Score are in: Northeast STILL has the dumbest drivers

[Kansei]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/AUTOS/05/26/dumb_driver_states/index.html

Here's an excerpt:
"Approximately one in three drivers said they usually do not stop for pedestrians in crosswalks. At least one out of five drivers did not know that pedestrians in a crosswalk have the right of way. At least one in five also did not know that roads are most slippery when it first starts to rain after a dry spell."

Test Results:

Average: 83.7 percent

1. Oregon 90.6

2. Washington 88.2

3. Vermont 87.5

4. Idaho 87.3 (Tie)

4. South Dakota 87.3 (Tie)

6. Montana 87.2

7. Nebraska 87.0

8. Kansas 86.8

9. Iowa 86.7

10. Wyoming 86.2

11. Wisconsin 86.1

12. Minnesota 86.0

13. Alaska 85.8

14. California 85.6

15. Indiana 85.2 (Tie)

15. Colorado 85.2 (Tie)

17. Michigan 85.1

18. North Dakota 85.0

19. West Virginia 84.8

20. Utah 84.5

21. Mississippi 84.4

22. Illinois 84.3

23. Tennessee 84.2

24. Texas 84.0 (Tie)

24. Kentucky 84.0 (Tie)

26. New Hampshire 83.9

27. Arkansas 83.8

28. Virginia 83.5

29. Arizona 83.4

30. Georgia 83.2 (Tie)

30. Louisiana 83.2 (Tie)

32. North Carolina 83.1 (Tie)

32. Maine 83.1 (Tie)

34. Ohio 83.0

35. Oklahoma 82.9

36. Alabama 82.8

37. Missouri 82.7 (Tie)

37. Delaware 82.7 (Tie)

39. Nevada 82.6

40. South Carolina 82.3 (Tie)

40. Florida 82.3 (Tie)

42. Pennsylvania 82.1

43. New Mexico 81.5

44. Connecticut 80.9

45. Hawaii 80.7

46. Maryland 79.5

47. New York 79.4

48. New Jersey 78.6 (Tie)

48. Massachusetts 78.6 (Tie)

50. Washington, D.C. 76.5

51. Rhode Island 75.1

 

[chuyler1]

I've said it once and I'll say it again. Testing drivers once in a lifetime is not adequate. Think about how many accidents can be prevented if we just make people freshen up on their driving knowledge and skills.

Don't forget that these stats are from people who willingly took the survey. The people who would do the worst prolly just threw the thing in the trash.

With all this reform discussion going on in Mass, I think insurance companies should be allowed to use results from such an exam to gauge the risk on a driver. It makes perfect sense. If you don't know the rules of the road, you are more likely to get in an accident.

The stat about driving when it has just started raining is an obvious example. I was hit by someone who got that answer wrong when I was in highschool. I was stopped on a down sloping main road with my blinker on waiting to take a left turn. It had just started raining. A geo came up behind me (also planning to take a left) and skidded right under my Dad's truck and totaled his car. Opps.

 

[Kansei]

We need a lot of reform in our licensing system in this country. I think to renew your license you should have to take a written test. I really just assume other people know the rules of the road, which is clearly a pretty dangerous assumption.

An quick vision test and an on road driving test needs to be required for all elderly people (no offense to any on here, but it is for your own good and the safety of all people on the road). If you are losing your ability to be a safe driver you should have your license taken away, plan and simple. Driving isn't a right.

And the pathetic driving test required to initially get a license really needs to be beefed up. I just had to drive from the driving school where I took driver's ed (in CT taking drivers ed lets you get your license 2 months earlier) to the nearby (2 miles away) mall in the city, and then drive back, parallel parking on the way back. It was way too easy.

 

[snowblazin]

Rhode Island FTW! It's true, worst drivers in america, I'm continually amazed day in and day out. (first)

 

[jophus14]

Illinois-22nd, WHAT? Obviously they didn't survey Orland Park. It's the central meeting grounds for all the retarded drivers

 

[Hughes412]

HAHA the so call hillbilly states (Tennessee, Texas and Kentucky ) out ranked the want to be know it all states! BEEEAATCHES!

 

[chuyler1]

I'm sure...but imagine if your whole state was like that **cough cough** Rhode Island **cough cough**. Mass is governed by its own set of unwritten laws. If you stopped for someone on a crosswalk you would get a) flipped off by a driver b) screamed at c) rear ended by a taxi driver using both feet to drive and d) you would be an eye witness to a hit and run as the driver in the lane next to you runs down the pedistrian you stopped for. Moral of the story. Don't stop moving, keep your foot on the gas, and only use the brake when absolutely necessary.

 

[Hughes412]

Seriously though, I think we need to look at our senior drivers. We get a lot of wrecks here because these so called sunday drivers that want to do 40 in the fast lane or they are to scared to cross the lane.

 

[JZProwler]

And the pathetic driving test required to initially get a license really needs to be beefed up. I just had to drive from the driving school where I took driver's ed (in CT taking drivers ed lets you get your license 2 months earlier) to the nearby (2 miles away) mall in the city, and then drive back, parallel parking on the way back. It was way too easy.

So true. My drivers ed class was a joke. We'd just make fun of the guy the whole time, in our tables. There was probably 30 of us in a class.

When it was my turn to do the driving portion, i was a little nervous, but the guy had me go about 3/4 mile down the road, back into a spot, then go back to the place. It was such a waste of time.

 

[Crazee D]

One word....ROTARYs

and I u know I don't mean the Wankel kind!

 

[snowblazin]

One word....ROTARYs

and I u know I don't mean the Wankel kind!

Yea man, RI has some bad ass drivers but Mass is the king of ****** up roadways. Rotarys blow!

 

[JZProwler]

Haha, yea, some people just dont get the whole idea behind them. I have a few around me, in CT, and maybe one or two that I have nearby here in MA. Sometimes you get to them with people that know what their doing, and its not big deal, but more often then not your stuck with complete idiots. gah.

 

[Kansei]

HAHA the so call hillbilly states (Tennessee, Texas and Kentucky ) out ranked the want to be know it all states! BEEEAATCHES!

Problem is, you gotta be able to read to do the survey, hence ruling out a ton of people there. BURN!! hahah (first)

 

[chuyler1]

Don't forget, you gotta be a legal resident to get a license, and therefore obtain insurance.

 

[Kansei]

Don't forget, you gotta be a legal resident to get a license, and therefore obtain insurance.

(rofl)

 

[Hughes412]

Problem is, you gotta be able to read to do the survey, hence ruling out a ton of people there. BURN!! hahah (first)

Hey we might have a hard time reading but damit we can count!




With 6 toes it's easier.

 

[Kansei]

Hey we might have a hard time reading but damit we can count!




With 6 toes it's easier.

hahaha

 

[ronin12]

part of the problem I think is the testing, but I also think drivers young and old tkae driving for granted and that it is a right. It is a privilege to be able to drive. They should be more harsh with penalties for breaking the law or driving stupid. I see way too many people tailgating, talking on the cell phone or cutting in and out of traffic, basically not paying attention. You get the young kids driving like they are in the fast and the furious and they don't know how to handle the car. I say that you want to drive like that do it in a controlled setting, set up cameras like they do on the autobahn to get people tailgating or driving in the passing lane when they aren't passing. This may seem harsh but until something severe is done the driving habits will continue.

 

[madcanvis]

Guilty

By association (Mass). If you drive in the Peoples Republic of Cambridge long enough you learn pretty fast about pedestrians. And as for the start of a storm, for some reason that one stuck from driving school. Except when...well it involed a passing lane and a party at UML.

 

[tyler886]

If you live in RI, you'd want to buy a DD for the sole fact of drivers around here. I drove behind an old lady (I think the cop said she was like 75) who side scraped a parked car and continued to drive as if nothing happened. I continued to follow her while calling the cops. Even though she hit a POS car, I'd be pissed if it were mine so I figured I'd call. Red lights dont mean much to most Rhode Islanders and the "RI roll" continues to get worse and worse at stop signs.

-Tyler