysis of the Best & Worst States for Summer Road Trips with an in-depth look at 2016’s Best & Worst States for Teen Drivers.
We compared the driving conditions for teens in the 50 U.S. states based on 16 key metrics, which collectively speak to each state’s safety conditions, economic environment and driving laws. You can find a handful of highlights from the report below.
| Best States for Teen Drivers | Worst States for Teen Drivers | ||||
| 1 | New York | 41 | Mississippi | ||
| 2 | Oregon | 42 | Maine | ||
| 3 | Illinois | 43 | Wisconsin | ||
| 4 | Delaware | 44 | Idaho | ||
| 5 | Hawaii | 45 | Missouri | ||
| 6 | Massachusetts | 46 | Nebraska | ||
| 7 | Washington | 47 | Montana | ||
| 8 | Louisiana | 48 | North Dakota | ||
| 9 | Rhode Island | 49 | Wyoming | ||
| 10 | California | 50 | South Dakota | ||
Key Stats
- Wyoming has the highest number of teen driver fatalities per 100,000 teens, 24.02, which is 15 times higher than in Delaware, the state with the lowest, 1.63.
- California has the highest proportion of major roads that are in poor condition, 51%, which is seven times higher than in Florida, the state with the lowest, 7%.
- New Hampshire has the highest premium increase after adding a teen driver to a parent’s auto insurance policy, 114.9%, which is seven times higher than in Hawaii, the state with the lowest, 16.8%.
- Wyoming has the highest number of vehicle miles traveled per capita, 16,440, which is three times higher than in New York, the state with the lowest, 6,597.
- Alabama, Arizona, Mississippi, Nebraska and South Dakota are the states that lack most of the optimal teen driver’s Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) provisions, each with two or fewer of the seven provisions.
