The case for why Mass. is one of the safest places for teen drivers
Consumer finance site WalletHub has more good news for Massachusetts residents. And it’s especially welcome news for the Commonwealth’s teen drivers and their parents.
Shortly after naming Massachusetts the safest state to live in for 2015, WalletHub named the Bay State the third best state for teen drivers. Only New York and Oregon outperformed Massachusetts for young motorists.
This is an improvement over last year’s score from WalletHub that placed Massachusetts in sixth place for teen drivers.
WalletHub looked at the driving conditions in 50 U.S. States based on 16 key metrics. These metrics include the number of teen driver fatalities, road quality, the rate of DUI violations, cost of repairs, distracted driving laws, and the effectiveness of teach state’s teen driver education program.
If safety for your teen is a top concern, these cars, trucks, and SUVs are the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s Top Safety Pick+ winners:
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Here’s how Massachusetts ended up with one of the top scores for teen driver safety.
Safety conditions
According to WalletHub’s findings, Massachusetts has the fourth lowest rate of teen drivers fatalities, the seventh lowest rate of teen DUIs, the ninth lowest rate of vehicle miles traveled per capita, and the 11th lowest for the quality of roads. Even though it did not reach the highest rank in these categories, Massachusetts’s scores were solid enough across the board to earn WalletHub’s highest grade for safety conditions compared to other states.
Driving laws
WalletHub’s driving laws category looked at each state’s Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) Program Laws, the presence of distracted driving (or anti-texting and driving) laws, occupation protection laws, and more.
To have an effective GLD program, a state must 1) require a minimum age of 16 to get a learner’s permit, 2) require a permit holding period of six months, 3) require between 30 and 50 hours of supervised driving, 4) impose nighttime driving restrictions for teen drivers, 5) require passenger restrictions for teen drivers, 6) cell phone restrictions, and 7) allow these restrictions to be lifted after the driver turns 18.
If a state met five out of these seven conditions, WalletHub placed it among the best states for teen driver GLD program laws. Massachusetts ranked the highest for teen driver licensing programs by meeting all seven conditions.
Economic environment
WalletHub gave Massachusetts a slightly lower than average grade in this field, which considered the cost of a speeding ticket and red-light violation, first-time fines for not wearing a seat belt, the cost of car repairs, and more.
A car accident in the Commonwealth can be very costly to fix. Massachusetts has the second-highest cost of car repairs after North Carolina, according to WalletHub’s data.
But other costs were not high enough deter unsafe driving.
WalletHub spokesperson Jill Gonzalez said the Commonwealth needs to do more to raise its score in this category. Gonzalez suggests one way to do that is to increase the state fines for teens’ first offenses.
“The current maximum first offense ticket for not wearing a seat belt, for instance, is only $25, 23rd highest in the country,’’ said Gonzalez. “We found that a high value for this tickets influences reckless driving.’’
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