America's Worst Drivers

Raise your hand if you think your home state has the worst drivers in America. Now, lower your hands if you don't happen to live in either New York or New Jersey. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that the average driver in your particular state is all that great, regardless of what city you choose to call home. According to this year's GMAC Insurance National Drivers Test, an alarming 20.1% of licensed Americans would not pass a written drivers test exam if taken today.

For what it's worth, those people who couldn't manage to pass the basic driving test amount to roughly 41 million drivers that are currently piloting two-ton weapons of mass destruction on American roads.

Oh, the states that have the smartest drivers? That would be Idaho and Wisconsin, which tied for first place with an average test score of 80.6 percent.

Where are the most knowledgeable drivers in the nation? The following is a complete list of state rankings for the 2009 GMAC Insurance National Drivers Test.

1. ID 17. WA 35. KY
1. WI 19. NM 36. PA
3. MT 20. NC 37. LA
4. KS 21. VA 38. TN
5. SD 22. IN 38. MS
5. NE 22. MI 40. SC
7. UT 24. AR 40. MD
8. WY 24. TX 42. CT
8. IA 26. AL 43. FL
8. OR 26. NV 44. DC
8. MN 28. WV 45. MA
12. AK 29. IL 46. RI
12. ND 30. AZ 47. GA
14. VT 31. ME 48. CA
15. CO 32. DE 49. HI
15. MO 33. NH 50. NJ
17. OK 34. OH 51. NY

The survey, which polled more than 5,000 licensed Americans from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, is designed to gauge driver knowledge by administering 20 actual questions taken from state Department of Motor Vehicles exams.