Our teen driving ranking methodology has 11 variables. Five of the variables are based on driver's license, car accident fatality, and road quality statistics for each state compiled by the federal government. The other six variables are based on ratings of each state's driving and road safety laws compiled by two independent organizations.
- See Best States for Teen Drivers ranking
- Read about how laws are making driving safer for teens
- Read about how technology can help teen drivers
- Read about why D.C. is the safest place for teen drivers
The five variables that use statistics from the U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Census Bureau are percent of teen population with driver's licenses (10-year average); teen driver deaths per year (10-year average); percent of teen driver deaths involving alcohol/drugs (10-year average); percent of roads rated good/very good; and vehicle miles traveled per capita in the state (five-year average).
To compare states on the safety of their driving laws, U.S. News used independently developed ratings from the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates, http://www.saferoads.org/) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS, http://www.iihs.org/). The six variables in the methodology that use Advocates and IIHS ratings are teen driver's license laws (Advocates); motorcycle helmet laws (IIHS); safety-belt use laws (IIHS); DUI/DWI laws (Advocates); distracted-driving/texting-while-driving laws (Advocates); and red light and speeding camera laws (IIHS).
The Advocates and the IIHS ratings were both published in January 2010 and are based on the driving laws that existed in each state at that time. Changes in state driving laws after the January 2010 publication of the Advocates and IIHS ratings are not reflected in the U.S. News Best States for Teen Drivers rankings published on March 18, 2010.
The weights used in the Best States for Teen Drivers rankings reflect U.S. News's analytical judgment on the relative importance each factor should have in the Best States for Teen Drivers rankings.
Detailed descriptions of the ranking variables used in the Best States for Teen Drivers ranking methodology
1. Percent of teen population with driver's licenses (10-year average). This variable is based on data from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration and population figures for each state from the U.S. Census Bureau. This factor counts for 10 percent of a state's ranking. States with lower percentages of teens who are licensed drivers score higher in the ranking. The most recent data are from 2008.
2. Teen driver deaths per year (10-year average). This variable is based on data on teen driver deaths per licensed teen driver from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Fatality Analysis Reporting System, part of the U.S. Department of Transportation. The factor counts for 20 percent of a state's ranking. States with a smaller percentage of teen driver deaths per licensed teen driver score higher than states with a larger number of deaths. The most recent data are from 2008.
3. Percent of teen driver deaths involving alcohol/drugs (10-year average). This variable is based on data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Fatality Analysis Reporting System, part of the U.S. Department of Transportation. The factor counts for 10 percent of a state's ranking. States with a smaller percentage of alcohol- and drug-related teen driving deaths score higher than states with a larger percentage. The most recent data are from 2008.
4. Teen driver's license laws. This variable is based on ratings from the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. The factor counts for 20 percent of a state's ranking. The ratings evaluate graduated driver licensing laws, which restrict teenagers' driving privileges until they acquire more experience. GDL laws usually consist of a learner's stage, an intermediate stage, and an unrestricted driving stage. The learner's stage requires teenage drivers to complete a minimum number of months of adult-supervised driving in order to obtain a full license. The intermediate stage restricts teens from driving alone in certain situations—such as at night or with teen passengers—for a specified time before receiving a full license. The Advocates rated the states on the degrees to which they have passed laws regarding seven components of GDL laws, including Learner's Stage: minimum age 16 for learner's permit; Learner's Stage: six-month holding period; Learner's Stage: 30 to 50 hours of supervised driving; Intermediate Stage: nighttime driving restriction; Intermediate Stage: passenger restriction; cellphone restriction; and age 18 for unrestricted license. A rating of Excellent means the state has enacted into law six of the seven graduated driver licensing provisions recommended by the Advocates. A rating of Insufficient means the state has enacted into law at least two to five of the seven graduated driver licensing provisions recommended by the Advocates. A rating of Failing means the state has enacted into law fewer than two of the seven graduated driver licensing provisions.
5. Motorcycle helmet laws. This variable is based on ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. This factor counts for 2.5 percent of a state's ranking. A rating of Excellent means the state laws require that all motorcycle riders must wear helmets. A rating of Failing means either that there are no helmet use laws in the state or that those laws require that only some riders wear helmets.
6. Safety-belt use laws. This variable is based on ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The factor counts for 2.5 percent of a state's ranking. A rating of Excellent means the state's safety-belt laws allow primary enforcement (police may stop and ticket motorists for belt violations alone); fines and/or license points are imposed for violations; and the laws apply to occupants in rear as well as front seats. A rating of Satisfactory means the state's laws allow primary enforcement but do not require belt use in rear seats. A rating of Inadequate means the state's laws allow only secondary enforcement (police must stop motorists for another violation before enforcing belt laws). A rating of Failing means the state either has no belt use laws or that the laws do not impose any fine or license points.
7. DUI/DWI laws. This variable is based on ratings from the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. The factor counts for 10 percent of a state's ranking. There are four types of laws pertaining to DUI/DWI: ignition interlock device laws, which mandate the installation of ignition interlock devices on the vehicles of all drunk driving offenders; child endangerment laws, which create a separate offense or enhance an existing penalty for an impaired-driving offender who endangers a minor; mandatory blood alcohol concentration, or BAC, testing laws for drivers, which require any driver who is involved in a crash in which there is a fatality to have his or her BAC tested; and open container laws, which prohibit open containers of alcohol in the passenger area of a motor vehicle.
A rating of Excellent means the state has either all four optimal impaired-driving laws or three laws, of which one is an optimal ignition interlock law. A rating of Insufficient means the state has at least three optimal impaired-driving laws without the optimal ignition interlock law provisions. A rating of Failing means the state has fewer than three optimal impaired-driving laws without an optimal ignition interlock law provision. I
8. Distracted-driving/texting-while-driving laws. This variable is based on ratings from the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. This factor counts for 10 percent of a state's ranking. A rating of Excellent means the state has laws prohibiting all drivers from entering, reading, or otherwise retrieving data from any hand-held or electronic data communication device, except in the case of an emergency. A rating of Failing means the state does not have a 100 percent restrictive law.
9. Red light and speeding camera laws. This variable is based on ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. This factor counts for 5 percent of a state's ranking. This variable examines the state's use of automated technology to enforce traffic safety laws for speeding and running red lights. A rating of Excellent means the state's laws grant specific statewide authority for camera enforcement. A rating of Satisfactory means there is some operational camera enforcement but without specific state authority. A rating of Inadequate means the state's laws restrict authority for camera enforcement to specific communities only. A rating of Failing means the state has no law that grants authority for camera enforcement and no operational camera enforcement.
10. Percent of roads rated good/very good. This variable is based on data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, a part of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Research and Innovative Technology Administration. The factor counts for 5 percent of a state's rankings. Road condition ratings are derived from the International Roughness Index and the Present Serviceability Rating. Ratings of good and very good represent smoother roadways. States with higher percentages of roads that were rated good and very good scored higher than states with lower percentages. The road conditions rating data are from 2007.
11. Vehicle miles traveled per capita in the state (five-year average). This variable is from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration. The factor counts for 5 percent of a state's ranking. States with a lower number of average vehicle miles traveled per capita score higher than states with a larger number of average vehicle miles traveled. The most recent data are from 2007.
For the U.S. News Best States for Teen Drivers rankings, the Advocates ratings were converted into three categories: Excellent, Insufficient, and Failing. The IIHS ratings were converted into four categories: Excellent, Satisfactory, Inadequate, and Failing. Next, the Advocates' ratings were converted into values on a 100-point scale: Excellent=100, Insufficient=50, and Failing=0. IIHS's ratings also were converted into scores on a 100-point scale: Excellent=100, Satisfactory=67, Inadequate=33, and Failing=0. Next, we converted the state-by-state statistical variables into values on a 100-point scale. The highest value in each indicator received a value equal to 100, and the other values for that ranking factor were taken as a percentage of the top state's score in that statistical indicator. We weighted the 11 ranking variables for each by the weights listed above. Next, we summed the 11 weighted ranking variables for each state to calculate the U.S. News Score used to produce the Best States for Teen Drivers rankings. The area with the highest score was ranked No. 1, and the other 50 states were numerically ranked in descending order based on their overall score rounded to the hundredth decimal place.
- See Best States for Teen Drivers ranking
- Read about how laws are making driving safer for teens
- Read about how technology can help teen drivers
- Read about why D.C. is the safest place for teen drivers
Reader Comments Read all comments (16)
fsd of AZ 11:22AM March 22, 2011
Richard of ID 10:31AM December 26, 2010
travis of CO 1:54PM December 09, 2010