The Northeast Has the Dumbest Drivers (study)

[flvegan]

I learned to drive in Massachusetts (48) but now live in Florida (41). How dumb are the drivers in your state?

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - When faced with a written test, similar to ones given to beginning drivers applying for licenses, one in ten drivers couldn't get a passing score, according to a study commissioned by GMAC Insurance.

The GMAC Insurance National Driver's Test found that nearly 20 million Americans, or about 1 in 10 drivers, would fail a state driver's test if they had to take one today. GMAC Insurance is part of General Motors' finance subsidiary, GMAC.

More than 5,000 licensed drivers between the ages of 16 and 65 were administered a 20-question written test designed to measure basic knowledge about traffic laws and safety. They were also surveyed about their general driving habits.

more: http://money.cnn.com/2005/05/26/Autos/drivers_study/index.htm

The test scores

New York (CNN/Money) - These are the average scores on a 20-question driver's test administered to more than 5,000 licensed drivers in a survey commissioned by the GMAC Insurance.

Nation -- 82.7

1. Oregon -- 89.4

2. Washington -- 88.4

3. Iowa -- 87.7

4. Idaho -- 87.5

5. Wyoming -- 87.4

6. Vermont -- 86.6

7. Nebraska -- 86.5

8. Wisconsin -- 86.3

9. Montana -- 86.2

10. West Virginia -- 86.2

11. Minnesota -- 86.1

12. North Dakota -- 85.6

13. North Carolina -- 85.2

14. Indiana -- 85.1

15. Alabama -- 84.7

15. Virginia -- 84.7

15. Nevada -- 84.7

16 Missouri -- 84.7

19. Ohio -- 84.3

19. South Dakota -- 84.3

21. Colorado -- 84.2

22. Kansas -- 84.0

23. Michigan -- 83.8

24. New Hampshire -- 83.7

25. Tennessee -- 83.4

26. Maine -- 83.2

27. Arkansas -- 83.1

27. South Carolina -- 83.1

29. Georgia -- 82.9

29. New Mexico -- 82.9

31. Oklahoma -- 82.8

32. Texas -- 82.7

33. Utah -- 82.6

33. Arizona -- 82.6

35. Mississippi -- 82.5

35. Delaware -- 82.5

35. Kentucky -- 82.5

38. Pennsylvania -- 82.1

39. Louisiana -- 81.7

40. Illinois -- 81.6

41. Florida -- 81.1

42. Connecticut -- 80.9

43. California -- 80.4

44. Maryland -- 79.8

44. Washington, D.C, -- 79.8

44. New York -- 79.8

47. New Jersey -- 78.3

48. Massachusetts -- 77.2

49. Rhode Island -- 77.0

[William769]

1. You forgot to point out one thing

All those dumb drivers vacation in Florida! :)

[flvegan]

2. That is so true. That's why we're at #41. Welcome to DU, btw!

:hi: :hi: :hi:

[Dr.Phool]

8. I agree. It's finally safe to ride my motorcycle again.

And welcome to DU.

[DS1]

3. Big deal. That's like saying people with college degrees in programming

can fight their way through an Inner Join SQL statement without cobbling through the examples page :eyes:

Besides, there are no finer traffic weavers like there are in Massachusetts. That's why you'll NEVER see a high-speed police pursuit on the Mass Pike or 128, we don't end up in spectacular crashes when we cross the 90mph mark.

You guys suck.

[flvegan]

6. I'm not agreeing with it, just passing it along for comedic purposes.

Hell, I learned to drive in MA. I think the best drivers come out of Boston. I never saw a wreck merging out of Logan, and the cloverleaf would be at a standstill 24/7 here. They put a rotary (called "roundabout" here) in Clearwater with a fountain in the middle. You guessed it...more cars in the fountain than exiting the rotary properly.

[Dr.Phool]

9. If you're talking about the one at the end of the causeway

I wonder how many people spend their vacation circling it.

[flvegan]

11. Hey kids, look...it's Big Ben, Parliament...

Bingo.

[patdem]

4. I LOVE R.I., however when I lived there I always said the people would

pull out of a side street or a drive way then look to see if anyone came close to hitting them!

Of course, being from VA and not being aware of how black ice can appear during a grocery shopping trip, then pulling out and doing a 180 about 3 times...the drivers were well prepared to wait for my car to come to a halt and allow me to get going in the right direction and not hit me...maybe that is from pulling out and then looking??? Anyway, like I said I LOVE Rhode Island!

[donco6]

5. Dumbest drivers: Colorado and Nebraska.

Worst problems: DRIVING IN THE LEFT LANE FOR NO DAMN REASON
NO LETTING ANYONE MERGE ONCE THEY'RE ON THE ROAD

AAARGHGHGHGHG!

[huskerlaw]

16. Agreed. We may know the rules

but we sure as hell don't follow them. It's easier to merge onto the 405 in LA at rush hour than it is on I-80 in Omaha. It seems that Nebraskans believe that being one car up will save them infinite amounts of commute time. GRR.

[LynneSin]

7. Who cares how dumb our drivers are - We didn't vote for Bush

:D

[bleedingheart]

10. so proud of PA...home of "left turn has right of way"....

wooo hoo...

[m_welby]

12. Woo Hoo !! I love RI !!

Anyone who has ever taken the driving test here knows that anyone can get a license. Basically you drive around the block and if you dont kill the tester than you pass.

[underpants]

13. NJ=Klingons NY=Romulans PA=The Borg

Joisey drivers are pure evil. No grey area there.

New Yorkers-you can never be too sure about 1/2 and 1/2 bad drivers

Pennsylavanians-Whew Boy! They are the Borg-sent out amongst the Eastern seaboard to assimilate others into their nonsensical maddening rage fueled habits on the roads.

[ProfessorGAC]

14. I'm Surprised To See Illinois Only At 40

Man, there are dumbass drivers around here. Discourteous as all get out, too. I travel all over the country for my job, and i don't see anywhere that the driving is as bad & discourteous as in northeastern IL.
The Professor

[Lannes]

15. Florida drivers suck

Obnoxious is a kind description.

[Patiod]

17. Insurance institute found Mass drivers to be the worst, claim-wise

They have the most claims per capita. I found this out several years ago when I was doing market research for Massport, and got an extraordinary number of write-in comments from overseas visitors deploring the way Boston-area drivers conduct themselves. And you know you're in trouble if Italians think you drive badly....

[madinmaryland]

18. Why are the eight states at the bottom

all blue states?

:wtf: :wtf:

Did Diebold do the tally for this survey?