Should you be driving?

[wayfriend]

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- About one in six U.S. drivers wouldn't be able to pass a written driving test if they took it today, according to a new study.

The 2008 GMAC Insurance National Drivers Test found that 16.4%, of drivers, or 33 million, don't know the rules of the road.

Overall, the national average score grew slightly to 78.1% from 77.1% in 2007, but scores varied based on driver demographic and geography.

The study found that drivers over the age of 35 were more likely to pass, and women were more likely to fail than men.

Drivers in the Northeast continued to have the lowest scores and the highest failure rates, with New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and the District of Columbia maintaining their three-year streak in the bottom five rankings. Drivers from the Midwest had the highest scores and the lowest failure rate, with Kansas taking the top spot this year from Idaho. [link]

Here's a test which shows if you're a menace, or if the idiots you share the road with deserve your rage. Take the test.

I got 85%.

[aTOMiC]

I got 85%

[Menolly]

I also got an 85%.
As a former driver license examiner, I protest two of the three answers I got wrong, but I will admit it is possible rules may have changed in the two decades since I worked as one.

But, I doubt it.

[Sorus]

I got 80%, which isn't bad considering that I do not have a license and have never taken a formal test.

Knowing what drivers should be doing is a survival skill of sorts, especially in the city where I work. Though it is not always helpful, notably at the three-way stop where everyone assumes that since everyone else is stopping they don't have to.

[Cail]

100%, but I'm both a car and a motorcycle guy, so I keep up on this stuff.

[Nathan]

I got 60% but I'm not from the USA and don't know all your crazy crazy rules!

[dlbpharmd]

85%

[CovenantJr]

I got 60% but I'm not from the USA and don't know all your crazy crazy rules!

Heh. I started taking it, but after I read a third question that referred to something we don't have here, I gave up. Plus, our rules about pedestrians crossing are different.

[Waddley]

90% babies!

I'm a good drivist (except when I rear end people...)

[Sheol]

I got a 90 but it wasn't fair. Im from Wyoming and 3 seconds behind somebody is too close out here. I guess it is wrong to be too safe.

[lucimay]

um hm...i said more than 3 seconds too!! plus i said high beams in fog.
why do you use low beams in fog? also got dinged cause i only picked
one of the answers for that question that said both answers were correct.
AND i said 50 feet instead of 100 feet for the turn signal. hee. i'm not too good on measurements but i always put on the turn signal pretty far in advance.
so i only got 70% but...actually, i'm a pretty good driver.

[Menolly]

plus i said high beams in fog.
why do you use low beams in fog?

I think I can answer this one.

Fog consists of water molecules. Both fog lights and high beams are reflected back at you by said molecules, thus hindering your view. Low beams have less reflection back at you, so you see better with them.

...I think...

[The Laughing Man]

yea, that and low beams shine on the road, and not on the fog......

[sgt.null]

Your Score: 65%

good thing i don't drive

[balon!]

75% Not bad for a bicycle commuter!

[CovenantJr]

plus i said high beams in fog.
why do you use low beams in fog?

I think I can answer this one.

Fog consists of water molecules. Both fog lights and high beams are reflected back at you by said molecules, thus hindering your view. Low beams have less reflection back at you, so you see better with them.

...I think...

Yeah, that's more or less what my instructor said when I asked him.

[CovenantJr]

Well, I decided to take the test anyway, just as a matter of curiosity. I scored 60, which is to be expected when 9 of the questions were pure guesswork (referring to things we don't have here) and another four or five were educated guesses.

[Damelon]

I got 90%.

One I missed, I had right and changed my mind because I thought it was a trick question.

[drew]

90.

Had to use common sense for a couple, as the laws in US and Canada are slightly different on the road.

For example; in Canada, headlights or Daytime running lights are required, in ALL weather conditions.

And Sheol...3 seconds in a good following distance...ten seconds is PRETTY far away.

[stonemaybe]

Your Score: 65%

good thing i don't drive

Ditto! Good thing I don't drive too but seeing as I didn't understand half the (US) questions, I was quite pleased with that!