NJ Top 3 for Best Teen Drivers: Not Mine

If you’re a parent of a teen driver in New Jersey, you know what it’s like to feel real anxiety. That terrifying emotion that keeps us awake all night. Some parents experience it more than others, but it’s never a good feeling.

Of course, the more kids you have, the more times you suffer through it. It starts with the permit, when you’re in the car with them behind the wheel for the first time. Then there’s the terrifying moment when your teen driver takes the car for the first time. Your heart is full of pride, as your brain is drowning in terror.

My scariest teen driver experience was with my oldest, the first of my three children. He rear-ended a car in the snow. I thought it would be a good idea to have him learn to drive in difficult conditions. I was wrong. You make the most mistakes with the first one.

Fortunately, I was in the passenger seat. Unfortunately, his friend was in the back. He hit the brakes too late and slid into the car in front of us. We weren’t going that fast, so no one was injured; lesson learned.

The experience with my second teen driver sounds almost unbelievable. All but 1 of her 4 incidents were with stationary objects.

The first happened when she was backing out of our garage and hit our other car, which was parked in the driveway.

The second happened when she was backing out of a friend’s driveway and obliterated their mailbox.

Her third incident cracked the rearview mirror on the driver's side. This occurred when the mirror hit a “State Law: Stop for Pedestrians in Crosswalk” sign in the middle of the street. I’ll give you a minute to process that one.

Related: Jersey Town Ranked Best for Families

The last was when she was cut off and tore up the entire side of our car on the rear bumper of an 18-wheeler. This one was the scariest because she was about two hours from home. Fortunately, no injuries there either. All of this happened before her nineteenth birthday.

I’m knocking on every piece of wood within reach right now as I tell you my youngest, at 20 years old, has never been in an accident.

Imagine my surprise when I happened upon this study from WalletHub. It claims New Jersey has the third safest teen drivers in the country. Really?

According to the report, New Jersey’s third-place overall score is behind only Oregon and New York. However, the Garden State ranks first in the safety category. Comparatively, Pennsylvania is twenty-fifth on the overall list.

The article shared some of the reasons for New Jersey’s teen driver high ranking. They include “strict driving laws and the third-most driving schools per capita.” New Jersey teen drivers also have “High insurance premiums,” which reinforces the safety-first approach.

You can check out the full breakdowns HERE. I’m not referring to my “parental breakdowns,” I mean the “statistical breakdowns” from the study. (He said laughing, a laugh that quickly transitioned into a cry)