If you're reading this now, it's likely that before your sixteenth birthday, you were already snagging magazines with the coolest looking cars off of store shelves and working hard after school to shave seconds off of your Forza lap time record. For those who just had their childhood recited back to them, then it's also pretty likely that you were in line at the DMV the first day you were able to get a learners permit. While some of us will never forget our first time behind the wheel, other teen drivers will unfortunately wish they never had gotten their license.

That's because out of all the killers of America's teenage population, automobile accidents remain the category that racks up the highest toll among the 16-19 year-old age cohort. In total, about 220 teens die on American roads each month, and with more teens hitting the roads for the first time during the summer, those numbers show no signs of falling. To help gauge the level of risk, WalletHub compiled a study to find out which states are the best places to be a teen driver and which states are among the worst. Using sixteen different metrics to rank states based on three crucial categories, the study determined that New York took the spot as the best state to be a teen driver in and South Dakota as the worst.

The first of the three categories was safety conditions, which weighed teen traffic fatalities per 100,000, rates of teen DUIs, and general road conditions. Second was the economic environment, which looked at average cost of auto repairs, costs of tickets for various traffic offenses, and the added insurance premiums from placing a teen driver on a family policy. The last category was driving laws. It placed an emphasis on the age at which a teen can obtain a learners permit, restrictions on said permit, and overall legal implications for teens that violate traffic laws. So what do the experts think teens should do to stay safe? Put down the phone and stop thinking they're the best drivers on the road. See the link below to see where your state falls.