PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island drivers got the fourth-worst scores in the nation this year in GMAC Insurance’s annual National Drivers Test, the company said this week.

Ocean State drivers’ scores ranked 47th among the 50 states and Washington, D.C., one spot below 2009. Rhode Island drivers got an average score of 73.8 percent, compared with a national average of 76.2 percent, and 28 percent of the state’s drivers failed outright.

The survey polled 5,202 licensed Americans across the country asking 20 questions taken from Department of Motor Vehicle exams. Questions tested basic driving skills such as the correct action to take when approaching a steady yellow traffic light – a question that eighty-five percent of Americans answered incorrectly.

“It’s discouraging to see that overall average test scores are lower than last year. American drivers need to make safety a top priority and be aware of the rules of the road at all times,” Wade Bontrager, senior vice president of GMAC Insurance, said in a news release.

Kansas drivers did best on the test, with an average score of 82.3 percent, while New Yorkers did worst with an average of 70 percent, which trailed fellow low-scorers New Jersey, Washington, D.C., California and Rhode Island.

GMAC said if a written drivers test were administered nationally today, 38 million licensed Americans would not pass. Drivers in the Northeast had the highest failure rate in the nation, and motorists in large urban areas tended to do worse.

“You have people that drive in an area that’s much more congested, much more fast-paced, and the rules of the road aren’t quite as top of the mind as somebody driving at a little slower pace,” Bontrager told Bloomberg News in an interview.

Additional information is available at gmacinsurance.com.

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