With all the bad news we hear about Illinois, it’s nice to see one of those surveys that ranks us high in something good.

And good news comes this week from the personal-finance website WalletHub, which has released its report on 2017’s Best & Worst States for Teen Drivers.

As it turns out, we’re No. 3!

In order to determine the safest and least-costly driving environments for U.S. teenagers, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 50 states based on 21 key metrics. The data set ranges from number of teen driver fatalities to average cost of car repairs to presence of impaired-driving laws.

Teenage Driving in Illinois (1=Best; 25=Avg.):

• 17^th – Teen Driver Fatalities per Teen Population
• 1^st – Teen DUIs per Teen Population
• 11^th – Avg. Cost of Car Repairs
• 1^st – Presence of Distracted-Driving/Texting-While-Driving Laws
• 7^th – Provision of Teen Driver’s Graduated Licensing Program Laws
• 6^th – Vehicle Miles Traveled per Capita
• 5^th – Presence of Occupant-Protection Laws
• 25^th – Quality of Roads
• 1^st – Presence of Impaired-Driving Laws

Why We Should Care

Getting a driver’s license is considered a rite of passage in American culture. But this exciting coming-of-age has instead become a death sentence for thousands of teens each year. Motor-vehicle accidents continue to be the leading cause of death among the population aged 16 to 19, which also happens to be the age group with the highest risk of crashes.

And the financial implications are staggering. Although 15- to 19-year-olds made up only 7 percent of the population in 2013, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, they racked up 11 percent of all costs resulting from motor-vehicle injuries. That’s not counting the costs of auto maintenance, insurance premiums, possible traffic citations and other vehicular incidents — expenses that can pile up over time.

Click here to read more about WalletHub’s findings, expert commentary and a full description of the methodology.

SOURCE: WalletHub news release and website