ATLANTA – Here’s something to think about you’re out on the road: an estimated 38 million Americans would fail a driver’s test if they took it today.
That’s according to the 2010 GMAC Insurance National Drivers Test, which revealed that upwards of 1 in 5 licensed drivers (18.4 percent) would fail the test. The average score of the 5,202 drivers who took the test was 76.2, down from a score of 76.6 in 2009; a 70 percent of below is considered failing, according to GMAC.
“It’s discouraging to see that overall average test scores are lower than last year,” Wade Bontrager, senior vice president of GMAC Insurance, said in a news release. “American drivers need to make safety a top priority and be aware of the rules of the road at all times. The National Drivers Test allows everyone to brush up on their driving knowledge with a brief refresher course.”
The survey found that Kansas had the best drivers and New York drivers ranked last – for the third time in the survey’s six years. New Jersey drivers have nothing to brag about, with 39.9 percent of drivers failing the test; the state ranked second to last.
In a bit of good news, only five percent of the survey’s participants admitted to texting while driving. A number of states, including Georgia, have enacted laws prohibiting drivers from texting while behind the wheel.
Georgia ranked No. 32, and its drivers scored a 76.7 percent. That’s a vast improvement from it’s the No. 47 post the state occupied the previous two years.