Posted on 06/04/2006 7:56:37 PM PDT by LdSentinal
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - The tiny state of Rhode Island still ranks rock bottom in terms of driving knowledge, according to a national test conducted by GMAC Insurance. Oregon drivers answered the most questions correctly.
The test revealed that about one in 11 licensed drivers in the United States would fail a state drivers test, according to GMAC Insurance.
Rhode Island ranked last year, also, with an average score of 77. Last year, Oregon's average score was 89, which still placed at the top of the rankings that year.
Based on average scores, northwestern states generally ranked highest while the bottom-ranking states were mostly in the northeast. One exception was Vermont, which ranked third. Washington state drivers ranked second. Drivers in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia ranked at the bottom, with D.C. finishing just ahead of Rhode Island.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Florida is not at the top of the list simply because the bulk of the worst drivers tests were spoiled and disqualified from this survey, IMO.
MA at 48. Not a shock.
The tests can say what they will, I still say the country's worst drivers are in this city. The slowest I see anyone going on the roads around here is the speed limit. You see people who, know the light has turned red, and know they have no excuse to run it, but, if they don't see a car coming, they gleefully run the light. The number of people who try and play chicken at rush hour has always boggled the mind, and tailgaiting, my God, these people get shocked when they get in wrecks and they are declared at fault. I get the feeling these insurance companies didn't send many investigators down here.
Having lived in Harvard Square for the previous 8 years, I believe that hardly any MA drivers know that pedestrians have the right of way. A crosswalk was part of my daily 11 minute walking commute, and as with many things in MA, I had to be vigilant:)
I dunno, when I lived in Columbus, OH, I witnessed drivers blowing through a red light even with traffic coming into the intersection a few times.
Man, I hate to drive in DC or R.I.
Florida's near the bottom (40th), probably because so many Yankees have moved there. They have the worst score of any Confederate state.
In Utah and Virginia, there's a serious prevalence of people who are utterly baffled by 4-way stops, people who think that "yield" means "floor the accelerator straight through the intersection without attempting to look for cross-traffic", and people who change lanes as quickly as possible without looking over the shoulder, checking the mirrors, or signaling.
Or maybe it's just that the Boston "townies" wanted to peg the Harvard students and scare them off the streets?! ;-)
Let's not forget that Patrick Kennedy drives most often in Rhode Island.
Excellent description of Utah drivers.
Speaking as someone that, just yesterday, was involved in an accident with one those "idiots" I tend to agree.
I got the list "backwards", and even though Florida is at 40, they should have been 50 (or 51) IMO. It's just crazy down here.
The infamous "Florida Right" is my favorite, someone in the far left lane on a highway will decide they need to get off at the exit 50 feet in front of them and will hammer a hard right through 2 lanes of traffic without warning.
Possibly, though there just aren't that many townies anymore. Seems the onslaught of imports (including me, though I've since exported) has been quite overwhelming.
Florida should've been disqualified as "score indetectably low"; clearly someone stuffed the FL test scores..
Could it be that a large chunck of licensed drivers in NY state live in the City, and so hardly ever actually drive? That would certainly make us look worse than we are.
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