Driving with the illiterati
36 million drivers would flunk drivers tests
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. [snip]
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 to signal. [snip]
The following state rankings were released for the 2007 GMAC Insurance National Drivers Test:
- 1. Idaho.
- 2. Alaska
- 21.Vermont
- 36. Maine
- 37. New Hampshire
- 40. Connecticut
- 46. Pennsylvania
- 47. Rhode Island
- 48. Massachusetts
- 48. New Jersey
- 51. New York
After analyzing the article, before glancing at the list, I thought population was the key. That would place Wyoming first and Vermont second. Not so.
Perhaps, I reflected, the political belief system of the states held a clue. That appears to work for the bottom states, but didn’t vindicate Wisconsin at 4, Washington at 6, Oregon at 9 or Iowa at 10.
Given that the 2007 failure rate doubled to 18% from 2006, a reason exists. Combining both posits advances one conclusion.
I’ll let the reader ponder the possibilities for others.
Archived in: Alaska, Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, WisconsinNovember 17, 2007 at 9:40 am | Trackback
9 comments
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[…] New England Republican wrote an interesting post today on Driving with the illiteratiHere’s a quick excerpt 36 million drivers would flunk drivers tests Is it just your imagination, or do many of your fellow motorists lack even a rudimentary grasp of traffic laws? 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 dumm […]
Of course “they” want to standardize drivers’ testing now, probably at the Federal level, to equalize the states.
I’ve never thought that road idiocy was due to lack of testing or ignorance of the rules. It’s due to deep stupidity, arrogance and character flaws.
On the town roads down here in the lower CT Valley, you’re more likely to be run over by an snarling mother in a Merc or Lexus, rushing Caitlin and Evan to school, than by a septuagenarian in a pickup truck. The latter learned to fifty years ago, the former just believes that the world belongs to her.
How you behave on the road is just an extension of your general attitude towards life.
Tiffany in her Passport is just rude, but still lethal. How about the functional illiterates who have licenses who had some one else take the written exam for them? This I’ve seen.
I had some young fool pull up to the next to me in White Plains, NY and ask if he could park there. A pole full of signs promised everything except death for so doing. I smiled and said yeah, but only for a half hour. He did! I left!
If one cannot read the signs, cannot pass the written test, they should be removed from the road and their license stuffed up their nose.
Vermont treats DLS as a misdemeanor, two days jail mandatory first offense. A hard swat in the face with the flat side of a canoe paddle seems more condign. Also more likely to prevent recidivism.
I’m quite sensitive to the plight of the stupid. For whom “Walk/Don’t Walk” is beyond comprehension, it suffices to tell them the red pedestrian pictograph means RUN!
You’re right. A little reflection on my hours spent in MVD lines with lowbrows - literally LOWBROWS of the supraorbital ridge kind - moving sideways like J. Fred Muggs, getting their commercial licenses and badges and school bus permits, says you’re right. They tend to evolve themselves out of the breeding population, but they take some of their superiors with them when they do.
Sometimes I think Hobson is Commish of Motor Vehicles.
[…] NE Republican I found this interesting story from AOL via CNN: Well, if a test administered by GMAC Insurance is […]
He is. Educated by matchbook, hired by lottery.