When it Comes To Teen Drivers In New York State…

As back-to-school season begins, and summer swiftly comes to a close, there may be a number of fresh drivers on New York State roadways getting to experience driving themselves to school for the very first time.

There may be some teens that just got their license over the summer, and others who finally got the a-ok from their families to drive to school on their own.

When it comes to teenage drivers, though, how does New York rank when compared to the other states? The results may be surprising for The Empire State.

23 Metrics Across 50 States To Assess Teen Driving

In order to determine teenage driving rankings state-by-state, WalletHub analyzed 23 key metrics across the states, placing emphasis on safety, cost, accidents and injuries, as well as car repair costs and insurance rates.

New York soared to the very top of the list, coming in first overall, and sweeping a number of prime categories that helped it rise to number one with a score of 72.25. Oregon (72.01), New Jersey (68.74), West Virginia (65.41), and Kentucky (64.56) rounded out the rest of the top five.

Here's How New York Earned Number 1 Ranking for Teenage Driving in the US

All things considered, many might be surprised by the fact that NY landed in the top spot. WalletHub shared the following:

New York is the best state for teen drivers, despite traffic congestion in its biggest cities, in large part due to the fact that it has the second-fewest teen driver fatalities per capita. In addition, New York has the fourth-lowest percentage of drivers who use phones while driving and the third-lowest prevalence of poor turning (turning while accelerating too much).

New York ranked second for teen driver fatalities, fifth (fewest) for teen DUIs (per 100,000),  and first place for many law-based categories like presence of distracted-driving/texting-while driving laws, provision of teen driver's graduated licensing program laws, presence of occupant-protection laws.

Not a surprise, the state ranked 23rd for cost of car repairs, and the seventh (highest) ranking for auto insurance premium increases in the nation for high-risk drivers.

For a deeper dive into all of the New York State metrics as well as an analysis of the state-by-state-comparisons, check out the full WalletHub study here.