Georgia is among the better states in the country for teen drivers when it comes to safety and driving laws, but families may pay a hefty price when it comes time to add a teenager to the insurance policy.
A new WalletHub analysis ranks Georgia 15th overall among the 50 states for teen drivers with the Peach State performing well on safety but landing near the bottom for the economic costs associated with young drivers.
Source: WalletHub
WalletHub gave Georgia an overall score of 58.87 out of 100, placing it between Kentucky, which ranked 14th, and Utah, which ranked 16th.
Georgia ranked:
- 15th overall
- 7th for safety
- 48th for economic environment
- 11th for driving laws
Georgia fares comparatively well when measuring the conditions intended to keep young motorists safe, but poorly when examining how much it costs to put those drivers on the road.
Georgia Performs Well on Teen Driver Safety
Safety accounted for half of each state’s overall score in WalletHub’s analysis – the most heavily weighted category.
Georgia’s No. 7 safety ranking puts it among the top-performing states nationwide.
WalletHub evaluated safety using factors such as teen driver fatalities per 100,000 teenagers, traffic behavior, teen driving-under-the-influence violations, drinking and driving, texting or emailing behind the wheel, seat belt use, road quality and the availability of driving schools. The analysis also considered the economic cost associated with teen crash-related deaths.
WalletHub noted that motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death among people ages 16 to 19, an age group that also faces the highest risk of crashes. Crashes involving 13- to 19-year-olds result in approximately $40.7 billion annually in medical expenses and work-loss costs, according to the analysis.
The Cost of Putting a Georgia Teen Behind the Wheel
The state ranked 48th in the nation for its economic environment for teen drivers, only outscoring Alaska and Virginia.
WalletHub’s economic analysis considered gasoline prices, repair costs, traffic fines, insurance costs and how insurance companies treat higher-risk motorists.
Georgia also ranked 49th for the increase in insurance premiums after adding a teen driver to a parent’s auto insurance policy. Only Virginia performed worse.
How Georgia Compares
Georgia’s #15 ranking puts the state ahead of several of its Southeastern neighbors.
South Carolina ranked 20th, Florida 22nd, Tennessee 32nd and Alabama 46th. Mississippi came in at 48th and North Carolina ranked 28th.
