Del. drivers jump in road test; State improves to 19th in nation in highway knowledge

By Jenny Maher, Delaware State News
DOVER — When approaching a steady yellow traffic light, do you know whether to slow down, stop or speed up?And when traveling behind another car, do you know how much distance to leave?If so, you’re in the minority.More than 80 percent of drivers who took the third annual GMAC Insurance National Drivers Test didn’t know they should stop at a steady yellow light — as long as it’s safe to do so — or that they should leave two seconds of driving distance between their car and the one in front of them.“All Americans need a refresher course when it comes to basic driving rules,” said Gary Kusumi, CEO and president of GMAC Insurance, last week when the results of the test were announced.
Fortunately, Delaware drivers fared a little better on the 20 question exam than those in many other states, earning an average overall score of 77.7 percent, just above the national average of 77.1 percent.The state’s passing score ranked 19th in the nation in driving knowledge, a big improvement from last year’s ranking of 37th.Andrea Summers, spokeswoman for the Delaware Office of Highway Safety and coordinator of the department’s young drivers programs, said she was pleased to see that the state moved up 18 spots in the study.“Obviously I would like to see Delaware in the top five, but given it improved so dramatically from 37th to 19th, I think that’s really great,” she said. “Plus, if you look at such nearby states as Maryland, Washington D.C., Pennsylvania and New Jersey, we’re head and shoulders above them, and we’re above the national average, which is really encouraging news.”New Jersey and Washington D.C. shared the 48th spot in the rankings, while Pennsylvania ranked 46th and Maryland 25th.
New York drivers fared the worst on the test, and Idaho drivers earned their state the top spot.The GMAC test, which can be taken online, includes questions from state Department of Motor Vehicle license exams.Twenty-one percent of Delaware drivers who took the exam failed it.Kurt Gray, director of driver services with AAA Mid-Atlantic, said he wasn’t surprised that many drivers struggled with the test.“What we find in our driver improvement classes is that most drivers think they’re better drivers than what they are,” he said. “They base their driving ability on the number of tickets they have and the number of collisions they’ve been in.”But just because someone has a clean driving record doesn’t mean he or she is an expert on the rules of the road.Mr. Gray and Ms. Summers both stressed the importance of taking a defensive driving course to help reinforce basic driving knowledge.“After driver’s education, most people think that’s it,” Mr. Gray said. “They’re not educated about the need for ongoing driver training.”He said it might be helpful if states required drivers to take followup driving tests in order to keep their license, but admitted that probably wouldn’t be an easy law to pass.Ms. Summers said she thinks the best plan would be to do a better job of promoting defensive driving courses.
“For the most part, we try to educate first rather than legislate,” she said.If drivers take the initiative to reinforce their driving knowledge, Ms. Summers thinks lives could be saved.“If you don’t know the basic rules of the road, you’re more likely to get into a wreck and potentially kill yourself or someone else,” she said. “Nobody thinks it’s going to happen to them. You should get into the car thinking, ‘What can I do to prevent myself from getting into a wreck today?’ You need to have a basic knowledge of the rules of the road to do that.”


source:http://www.newszap.com/articles/2007/05/29/dm/central_delaware/dsn01.txt