It's official:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/LIVING/wayoflife/11/16/driving.stupid/index.html
Massachusetts finished near the bottom. Sheesh, I could have predicted that growing up there. The MA drivers suck. I figured Florida would have been worse, given how many "near-deads" and "NASCAR-wannabes" they have down there. NJ/NY? Dead last. Predictable.
I'm actually kind of surprised CA finished as high as it did. Must be northern CA offsetting all the idiots down here in SoCal and skewing the average up.
Don't drive stupid
By Blair S. Walker
Is it just your imagination, or do many of your fellow motorists lack even a rudimentary grasp of traffic laws?
art.traffic.afp.gi.jpg
One in six drivers would fail driving test if they had to take it today, a GMAC test suggests.
Well, if a test administered by GMAC Insurance is any indication, one in six people cruising our highways and byways -- roughly 36 million licensed drivers -- would flunk their driver's test if they had to take it today. Not only that, but based on the 2007 GMAC Insurance National Drivers Test data the state with the most road-going dummies is New York, while the most knowledgeable ones are out West to Idaho.
"The results were pretty eye-opening to us," says Gary Kusumi, president and CEO of GMAC Insurance Personal Lines. "Not only did they indicate that there are wide differences in terms of state scores, but there were significant trends that demonstrated the general public might have forgotten must-know items from when they first took their driver's test."
"Two questions consistently sent respondents skidding into the weeds," Kusumi notes. The first has to do with the correct action to take when approaching a steady yellow traffic light (Answer: Stop if it is safe to do so.). A whopping 84 percent of respondents spun their wheels on that one. The next biggest puzzler after that question had to do with the proper following distance from a car in front of you (Answer: Two seconds).
Also of interest from the GMAC Insurance test:
• Drivers 35 and older were more likely to pass
• Illinois, Georgia, Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Massachusetts were the least knowledgeable states overall, with average scores under 75 percent
• Fifty-five percent of the respondents didn't know how many feet before making a left or right turn to activate their turn signals
• The national average score was 77.1 percent
"We believe that the adoption of a uniform driver curriculum will significantly improve the driving skills of Americans," says Adele Kristiansson, a spokesperson for the National Road Safety Foundation. "Some states do not require mandatory education for novice drivers, and some states require it," adds Kristiansson. "My organization is concerned because driver education is an orphaned child and it's suffering."
On the Web at
www.nationalroadsafety.org, and offering free programs to the public, the National Road Safety Foundation was created in 1961 by Fraydun Manocherian, after two youthful friends were killed in automobile accidents in Westchester County, New York.
According to GMAC Insurance, 18 percent of respondents failed its National Driving Test in 2007, compared with 9 percent in 2006. The test can be taken online at
www.gmacinsurance.com.
The following state rankings were released for the 2007 GMAC Insurance National Drivers Test:
1. Idaho.
2. Alaska
3. Minnesota
4. Wisconsin
5. Kansas
6. Washington
7. South Dakota
8. Montana
9. Oregon
10. Iowa
11. Nebraska
12. Wyoming
13. Oklahoma
13. Indiana
13. North Carolina
16. New Mexico
17. North Dakota
18. Missouri
19. Delaware
19. Nevada
21.Vermont
22. California
23. Hawaii
24. Texas
25. Maryland
25. Alabama
27. Arkansas
28. Michigan
29. Kentucky
30. Utah
31. Ohio
31.Colorado
33. South Carolina
33.Arizona
33. Florida
36. Maine
37. New Hampshire
37. Mississippi
37. Tennessee
40. Connecticut
41. Virginia
41. Louisiana
43. West Virginia
44. Georgia
45. Illinois
46. Pennsylvania
47. Rhode Island
48. Massachusetts
48. District of Columbia
48. New Jersey
51. New York