In a first-ever analysis, we examined each state’s graduated driver licensing, seat belt, and DUI laws and awarded points based on strictness. (Alaska gets more points in the seat belt category because anyone 16 and older who isn’t buckled up can be fined; New Hampshire gets fewer points because it has no seat belt laws for 18- and 19-year old teens.)

BEST

Alaska, California, Delaware, Washington, Illinois, Maine, Indiana, Oregon, Hawaii, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, District of Columbia

Tennessee is one of the deadliest states for teen drivers, a new statistic that at least one state official blames on a lack of mandatory driver's education.

A study of teen fatality rates by the Allstate insurance company showed that Tennessee ranked sixth in the nation for driving deaths among teens. The Memphis region ranked 16th among 50 metropolitan areas in the study.

Actions often speak louder than words:

What you do as a parent could affect your child's behavior even more than what you tell them. If you tell your child not to drink and drive but you do, you are really saying "this is ok." Even if you don't do it often, and even if it's a small drink, you are sending a risky message. Teenagers do try to be like the adults in their lives, but they are more likely to take risks.

A major risk factor for teen drivers is the presence of teen passengers. How do peer passengers relate to crash rates? While teenage driver crashes and casualties decreased in the past decade, and in spite of recent attention to the issue, teens are still high risk
drivers and unintentional injury from motor vehicle crashes remains the number one cause of death among teens in the United States.