15 States with the Worst Teen Drivers [+Texting & Drinking Rates]

For many teenagers, getting their driver’s license is as exciting as it is stressful. Driving a car means freedom, but it also comes with a great deal of responsibility and risk. For some teenagers, it can be difficult to fully appreciate that risk. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), teenage drivers are more likely than older drivers to make critical errors that result in serious crashes. For example, they are more likely to speed and less likely to keep a safe distance between vehicles.

Motor vehicle crashes can be costly on numerous levels. The CDC reports that young people ages 15 to 19 make up slightly more than 6 percent of the population. Yet, in 2016, they were responsible for 8.4 percent ($13.6 billion) of total motor vehicle injury costs.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) finds that 16- to 20-year-olds account for 8.3 percent of all traffic fatalities in the U.S.

Every parent wants to do their part to keep their teenage driver as safe as possible. To raise awareness of potentially risky behaviors, our researchers turned to the latest data on teen driving patterns from the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System and NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System. The researchers studied stats on seat belt use, drinking and driving, texting and driving, and fatalities. Here’s what they found:

Key Findings

While the statistics surrounding teenage drivers can be grim, there is positive news. For example, more teens are taking preventive safety measures when they drive. In 1991, the CDC found that 25.9 percent of teens said they rarely wore their seat belt. However, that number has steadily decreased over the years. As of 2017, just 5.9 percent of teens said they rarely buckled up.

Similarly, drinking and driving among teens has improved over the years. From 2013 to 2017, the percentage of teens who said they drink and drive fell from 10 percent to 5.5 percent. Yet, it is important to note that teen drivers are more likely than older drivers to be involved in motor vehicle crashes when they do drink and drive.

Despite improvements in seat belt use and impaired driving, national data shows no significant change in the number of teens who said they text and drive. From 2013 to 2017, the percentage of teens who engaged in this behavior remained flat at approximately 40 percent.

Texting while driving is an especially dangerous type of distracted driving because it involves manual, visual, and cognitive distraction. In the course of sending or reading a text message, drivers will take their eyes off the road for an average of five seconds. Even that short amount of time translates to the distance of a football field when driving at 55 mph.

At the state level, teen texting and driving shows a statistically significant positive correlation with teen motor vehicle fatalities by population. In general, states with more teens who text and drive also have more teens who die in motor vehicle accidents.

Interestingly, neither drinking and driving nor seat belt use show significant correlations with the number of teen motor vehicle fatalities. While correlation does not imply causation, this data—in addition to everything else known about distracted driving—makes a strong case for actively reducing cell phone use among teen drivers.

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When comparing gender across these statistics, both male and female teens are equally as likely to text and drive and fail to wear a seat belt. However, teenage males are significantly more likely than teenage females to drink and drive. Of teenage males, 6.8 percent report drinking and driving compared to 4.1 percent of teenage females.

NHTSA data further shows that teenage males are nearly twice as likely as teenage females to be involved in fatal motor vehicle crashes. In 2017, the organization found that 1,807 teenage males died as a result of a crash, compared to 925 teenage females. Fortunately, teen motor vehicle fatalities are down nearly a third from 1975 and the most significant declines are among teenage males.

With these trends in mind, we wanted to use these statistics to identify the states with the most dangerous teenage drivers. To do this, our researchers created a composite score for each state based on the following metrics:

• Percentage of teens who text and drive
• Percentage of teens who drink and drive
• Percentage of teens who rarely wear a seat belt
• Teen traffic fatality rate per 100k teens

Only states with data available from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System were included in the analysis. Here are the states with the most at-risk teenage drivers.

15 States with the Most Dangerous Teenage Drivers

#15 – Arizona

• Teens who text & drive: Data not available
• Teens who drink & drive: 6.2% (12.7% worse than average)
• Teens who rarely wear a seat belt: 8.1% (37.3% worse than average)
• Teen traffic fatality rate: 12.6 per 100k (5.6% worse than average)
• Teen traffic fatalities: 59 per year

#14 – West Virginia

• Teens who text & drive: 34.0% (13.3% better than average)
• Teens who drink & drive: 5.4% (1.8% better than average)
• Teens who rarely wear a seat belt: 8.9% (50.8% worse than average)
• Teen traffic fatality rate: 22.2 per 100k (85.7% worse than average)
• Teen traffic fatalities: 24 per year

#13 – Texas

• Teens who text & drive: 39.3% (0.3% worse than average)
• Teens who drink & drive: 7.1% (29.1% worse than average)
• Teens who rarely wear a seat belt: 7.1% (20.3% worse than average)
• Teen traffic fatality rate: 13.6 per 100k (13.9% worse than average)
• Teen traffic fatalities: 273 per year

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#12 – Kansas

• Teens who text & drive: 48.0% (22.4% worse than average)
• Teens who drink & drive: 6.4% (16.4% worse than average)
• Teens who rarely wear a seat belt: 5.0% (15.3% better than average)
• Teen traffic fatality rate: 17.5 per 100k (46.2% worse than average)
• Teen traffic fatalities: 35 per year

#11 – Oklahoma

• Teens who text & drive: 45.7% (16.6% worse than average)
• Teens who drink & drive: 5.3% (3.6% better than average)
• Teens who rarely wear a seat belt: 8.0% (35.6% worse than average)
• Teen traffic fatality rate: 19.7 per 100k (64.9% worse than average)
• Teen traffic fatalities: 52 per year

#10 – South Carolina

• Teens who text & drive: 45.4% (15.8% worse than average)
• Teens who drink & drive: 7.5% (36.4% worse than average)
• Teens who rarely wear a seat belt: 6.8% (15.3% worse than average)
• Teen traffic fatality rate: 14.3 per 100k (19.4% worse than average)
• Teen traffic fatalities: 46 per year

#9 – Idaho

• Teens who text & drive: 47.0% (19.9% worse than average)
• Teens who drink & drive: 6.0% (9.1% worse than average)
• Teens who rarely wear a seat belt: 7.3% (23.7% worse than average)
• Teen traffic fatality rate: 17.3 per 100k (44.5% worse than average)
• Teen traffic fatalities: 21 per year

#8 – Tennessee

• Teens who text & drive: 49.0% (25.0% worse than average)
• Teens who drink & drive: Data not available
• Teens who rarely wear a seat belt: 8.9% (50.8% worse than average)
• Teen traffic fatality rate: 14.4 per 100k (20.1% worse than average)
• Teen traffic fatalities: 61 per year

#7 – Iowa

• Teens who text & drive: 55.2% (40.8% worse than average)
• Teens who drink & drive: 6.5% (18.2% worse than average)
• Teens who rarely wear a seat belt: 6.8% (15.3% worse than average)
• Teen traffic fatality rate: 16.3 per 100k (36.3% worse than average)
• Teen traffic fatalities: 35 per year

TRENDING
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#6 – Missouri

• Teens who text & drive: 46.4% (18.4% worse than average)
• Teens who drink & drive: 5.3% (3.6% better than average)
• Teens who rarely wear a seat belt: 9.0% (52.5% worse than average)
• Teen traffic fatality rate: 22.6 per 100k (89.3% worse than average)
• Teen traffic fatalities: 89 per year

#5 – North Dakota

• Teens who text & drive: 52.6% (34.2% worse than average)
• Teens who drink & drive: 6.5% (18.2% worse than average)
• Teens who rarely wear a seat belt: 8.1% (37.3% worse than average)
• Teen traffic fatality rate: 19.0 per 100k (59.0% worse than average)
• Teen traffic fatalities: 9 per year

#4 – Nebraska

• Teens who text & drive: 48.3% (23.2% worse than average)
• Teens who drink & drive: 6.3% (14.5% worse than average)
• Teens who rarely wear a seat belt: 8.5% (44.1% worse than average)
• Teen traffic fatality rate: 20.7 per 100k (73.0% worse than average)
• Teen traffic fatalities: 27 per year

#3 – Louisiana

• Teens who text & drive: 43.0% (9.7% worse than average)
• Teens who drink & drive: 10.0% (81.8% worse than average)
• Teens who rarely wear a seat belt: 12.5% (111.9% worse than average)
• Teen traffic fatality rate: 17.7 per 100k (48.0% worse than average)
• Teen traffic fatalities: 53 per year

#2 – Arkansas

• Teens who text & drive: 46.2% (17.9% worse than average)
• Teens who drink & drive: 10.7% (94.5% worse than average)
• Teens who rarely wear a seat belt: 17.5% (196.6% worse than average)
• Teen traffic fatality rate: 14.6 per 100k (22.3% worse than average)
• Teen traffic fatalities: 29 per year

#1 – Montana

• Teens who text & drive: 54.2% (38.3% worse than average)
• Teens who drink & drive: 7.6% (38.2% worse than average)
• Teens who rarely wear a seat belt: 7.8% (32.2% worse than average)
• Teen traffic fatality rate: 20.5 per 100k (71.4% worse than average)
• Teen traffic fatalities: 13 per year

Methodology

To identify the states with the most dangerous teenage drivers, a composite score was calculated based on the following factors:

• Percentage of teens who text and drive
• Percentage of teens who drink and drive
• Percentage of teens who rarely wear a seat belt
• Teen traffic fatality rate per 100k teens

The following data sources were used:

• Statistics on risky teenage driving behavior are from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS).
• Statistics on teenage traffic fatalities are from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).
• Teenage population statistics are from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey.

Only states with data from the YRBSS survey were included in the analysis. For a complete list of results for all states included in the analysis, see the charts with all the rankings below.

Full Study Results

References:

1. https://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/teen_drivers/teendrivers_factsheet.html
2. https://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/People/PeopleAllVictims.aspx
3. https://www.iihs.org/topics/fatality-statistics/detail/teenagers#trends
4. https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/distracted-driving
5. https://www.census.gov/