A recent study has concluded that the Lone Star state is at the top of the list for having the worst drivers in the country.

The five categories that factored into the scoring were fatality rate per 100 million miles traveled; failure to obey basic laws such as traffic signals, seat belts and having a valid driver’s license; drunk driving; speeding; and careless driving (which includes pedestrian and bicycle deaths).

The data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration showed that Texas had 3,538 driving deaths in 2015, the most in the nation.

Texas was the only state to rank among the 14 worst in each of the study’s measured categories, finishing ninth in fatalities per 100 million drivers, 12th in failure to obey basic laws, third in drunk driving, ninth in speeding and 14th in careless driving. The rankings gave Texas a total score of 47, with a lower score meaning a worse ranking.

The study by car insurancecomparison .com compiled data from the NHTSA across five different categories and determined that Texas and Louisiana were tied for the worst drivers in the country, taking the top spot from Montana, who improved to the 10th worst.

Rounding out the five worst driving states are South Carolina, North Dakota and Delaware, while the five safest states for drivers are Minnesota, Vermont, Virginia, Iowa and Rhode Island.

In 2015, Texas drivers were rated as only the fourth worst.

Amarillo saw 24 traffic fatalities investigated by the Amarillo Police Department in 2015, the second highest total dating back to 2009. But APD hopes that new data it is working to compile will bring that number down beginning in 2017.

APD investigated a total of 5,640 crashes in 2015, roughly about average for data complied by APD dating back to 2009.

"We work a lot of traffic accidents and crashes here in Amarillo," Police Chief Ed Drain said. "There’s a software application that the Texas Department of Transportation makes available, so I’ve gotten my staff to have access to that so we can begin to extract data out there and see where crashes are happening and where they are in relation to where we’re doing in enforcement, so we can do a better job going forward and get our crashes down in 2017."

The worst category for Texas was drunk driving, with NHTSA data showing that more than 40 percent of traffic deaths had drivers with a blood alcohol content higher than the legal limit of .08, the worst mark in the country.

That number improved to 15th worst for any type of alcohol in a driver’s system, but still less than the legal limit.

In 2015 APD arrested 483 drivers for DUIs, again roughly about average for data over the past seven years and a number Chief Drain said he is working diligently to bring down.

"We’ve met with the commander of the Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission and talked about ways we can work together to get the number of impaired driver-related accidents down," the chief said. "We’ll be taking that on in 2017, but we now have the partnerships established to make that happen."

A look at Texas’ ranking in each category showed that nearly 1.5 drivers were killed for every 100 million miles traveled.

In the failure to obey basic laws category, Texas was second worst in the country for fatal crashes involving a driver without a valid license, with nearly 20 percent of fatal crashes involving an invalidly licensed driver. The sole bright spot for Texas came in that same category, which showed that fewer than 20 percent of fatal crashes in the state saw drivers not wearing a seat belt, putting the state in the top-15 for that category.

In the speeding category — where Texas ranked ninth worst — more than 36 percent of traffic fatalities were the cause of excessive speed, totaling 1,284 deaths.

While specific local numbers for speeding, invalid license, seat belts and other violations was not available, APD handed out 39,586 traffic citations in 2015, the lowest number on record since 2009.

That number reflects an average of approximately 108 citations handed out each day, a figure that may grow up that Chief Drain has moved around shift hours at APD, ensuring more continuous coverage in all ares of the city.

"Right now we have a vacant motorcycle position, so we have 11 officers and a sergeant who are out doing traffic enforcement," the chief said. "Those handful are pretty much doing most of the traffic enforcement, because previously officers didn’t have a lot of time to do traffic enforcement … realigning our department so we have a minimum of 23 officers out policing, they have time to do that, and in some areas the main concern may be traffic."

Drain said that currently the city’s biggest traffic concerns are around Soncy Road and Interstate 40, as well as Coulter St.

The final category, careless driving, took into account the number of pedestrian deaths (people walking or riding bikes) that were caused by drivers. Nearly two pedestrians out of every 100,000 people in the state died, making Texas 14th worst in the standings.

In 2015, 476 pedestrians were killed plus another 50 on bicycles for a total of 526 total pedestrian deaths, third in the rankings behind California and Florida.

Specific numbers for these types of deaths in Amarillo were not available.