I only missed one and it was a dumb question!

20/20 and if anyone on here is NOT, don't drive in my state!
Good test though. I thought it would be a joke test of like 5 questions.
rated

Ok Sally, I just noticed you missed one and I bet it was the one about approaching the yellow light, am I right? That one I had to read twice.

20/20. Everyone should have to take this test annually. It's a good review no matter how much driving you do.

Argh! I got 16 out of 20 (test said "Pretty Good"). I should have gotten more but some of them fooled me because I tend to be overcautious (re: following distance).

I'm making my son take that test. Heehee!

darn, I missed one. Although I think my answer was pretty good.

Now, as far as all those unsafe driving states, what's with the Northeast? Sheesh.

I got 16 of 20. I answered a couple on the side of over-cautiousness and got them wrong. Pretty good!

I got 15, but (there's always a "but", right?), there were two of them that I knew when I hit "Submit" that I was going to be wrong, so I'm only counting those as half wrong.

I've never had a moving violation and I've never been in any type of accident. But then, I only drive about 60 miles a week.

So, I think you are all safe with me on the road!

Steve I think those tests don't represent which states have the "best" drivers, they represent states that have the least accidents per capita and the less congested an area, the fewer accidents. The Northeast is quite populated. You could drive blind folded through the Dakotas and never hit anything in the summer.

Blue, I had to look at the yellow light one twice myself. But I got it right. I missed the one Bill missed... following distance.

Walter, I agree. Did you know that in FL when a person turns 80 and then 90, he/she has to retake a field driving test and the written one. My dad passed and bought himself a new car. But he stays off I 95.

Bill, I tend to be over-cautious except when I'm spee... um, driving a bit fast.

Steve, I don't like that the Northeast is so dumb but maybe more urban an less educated? Don't everybody yell at me, there's logic and there's prejudice, not to be confused with each other, especially coming from me.

Somyr, you're in the danger group so I'd rather see your score lower due to over-cautiousness!

According to this test I'm a mediocre driver but to be fair I haven't driven in about a year, plus I had Zipcar which you can't get if you've had any accidents or citations in the past three years, which I didn't before I got zipcar. I don't have zc anymore because my license expired, but now I know to review the drivers manual before I go to get renewed so thanks.

BTW, a lot of my friends here and people who have visited from out of state in OR think we have the rudest drivers and we probably do.

Jeanette, glad to know we--and you--are safe out there.

latethink, I wondered about OR's good numbers. Maybe drivers are rude because all that rain makes y'all cranky? Just guessing.

I got all 20 correct...and I live in Kansas. If Kansas drivers are good, I hate to think how bad they are in other states. There an intersection near my house that at least 1 in 4 times I'm there, someone runs the red light. I drive a lot and it's *all* about defensive driving for me.

I got 20, but I guessed on 17, against my first impression and ended up being right about the solid yellow light. I think their correct answer is wrong though, a solid yellow light has always meant to me to that you should be prepared to stop...*not* stop and then proceed. You stop on red, flashing red, you slow down and proceed on flashing yellow, same with solid yellow. Slow down and be prepared to stop.

17 erring on the side of caution. I can live with that. I drive an itty bitty Miata in the land of giant bloody HumVees. It tends to shade my thinking.

Following closely: this should really be one car length for every ten miles per hour. This works out to roughly works out to the one second rule SO if you're going fifty there should five seconds between you and the next car.

bbd - If the light is yellow and about to turn red, you should stop if you can safely, meaning if it is yellow as you approach as opposed to turning yellow at the moment you reach the intersection.

You guys are doing great talking amongst yourselves but there's a cop coming up behind you, flashers rolling, megaphone blaring:

YOU UP THERE! PULL OVER! YOU FORGOT TO RATE!!

Suzn, yeah, I see that point. But if I'm completely within the intersection and the light is still yellow, and it was safe to do so, it's not a violation, and a stop is not required. At least in this state, other states may be different.

Ablonde, we probably got our licenses at the same time, I remember that too. The 2 second rule automatically increases the distance between cars because the time is not the variable in the equation, your speed is the variable.

I passed! But I don't own a car, so it doesn't matter, I guess. I'm surprised that Wisconsin (my state) is the second from the top--we are somewhere near the top in terms of DUIs and DWIs, too. We may be some of the "best" drivers, but we're also among the drunkest.

Sally, I disagree with your northeast theory - I think they tend to be more educated up there than in say, Any Dakota. I used to love driving in Boston because it felt like you could just let the traffic take the car. Made driving easy. And it didn't matter where the traffic took you because they don't seem to believe in street signs in New England.

So my kids learned to drive in the DC suburbs. One of them, the one who learned more from her father than from me, yelled at me one day when I was driving on the frigging beltway for leaving too much space between my car and the one in front of us because it was rude. If I didn't leave so much space more cars could fit on the road. Yeah, we did some remedial work.

And of course I got them all right. I'm just that old.

getting scared not to rate

bbd, I think the point is that if you are *approaching* the intersection and you can safely stop that you should...rather than speeding up and busting through in the nick of time. Going through on yellow is not a violation here either. I think it more of a thing of being able to be completely clear of the intersection before it turns red.

Actually I read in the Oregonian years ago that the weather here contributed to a typical mindset of Oregonians which included a high level of xenophobia. That is weird because OR is supposed to be so progressive. In some ways we are, but the state is full of all different kinds of people, most of whom can't stand each other.

I missed one. Drive carefully and have a great weekend!

I always thought the yellow light meant speed up and drive like hell, the light's about to turn red.

I almost got wiped out at least twice a week at a yield intersection where people didn't think that yield means stop!

I've been considering a post on Florida drivers. I don't give a shit what GMAC thinks, I'll put these YooHoo's up against anyone in a shitty drivers test.
A couple months ago I was following some old fart going fifteen under in the fast lane and when I finally got around him on the right, I looked over and he was driving with his knees and eating a bowl of soup with both hands. True story. And I mean a TRUE story, true story.

Crap! I missed the one about the yellow light.

Ha! Nobody in Buenos Aires would have a license if they implemented that test here... no kidding, the driving here is terrible. But, the statistics here say that the most responsible drivers are women, not men, because we tend to be more cautious at the wheel.
Kisses.

I missed the following distance one too, because it's different than what we are taught for the test here, which as ablonde said changes based on speed.

The 2009 Top Ten States with the Worst Drivers:
...
7. Massachusetts (not a clue)
...
2. New Jersey (duh)
1. New York (no duh)

Yes, yes, yes. But I'd make Mass. #3. In New England, there's a lot of bad influence from NY and NJ. Notice that NH, ME and VT are not up there with the southern New England states.

The Top Ten States with the Best Drivers:
8. Oregon (all that rain and fewer accidents? ...
1. Wisconsin

IMO, the mellowness factor really plays into this in both places.

I got 17, probably for the same reason that Karin did.

I got 17, probably for the same reason that Karin did.

"Yellow light – The yellow light warns that the signal is changing from green to red. When the red light appears, you may not enter the intersection."
I missed this one on your test. The test answer seems to me to conflict with the answer as published above in the official Illinois state Rules of the Road. That leaves me scoring 19/20 for your test, but if I use the rules that my driving license is based on, I get 20/20. Greg, I propose that I drive south of Bloomington and you get the North. Good diversion from all of the other crap going on. Thanks Sally.

I found the best cure for my bad driving habits was riding a motorcycle for years. If you're at all smart, you become hyper-aware of everything that's going on around you -- especially two or three cars in front. It's the only way to stay alive.

"Multi-tasking" is just plain dumb.

Rated

Not to start a pissing contest -- ah, hell with it, I may not be a better driver than the average woman, but I think I'm better equipped to win a pissing contest ;-).

"White males older than 45 received the highest average score." You say that is pure bull; I say your comment is pure bull -- and not just because I'm a white male older than 45.

First of all, as your post states, statistics are on my side. But even those statistics don't tell the whole story. Most statistics on average drivers rate them without taking into account the number of miles driven per year. Professional drivers, on the other hand, are often rated by their employers on accidents per mile.

I don't have numbers to prove it, but simple observation makes it obvious the average male driver racks-up far more miles than the average female driver. If a man and a woman are in a car, the man will be behind the wheel in the vast majority of cases. I refuse to answer about the ego-driven reasons why that is so on the grounds that it might tend to incriminate me.

While it's true -- again from statistics and observation -- that women,in general, are less aggressive drivers, they are also less experienced based on a average miles per years. And when it comes to driving, there really is no substitute for experience -- as the accident statistics on under-25's make all too plain.

When I was much younger and a lot more foolish, I drove more than 50,000 mostly job-related miles a year. At one point, I accumulated enough points for speeding tickets that I was called in for a license suspension.

The examiner admitted he was puzzled by my record because of all the tickets but no accidents. I explained that because of the nature of my job (and just between us, the nature of me), I was always running behind schedule. But I assured him I was a good driver, that I had to be because at least once a day one of those blue-haired ladies who never got a ticket in her life tried to kill me with some foolish move behind the wheel.

I probably don't have to tell you, he didn't buy it.

To-om, you LOVE starting pissing contests. But you didn't read --or, um, retain-- my reason... I said white males over 45 are gonna compete to get the right answers on the TEST. It's about the test-taking, NOT the driving. Of course you are an excellent driver. and can pee farther than a girl too.

nerd cred, anyone who drives regularly on the frigging DC beltway and lives to tell about it should get a fridding medal!

Michael, I thought FL would be the worst too, but many drivers there do not have licenses or insurance so are under the testing radar.... (don't start on me, people, it's just a fact, right, Mikey Boy?)

B1, glad you're so careful and aware but motorcycles... :::shudder::: You do know what every ER in the country calls motorcycles, right? "Donorcycles." Helmet, leather, take really good care.

Marcela, I've heard about the legendary traffic in BA, worse than Rome, which is worse than Paris, which is worse than Mexico City... all PALE in comparison to Israel.

20/20 horray! I was taught to drive prfessionally at my first job at Mobil Oil. As part of managment training, we had to take a gasoline tanker out on the road. That driving class has paid off over the years.

I am surprised at Massachusetts (my home state). I think Boston driving must bring down the average.

I second Michael's claim that FLORIDA IS THE WORST. I tell newcomers to remember that most of these drivers are immigrants, tourists, drunk tourists, elderly, drunk elderly, or ON THE FREAKIN PHONE! 9 out of 10 WILL slam on their brakes in the far left lane of the highway when they realize they are about to miss their exit. Back up on the highway? No problem! The heat and humidity must disable most blinkers on most cars, because they are never activated. And yes, the far left hand lane IS for driving 55 miles per hour in a 70 MPH zone. I'll be driving into Miami later (if these storms let up) and will play defense all the way!

My dad was an OTR (over the road) trucker all his life, and never had an accident in well over 5 million miles. So I was taught the best. Learning from him was not a pleasant experience, but it worked. He stressed that the most dangerous thing behind the wheel is not speed, but inattention.

One of my pet peeves is drivers who have to look at you when they talk to you. Shut up and drive -- or let me drive, I'm confident enough in what I have to say that I don't need to look at you for affirmation.

When I witness all the "multi-tasking" going on behind the wheel these days, it makes me want to park my car permanently. People who can't walk and chew gum at the same time, for some reason think they can't talk on the cell-phone and drive -- they're very wrong. And don't even get me started about dining while driving, putting on make-up, or god forbid, as I saw one guy doing on I-75 filling out his expense report. And now you can adding texting to that list.

The worst I ever saw -- a driver I would have killed if I'd had a gun in the car -- was a guy in a van heading onto the on-ramp of the mortally dangerous G. Washington Pkwy in DC. Mr Brainless was speeding up to enter the traffic flow and I was right behind him doing the same thing while looking in my mirror to make sure it was safe to follow him -- when he slammed on his brakes and stood me on my nose.

When I caught up with him, I discovered why he did something so incredibly stupid. He had his cell-phone held up to his ear with his left hand while in his right, he was guiding a giant sub to his mouth -- while driving with his forking ELBOWS!! Like I said, if I'd had a gun, I'd a shot him, and no jury would have convicted me.

Folks, if you're gonna drive, drive -- it's probably way more than you can handle.

I, myself, am an excellent driver, as you well know.

If you are a pedestrian, do yourself a favor and do not walk out in front of me, you'll be a gonner for sure!

That's classic that speeding isn't on the list! Ha...though, of course, living in an elderly community (during the winter), driving under the speed limit can be just as hazardous.

The way most people drive drives me crazy. Most people are so careless and just plain stupid. Most people are in general, but behind a wheel, the stakes are so much higher.

One thing I'm really trying hard not to do is multi-task. No, I don't talk on my cellphone but I'll suddenly say, "Did I bring my wallet?" then I'm digging through my pocketbook One time, a few months ago, I did that and missed an accident by a hair. Very frightening. I would have been hit head on, going 60 mph. Just like my cop blog, shit happens suddenly in a car. It requires 100% attention.

I'm not taking the test right now but coming by to say hi and that it's a good addition to our weekend. Driving during holiday time is especially stressful. And I'd add that Miami drivers are far worse than NYC drivers, IMHO. And just got back from Panama. Omigod.

I missed two but I can drive better with my eyes closed than most people in Florida. Sometimes, I do.

Don't they have a special version of the test for Boston drivers?

Maddie, don't even take the test, k. It'll just make you sad and more nervous behind the wheel.

jane, thanks for getting my main point here and saying it so succinctly: "a nice post to remind everyone to chill out. and ALWAYS expect the other person to screw up."

MAWB, where do you live again? Just making sure I'm not in your way.

Beth, I can see you driving and it's not pretty. Remember, you're a Winner, you live in the Dumbest Driver State.

Lea, don't take the test, they've changed it since we got our licenses. We are far more cautious. Welcome home!

Cartrish, you and me both.

Coyote, they have a Boston and a Chappaquiddick version....

I only missed the following one. I wasn't really getting the seconds thing and put 20 seconds rather than 2. (I took the quiz then finished reading your post - you give the answer in it.)

I think I did this as my pet peeve is tailgaters. I think the concept of "braking distance" is too little taught these days in driver's ed compared to when I took it...!

Are people that bleeping stupid that they don't realize they need to yield on a left turn or look over their shoulders when they back up?

If they are, it is proof that natural selection has been removed from the human race. We are going to end up with Planet of the Apes. Natural selection is killing off stupid apes but it's not killing stupid humans anymore. At some point, the average IQ is going to cross.

OK, I just read comments! I see others missed the following question because we do it the way we were taught in driver's ed - one car length for every 10 MPH you're driving. Now that makes sense. The 2 second thing doesn't to me, and I've never heard it put that way before. I do the car lengths thingie and I am a safe driver.

Also, as others said - a solid (not just starting to change) yellow light before you hit the intersection means you should stop if it's safe (it may not be, including if some yahoo is tailgating you). Yes, you can probably still make it thru the intersection LEGALLY but that is not what the quiz is about. It's about safety. We were all taught that if the light is already yellow as you approach the intersection, you should stop.

BTW, I knew someone who got a ticket for the specific act (noted on ticket) of going thru a YELLOW light at an intersection. Cops apparently have the discretion to do that. You've been warned!

19 out of 20. I missed the one on minimum following distance.

At least 13 years ago in Indiana, the driver's ed/license test standard was one car length (measured by YOUR car) per ten mph of speed. Thus, a car length if you were doing 10mph in a parking lot, three car lengths if you were doing 30mph on a city street, seven car lengths for the interstate.

Thus, if you were driving a Chevy Suburban, you would need to keep more distance ftom the car ahead of you than if you were driving a Geo Metro. Which makes sense, since the Suburban weighs a good deal more and takes longer to stop than the Metro.

Maybe GMAC skewed the results by filtering out the scores from white guys over 45 who drive BMWs, or cars that are red?

I always miss one or two on tests like this (and did this time), and it's always a question with a number in it. "How many seconds . . ." "How many feet . . ." stuff like that. I'm usually 'way too cautious.

(Also, my driver's ed instructor spoke in "car lengths" rather than "seconds" when talking about how close to follow other cars. And it was situational.)

I got 16. So much for the white males over 45 thing!! I, too, drive in PA. I have to say I'm not surprised by our ranking. Hopefully, I'm not one of the contributors. Rated

Yippee! This is the only test in which Oklahoma does not rank in the bottom ten states.