A study by a major car insurer suggests “millions” of American drivers don’t know the rules of the road or how to operate a car safely, and many have “dangerous” everyday driving habits. One in 10, the study says, would fail a state drivers test.
The GMAC Insurance Group came up with those results after administering a 20-question written test to 5,000 licensed drivers ages 16 to 65 nationwide, mimicking the kinds of questions in state licensing tests. Rhode Islanders did worst, with an average score of 77 percent (70 is passing); Massachusetts drivers were second-worst. Oregonians did best, with an average score of 89 percent.
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Nationwide, the study found, half of drivers said they didn’t know how to merge into heavy traffic, and 60 percent said they change lanes on a highway without using a blinker; 17 percent have driven without a rear-view or driver’s side mirror, and one-fifth don’t know that highways are most slippery just when it starts to rain after a dry spell.
The study also found several “dangerous” habits and attitudes: One in three drivers claimed to speed up to make a yellow light, even when pedestrians are in a crosswalk. One in four would roll through a stop sign rather than stop. One in 10 regularly exceed the speed limit by 11 or more miles per hour, and 29 percent said they would knowingly drive while over the legal blood-alcohol limit “if they felt OK.”
GMAC shared the study results with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a nonprofit research group funded by auto insurers. Many of the areas where respondents showed a lack of knowledge or bad habits are also common causes of auto accidents, institute experts said.
For example, the institute has found speeding increases both the likelihood of crashing and the severity of the crashes that do occur. And since 1997, about a third of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers have had a blood alcohol level exceeding the nationwide legal limit of 0.08 percent.
“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 for the institute.
To read more about the study, go to www.gmacinsurance.com.
