Most drivers assume they’re great behind the wheel. But we’ve all seen enough speeding, swerving and just downright questionable behavior on the road to realize some people are deluding themselves.
“Public polls show that most Americans think they are above-average drivers, which technically is impossible,” says Jonathan Adkins, executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association. “When we overestimate our skill level, we put not only ourselves, but others on the road at risk.”
You can avoid tickets and fender benders (or worse!) by honestly assessing your driving ability. If it has been a while since you’ve dusted off your driver’s ed manual, take our quiz to see if your skills are still up to par or if it’s time for a defensive driving course to sharpen your skills.
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By Julie Russell
Julie Guin says,
It’s actually not technically impossible for most people to be above average. You’re conflating average with median. Let’s say we gave 5 people a score from 1-10, 10 being the best, on their driving skills. The scores are 1, 5, 5, 6, and 7. The average of those numbers is 4.8, and 80% of those scores are higher than that. Given that it certainly feels like it’s a small subset of bad drivers that make the roads dangerous for everyone, it actually is totally possible, and maybe even likely, that 80% of people are better than the average driver.