Survey of American's Driving Skills

[LillFilly]

http://autos.aol.com/article/study-driving-test/

I knew it! This explains so much of the Roadkill section!

The results of this study are pretty darn scary!

[Magpie]

Yeah, given that that 20% is the people who don't even know, and knowing what to do (especially when given time to think about it) is vastly different from actually doing it.

[mattm04]

I got a 90. Only #8 You may pass on the right of another vehicle when: and 10. A diamond shaped sign means: I answered wrong.

[Chromatix]

I got 85%. Given that I learned to drive in Britain and live in Finland, and therefore don't know the quirks of American driving rules, that's not bad.

What I got wrong:

- a flashing red traffic light means Stop; I said Yield.

- you should stop for the jaywalking pedestrian; I said to carefully drive around him. (IRL, I would choose whatever seemed most appropriate.)

- you may pass on the right of another vehicle on either of the two circumstances given. I said it was only allowed if the other car was about to turn left - which is the rule over here. A poor question, since both of the more conservative answers are treated as "wrong".

[draggar]

95% (the GMAC one? It didn't tell me which one I got wrong, though).

But - a lot of those vary from state to state.

Here in Florida with a bus - if the road has a median (like most roads) opposing traffic doesn't need to stop (but you should slow down).

Passing on the right when someone is turning left - varies from state to state (I think it's legal in many).

[tropicsgoddess]

They had an article in my area's newspaper about the areas with the worst drivers, no surprise my state (Florida) was on there. There's a particular intersection that I loathe going through because of the sheer idiocy that goes on there, especially during the time it's rush hour.

[draggar]

They had an article in my area's newspaper about the areas with the worst drivers, no surprise my state (Florida) was on there. There's a particular intersection that I loathe going through because of the sheer idiocy that goes on there, especially during the time it's rush hour.

You only go though ONE of those intersections?

I-95 was considered the deadliest stretch of highway in the USA after a 5 year study - something like 1.7 deaths per mile during the study.

As for intersections - Pines and Flamingo is always considered one of the most dangerous intersections in the USA.

As for other bad ones - Broward & Federal, Commercial & Federal, Oakland Park & Federal, 441 & (aw hell, all of them).

The issue with south Florida is that you have drivers from all over the place in the USA and outside the USA plus a lot of "undocumented" drivers who have never taken a driving test or have a valid license, as well as the tourists from all over (worse than the regulars), etc.

I can't think of anyplace I've driven that's worse. Even Mass and NY/NJ wasn't as bad.

[AccountingDrone]

Back in the day [ about 15-20 years ago when we moved to Connecticut] rt 6 between Willimantic and Bolton Notch was supposedly one of the most dangerous stretches of non highway roads in the country, averaging 1 death per mile per year. I vaguely remember it because when I mentioned that was the route I used to commute to work in Hartford my parents were horrified - they read crap like that when the reports hit the newspapers.

[tropicsgoddess]

You only go though ONE of those intersections?

I-95 was considered the deadliest stretch of highway in the USA after a 5 year study - something like 1.7 deaths per mile during the study.

As for intersections - Pines and Flamingo is always considered one of the most dangerous intersections in the USA.

As for other bad ones - Broward & Federal, Commercial & Federal, Oakland Park & Federal, 441 & (aw hell, all of them).

The issue with south Florida is that you have drivers from all over the place in the USA and outside the USA plus a lot of "undocumented" drivers who have never taken a driving test or have a valid license, as well as the tourists from all over (worse than the regulars), etc.

I can't think of anyplace I've driven that's worse. Even Mass and NY/NJ wasn't as bad.

One of the ones you mentioned I go through my work commute..I think you forgot University. Besides the fact that traffic sucks there, half the time there's an accident somewhere.

[fireheart]

I got 60%

[dalesys]

I got 60%

's OK... You've got a roo-bar, right?

[Chromatix]

Around here, the stereotypical bad drivers are the Russians and the Estonians - well, no real surprise there.

I have on occasion had to double-take at a crossing, generally in the city centre rather than the suburbs, and pretty much every time there was a Russian plate on the car. (They're very distinctive, with a tiny flag painted on, even if you can't see any Cyrillic characters.)

The locals aren't perfect, but they tend to be pretty good - it's no accident that Finland produces so many competition drivers. The speed limit within city limits is very low, and trams enforce a certain amount of disciple simply by being totally implacable, which undoubtedly helps.

[fireheart]

's OK... You've got a roo-bar, right?

actually quite a few of those road rules were similar to ones we have down here. I did OK in my test for my learners permit (3 questions wrong)

[Misty]

I got 60%, but it not my fault...I'd had a few beers