NJ drivers score poorly on GMAC driver’s safety survey, P.1

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According to a nationwide survey by GMAC Insurance, New Jersey drivers are among the poorest performers of written drivers tests in the nation. Last year, New Jersey scored last on the survey. Only Washington, D.C. and New York drivers were worse off than New Jersey drivers.

According to sources, the survey consisted of a 20 questions posed to 5,310 licensed drivers from 50 states. The questions were taken from state motor vehicle examinations. While some feel the results of the survey are inaccurate and unfairly characterize New Jersey drivers, others say the survey poses a challenge to drivers to maintain their knowledge of safe driving practices.

According to the results of the survey, one in five licensed drivers is unable to meet the basic requirements for obtaining a driver’s license. New Jersey drivers scored an average of 73.5 percent on the survey, and 31 percent of those surveyed failed by scoring below 70 percent.

According to the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission and AAA, the survey doesn’t accurately characterize New Jersey drivers whose seat-belt use rates are at a 14-year high and whose fatal motor vehicles accidents have declined over the last several years. With New Jersey being one of the most densely populated states in the country, they say, New Jersey drivers are better off than the GMAC Insurance survey would indicate.

According to a spokesman for the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, the survey is a marketing promotion for GMAC, and “very broadly and unfairly” characterizes New Jersey drivers as the least knowledgeable based upon a very small sample of the state’s licensed drivers.

In our next post, we’ll continue looking at this topic

Source: Delaware Online, “NJ ranks among worst in nation on driver’s test,” Larry Higgs, 13 June 2011.