Best and worst drivers by state.

[S204STi]

GMAC Survey puts New Jersey at the bottom as having the worst drivers in the country.

"ongratulations, New Jersey drivers! You are officially the worst drivers in the United States!

No, we didn't just pull of the turnpike with this conclusion.  There was a test...

CNN Money explains, "The 2008 GMAC Insurance National Drivers Test found that 16.4%, of drivers, or 33 million, don't know the rules of the road."  The survey asked 5,524 drivers from all 50 states and the District of Columbia a series of "questions derived from official Department of Motor Vehicle tests" to gauge their knowledge of driving laws.  "Among the main sticking points were what to do when approaching a yellow light, and the safe distance to maintain behind another car."

According to a GMAC press release, New Jersey drivers finished 51st in the survey, with an average score of just 69.9 percent.  Almost 37 percent of New Jersey drivers failed the test.  Kansas drivers did the best.  The average score in that state was 84 out of 100, and only 5.7 percent of Kansas drivers failed.  GMAC also notes, "The older the driver, the higher the test score. Drivers 35+ years old were most likely to pass," and, "While average test scores between the genders were similar, women were more likely to fail the test than men (20 percent versus 13 percent).""

The ten lowest-scoring states, according to GMAC:



1. New Jersey

2. Washington, DC

3. New York

4. Massachusetts

5. Georgia

6. Mississippi

7. Hawaii

8. Lousiana

9. West Virginia

10. Maryland

[MX793]

From experience, #s 1, 3 and 4 do not surprise me in the least.

[S204STi]

BTW, there is a link to take the same test: http://www.gmacinsurance.com/SafeDriving/

I got a 90%, missed the ones about passing on the right and how to handle a solid yellow light.  Oh well.

[S204STi]

From experience, #s 1, 3 and 4 do not surprise me in the least.

Colorado was 15 on the list, which is generous. 

[CJ]

Hell yes!  Texas is 18!

[MX793]

I missed the question about the yellow light, though in looking at the online driver's manual for my state just now, my answer was not incorrect.  Though I agree that the "correct" answer on the test was also correct.

[Vinsanity]

GA drivers are much better than Cali drivers; they know how to use the left lane, at least.

[S204STi]

I missed the question about the yellow light, though in looking at the online driver's manual for my state, my answer was not incorrect.

Yeah, generally I thought that a solid yellow meant to prepare for a red, i.e. slow down and prepare to stop, not stop immediately.

The one about passing on the right... I knew you could pass on the right if there was room and someone was turning left, but I wasn't sure if it was otherwise technically legal to overtake on the right when on a multilane road, just not enforced.  Turns out it's alright after all then?

[NomisR]

95%, missed the flashing yellow light one. 

[Laconian]

WA state, 9th best?

How is that possible when everybody from out of state bitches about our drivers?

[the Teuton]

26. Ohio - Understandable.

36. Pennsylvania - 

[NomisR]

WA state, 9th best?

How is that possible when everybody from out of state bitches about our drivers?

Well, they do obey the speed limit..

[S204STi]

WA state, 9th best?

How is that possible when everybody from out of state bitches about our drivers?

The only thing I've noticed about "your" drivers is that they tend to camp the left lane, but then again do does everyone else in nearly every other state.

[Raza]

From experience, #s 1, 3 and 4 do not surprise me in the least.

I've never been to 4, but passing through 2 was almost worse than a day of driving in 1.

[dazzleman]

So I guess there's some truth to the old joke about New Jersey drivers.  It's good to see a semi-scientific study that confirms what a lot of people already think.

[Tave]

AhHAHAHAHA! #2 bitches

WA state, 9th best?

9th? That's fucking horrible. You should be ashamed of yourself.

Hell yes!  Texas is 18!

I'd slit my wrists if I were 18. How do you sleep at night?

[BENZ BOY15]

I have never seen such aggressive driving as I did in Boston. I thought New York was bad...unitl I visited my dad's friends in Andover. The drivers in Boston where the absolute worst I've ever seen. People don't just cut you off, they practically merge right into you and force you to move.

It was insane.

I know I'm not the one to talk about bad driving, but damn. MA drivers were awful. Here in Cali, people just drive fast. Make that SoKal. Here in the Bay Area, everyone drives pretty slow. In L.A/O.C, if there's no traffic, it's Nascar. Through O.C on the toll road or I-5 from the power plant north through Torrance on the 405 has the fastest drivers I've seen anywhere. 85 is the speed of traffic. haha

[dazzleman]

I have never seen such aggressive driving as I did in Boston. I thought New York was bad...unitl I visited my dad's friends in Andover. The drivers in Boston where the absolute worst I've ever seen. People don't just cut you off, they practically merge right into you and force you to move.

It was insane.

I know I'm not the one to talk about bad driving, but damn. MA drivers were awful. Here in Cali, people just drive fast. Make that SoKal. Here in the Bay Area, everyone drives pretty slow. In L.A/O.C, if there's no traffic, it's Nascar. Through O.C on the toll road or I-5 from the power plant north through Torrance on the 405 has the fastest drivers I've seen anywhere. 85 is the speed of traffic. haha

Interesting.  I never found Boston drivers to be any worse than anyplace else, but I don't drive in Boston that much.  I've generally parked the car on the perimeter and gotten around on foot.

I have to say BenzBoy, you probably single-handedly brought California down a few spots in the rankings with your ditzy chick style of driving.....

[sandertheshark]

I called 1-5.  I'm surprised California didn't make the top ten, though.  (Or, bottom ten rather)

[Vinsanity]

Here in Cali, people just drive fast. Make that SoKal. Here in the Bay Area, everyone drives pretty slow. In L.A/O.C, if there's no traffic, it's Nascar. Through O.C on the toll road or I-5 from the power plant north through Torrance on the 405 has the fastest drivers I've seen anywhere. 85 is the speed of traffic. haha

Exaggerate much? Most of the time, I'm just sneaking past the flow of traffic at 75. Norcal drivers are just annoyingly slow; they'll barely peek above the speed limit. Lame.

Then again, I'm not fortunate enough to be out on the freeway when noone else is, during daylight hours. But even late at night, the few cars on the freeway aren't really going that fast

[AutobahnSHO]

GA drivers are much better than Cali drivers; they know how to use the left lane, at least.

But I missed the first one, about the pedestrian..   

[Vinsanity]

 

But I missed the first one, about the pedestrian..  

I've never encountered the nuisance of being stuck behind two cars taking up both lanes doing the speed limit on a Georgia highway.

[280Z Turbo]

 

But I missed the first one, about the pedestrian..  

I'll bet Raza got that one wrong.

[ifcar]

95 percent. I didn't know what they officially would consider a safe following distance and erred too much on the side of caution. I guess if I'd thought about it more I'd have gotten it.

[dazzleman]

85%

[Eye of the Tiger]

That's funny, because a couple years ago, Massachusetts (#4 here) was the statistically the safest state to drive in.

[Eye of the Tiger]

95%

I got the one wrong about passing on the right. Bullshit, asshole.

[Rupert]

95%

I got the one wrong about passing on the right. Bullshit, asshole.

Twice ditto. Actually, thrice. It is bullshit.

[ifcar]

Maryland state law allows passing on the right.

[rohan]

95 percent. I didn't know what they officially would consider a safe following distance and erred too much on the side of caution. I guess if I'd thought about it more I'd have gotten it.

Yeah- I missed that one to 3 seconds isn't enough time to be "safe" in most cases.  Maybe in areas where speed limits are lower but certainly not where it's 55 or higher.