By Richie Bernardo
WalletHub

Getting a driver’s license at 16 is considered a rite of passage in American culture. But this exciting coming-of-age has instead become a death sentence for thousands of teens each year. Motor-vehicle accidents continue to be the leading cause of death among people between the ages of 16 and 19, the age group with the highest risk of crashes.

And the financial implications are staggering. 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. That’s not counting the costs of auto maintenance, insurance premiums, possible traffic citations and other vehicular incidents — expenses that can pile up over time.

As summer progresses, it’s time to reflect on the fact that more teen drivers are newly minted during this season than any other, when an average of 250 teens are killed in car accidents each month.

To help parents ensure their teens’ safety behind the wheel and safeguard their finances against unforeseeable events, WalletHub analyzed the teen-driving environment in the 50 states across 16 key metrics. Our data set ranges from the number of teen driver fatalities to the average cost of car repairs to the presence of impaired-driving laws. The complete ranking, as well as expert commentary and a detailed methodology, can be found below.

Key Stats

• There are 11 times more teen driver fatalities per 100,000 teens in North Dakota than in Connecticut.


• The percentage of major roads that are in poor condition is 10 times higher in California than in Nebraska.


• The†increase in auto insurance premium after adding a teen driver to a policy is seven times higher in New Hampshire than in Hawaii.


• The number of vehicle miles traveled per capita is two times higher in Wyoming than in New York.


• 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.