Teens hitting the road in Missouri face dangerous driving conditions, study finds — again

Teenagers are often eager to start driving, but getting behind the wheel is one of the riskiest things they’ll do, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens ages 16 to 19, with a fatal crash rate three times higher than drivers ages 20 and over, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Missouri teens are especially at risk compared to other states. Financial website WalletHub ranked the state as the second worst for teen drivers in 2023. The financial website’s 2024 ranking says that hasn’t changed.

A total of 2,883 teenagers ages 13-19 died in motor vehicle crashes in 2022, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says. Teenagers also accounted for 7% of motor vehicle crash deaths.

WalletHub analyzed the teen driving environment in all 50 states across three categories — safety, economic environment and driving laws — and found that Missouri is the second worst state in the country for teen drivers. The website used statistics from the CDC, U.S. Census Bureau, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and FBI.

Here’s how Missouri ranked among the 50 states in WalletHub’s individual metrics:

• 47th in distracted driving and texting while driving laws

• 47th in vehicle miles traveled per capita

• 47th in impaired driving laws

• 40th most teen driver fatalities per 100,000 teens

• 37th for poor quality of roads

• 34th most teen DUIs per 100,000 teens

When compared to the states, Missouri ranked 45th in the safety category, 28th the economic environment category and 50th in the driving laws category.

On a scale of 100, Missouri finished with a score of 31.68, two points better than last year’s score of 29.93. The lower the number, the worse the state ranked.

It’s six points ahead of Montana, which was ranked the worst state for teen drivers in the country for a second consecutive year. Wyoming, Idaho and North Dakota round out the top five.

The best state for teen driving is New York, passing Oregon.

Source: WalletHub