For the second year in a row, a major car insurer has ranked Rhode Islanders worst among U.S. drivers for their ignorance of the rules of the road and of basic car safety and for their proclivity to engage in dangerous, even “alarming” behaviors.
The GMAC Insurance Group ranked the 50 states and the District of Columbia after giving a 20-question test to 5,288 licensed drivers ages 16 to 60 and over nationwide. The test, administered by MarketTools, a market research firm, is similar to tests used to award driver’s licenses.
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For the second year in a row, Oregon drivers ranked highest on the test, with an average score of 91 percent (70 percent is the cutoff for most driver’s tests), and Rhode Islanders ranked lowest, with an average score of 75 percent – down from 77 percent last year.
Massachusetts ranked third-worst after D.C.; Connecticut was eighth from the bottom. A color-coded map provided by GMAC Insurance shows that, in general, the Northeast has the worst drivers overall – except for New Hampshire – while drivers in the Pacific Northwest and Midwest did best.
Overall, the GMAC Insurance study estimates that about one in 11 licensed drivers – nearly 18 million people – would fail a state driver’s license test.
It also says many drivers “deliberately disregard pedestrians” – one-third don’t stop for pedestrians even at crosswalks or at a yellow light. Pedestrians account for 11 percent of motor vehicle crash deaths, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
The study also cites a “growing trend” in which “Americans treat driving as a time to catch up” on activities they didn’t get to in their hectic day. Results show that while driving, American drivers engage in a variety of distracting behaviors, including chatting on a cell phone, sending text messages, selecting songs on iPods, applying makeup, changing clothes and reading. Drivers ages 18 to 24 have the most mentions in every situation.
“We need to remember that when we turn the car on, we need to turn the gadgets off,” said Gary Kusumi, CEO and president of GMAC Insurance, Personal Lines. “It is critical that all of us focus on the roads, so that we are better, safer drivers.”
Kusumi also expressed concern about drivers’ lack of knowledge of the rules of the road, which he said “should not be something you learn once when you are 16 years old.”
Among the study’s other findings:
— At least one in five drivers do not know that a pedestrian has the right of way at a marked or unmarked crosswalk.
— Nearly one-quarter of Americans believe there are circumstances in which it’s acceptable to not wear a seat belt.
— One in seven Americans have packed their car so tightly that their vision was obstructed.
— At least one-fifth of drivers do not know when to properly use their high-beam headlights or what to do when bright headlights come at them at night.
— For two years in a row, the question most often answered incorrectly is when highways are most slippery – just when it starts to rain after a dry spell.
“We want to remind everyone that they need to work on their driving skills every day,” Kusumi said. “If we’re all diligent, we can avoid many accidents and stay safe.”
The test can be seen online at www.gmacinsurance.com. The site also provides additional resources such as tips to stay safe on the road and the most common accident causes.
