Finally revealed: Which state has the dumbest drivers?

TruBlueCowboy

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If you've ever moved to a new state and sworn to yourself that the people there don't know how to freaking drive, you may be right! :) If you'd like to see the full list, scroll down to the bottom of this post which covers all the continental states and D.C. listed from highest scores to lowest scores. Looks like Oregon and Washington have the most knowledgeable drivers. If any of you live in Rhode Island, you might as well start writing your will now. Texas is in the bottom half. Somehow, I knew my current state (Florida) would be at the bottom. I always joke that Floridians don't know how to vote, don't know how to drive, and don't know how to prepare for hurricanes. (This pisses off the locals. :D )

http://www.cnn.com/2005/AUTOS/05/26/drivers_study/index.html

Test shows 1 in 10 licensed U.S. drivers don't know basic rules. In the East, 20 percent fail quiz.
May 27, 2005; Posted: 3:17 p.m. EDT (1917 GMT)

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.

Drivers in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic states did worst. Twenty percent of test-takers failed there.

The state of Rhode Island leads the nation in driver cluelessness, according to the survey. The average test score there was 77, just eight points above a failing grade.

Those in neighboring Massachusetts were second worst and New Jersey, third worst.

Northwestern states had the most knowledgeable drivers. In those states, just one to three percent failed the test. Oregon and Washington drivers knew the rules of the road best. In Oregon, the average test score was 89.

According to the study, many drivers find basic practices, such as merging and interpreting road signs, difficult.

For instance, one out of five drivers doesn't know that a pedestrian in a crosswalk has the right of way, and one out of three drivers speeds up to make a yellow light, even when pedestrians are present, the study said.

Drivers not only lack basic road knowledge, but exhibit dangerous driving behavior as well.

"As a nation of drivers, we've made little progress in the past 10 years to curb some of the most dangerous driving behaviors, including drinking and driving and speeding," said Susan Ferguson, senior vice president of research at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

One out of 10 drivers regularly exceeds the speed limit by 11 or more miles per hour, with drivers aged between 18 and 24 years showing the greatest propensity for speeding, the study said.

Speeding increases both the likelihood of an accident and the severity of the crash, the company added, citing research from IIHS.

Younger drivers are the most likely to fail a written driving test while those between the ages of 50 and 64 are the most likely to pass.

http://money.cnn.com/2005/05/27/Autos/test_scores/index.htm

State-by-state scores on driving test

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
 

SuspectCorner

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so i'm behind this kid in a convertible. we're stuck at a light in humble texas and he suddenly flicks a cig butt ten feet in the air, assuming it will fly outside his load. the cig butt promptly obeys newton's law and bounces on the kids bare right arm, then on the ground to his left.

he jolts upright and starts rubbing on his arm - swearing. and i start laughing my arse off behind him. he starts studying his backseat and i yell to him that it landed outside his car. he self-conciously hangs the next left. i continue straight and laughing.

maybe ya just had to be there.
 

Cajuncowboy

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They must be some real stupid people in Alaska because they didn't even make the list. Or did they secede?
 

Chief

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New Mexico beats Texas by .2

:clap2:

It's probably the first time New Mexico has beaten Texas in anything.

We tolerate the Texas drivers here and jump out of the way of their speeding SUVs because of the tourism dollars they bring. Keep it coming.

The biggest problem with New Mexico drivers -- aside from the drinking and driving thing -- is that we don't bother with turn signals. Apparently, it's too much trouble for us to reach over with our free hand and flick the lever.
 

BrAinPaiNt

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West Virginia Top 10 baby. :D

I tell you from living and being in many states, I think the worse drivers I have ever seen were from Ohio.

However they don't hold a candle to those in South Korea.
 

Juke99

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New York. Very proud that we don't have the dumbest.

Nope. Not New York.

The most likely to commit a homicide or run down a pedestrian, on the other hand, we'd win that one hands down.
 

LaTunaNostra

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TruBlueCowboy said:
The state of Rhode Island leads the nation in driver cluelessness, according to the survey. The average test score there was 77, just eight points above a failing grade.

Why am I not surprised? I saw one of my compatriots yesterday applying mascara..ON THE HIGHWAY. No one drives here w/o a cell phone glued to his/her ear. And the call always takes priority.

Now do one on the 'rudest' drivers. We will be at the top there too.
 

Payton34Smith22

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Texas is worse than California?! I was just in Cali earlier this month and those people drive freaking crazy! I literally grew some white hair while driving around over there lol!
 

DallasEast

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Wow! Louisiana isn't dead last? I thought that we finished dead last in everything. :)

Then again, we must have some pretty good drivers since Louisiana has the worst highways in the nation. We have to be good to avoid all the potholes. :(
 

Dayton Cowboy

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BrAinPaiNt said:
West Virginia Top 10 baby. :D

I tell you from living and being in many states, I think the worse drivers I have ever seen were from Ohio.

However they don't hold a candle to those in South Korea.

Speaking as a buckeye...... nothing is worse following some golden age buckeye heading south to florida for the winter.. I dread that time of year, when I inevitably end up driving behind a 'golden buckeye'
 

LeonDixson

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cajuncowboy said:
They must be some real stupid people in Alaska because they didn't even make the list. Or did they secede?
Hawaii isn't listed either. Did they list some state twice?

I guarantee we would win the slowest drivers competition. Drivers are so laid back over here it's unbelievable. I swear if I wasn't leaning halfway out my window yelling "Move yer a**" traffic wouldn't move at all. Of course I've always been a do-good sortta guy so Im glad to help :p:

Actually, the scenery is so beautiful here, it's nice to just enjoy it.
 

BrAinPaiNt

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Dayton_Cowboy said:
Speaking as a buckeye...... nothing is worse following some golden age buckeye heading south to florida for the winter.. I dread that time of year, when I inevitably end up driving behind a 'golden buckeye'


LOL I think half of Ohioians and West Virginians live in Florida or the Carolinas
 

WoodysGirl

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Well, I'm glad Texas is higher than Illinois. My dad is from there and he says I scare him (no female driver jokes, plz), but he scares me much more...

He'll just create a lane, where there isn't one. Two lanes, w/one of them for parking and somehow he still gets between a car turning left and a parked car. Tail gates folks really bad, highway and city streets. And curses like crazy, if he can't get around whatever is preventing him from getting to his destination two secs faster...

I keep telling him my Mom will sue him if I don't get back to Tx safely... :)
 

zorg222

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Rhode Island got the lowest score because there is no room there, in their brains that is, ha ha ha, well that was my least funniest comment ever, anyways if women is a state then that is the worst driving state, no offense, WG :D
 

zorg222

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Juke99 said:
New York. Very proud that we don't have the dumbest.

Nope. Not New York.

The most likely to commit a homicide or run down a pedestrian, on the other hand, we'd win that one hands down.

Maybe you don't have the dumbest drivers, but people on the other hand, you'd win that one hands down:D
 
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