Connecticut drivers have been getting more reckless in recent years, according to a ranking by the Seattle auto insurance resource Car Insurance Comparison.

Drivers in the Constitution State were named the 15th worst in the nation in this year's study, up from 28th in 2015 and 47th in 2014. Meanwhile, Rhode Island improved from 19th worst in 2015 to 47th in 2016.

Each year, Car Insurance Comparison uses data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to rank the drivers of each state as well as the District of Columbia. The NHTSA statistics show that traffic fatalities have dropped by about 67 percent since 1975. However, Car Insurance Comparison notes that many crashes are still caused by human factors.

The 2016 rankings are based on five different factors. These include the fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled; failure to obey, or percentage of fatal crashes that involved disobeying a traffic signal, not wearing a seat belt, or driving with an invalid license; drunk driving, or the percentage of fatal crashes involving alcohol; speeding, or the percentage of fatal crashes that were speed-related; and careless driving, or number of pedestrian and bicyclist deaths per 100,000 residents.

States were ranked in each of these categories and given a final score based on where they placed in each category. Texas and Louisiana tied for the worst drivers, followed by South Carolina and Montana. Minnesota was ranked as having the safest drivers, followed by Vermont and Virginia.

Connecticut was ranked second worst in the nation for the percentage of fatal crashes involving alcohol. The state was fourth in 2015 and 11th in 2014. North Dakota was ranked worst in this category for the second year in a row.

The data shows that Connecticut worsened considerably in the speeding and careless driving rankings. The state was the 26th worst in the United States for careless driving, up from 37th in both 2014 and 2015. In speed-related final crashes, Connecticut went from 47th in 2014 and 41st in 2015 to 29th.

The state's fatality rate was the 41st worst in the U.S., up from 42nd in 2015 and 48th in 2014. It was the 11th worst state for failure to obey, the same as the year before and up from 47th in 2014.

Rhode Island improved considerably in drunk driving, going from third worst in the rankings in 2014 and eighth worst in 2015 to 30th worst this year. Speed was also a less prevalent factor, with Rhode Island dropping from second worst in this category in 2014 and 36th worst in 2015 to 39th worst. The state's fatality rate improved from 44th worst in 2014 and 2015 to 47th worst in 2016.

The state was ranked 29th worst for failure to obey crashes, following a placement of 48th in 2014 and fifth in 2015. In careless driving, Rhode Island's rank went from 49th worst in 2014 and 20th worst in 2015 to 33rd worst.

The states with the poorest ranking in each category included South Carolina for fatality rate, Louisiana for failure to obey, North Dakota for drunk driving, the District of Columbia for speed, and New Mexico for careless driving.

Massachusetts had the lowest fatality rate in the nation, while Vermont had the smallest percentage of failure to obey incidents. Drunk driving made up the lowest share of fatal crashes in Utah, while speed-related crashes were least prevalent in Florida and careless driving was most uncommon in Minnesota.