If you’ve spent time behind a slow car in the passing lane on H-1 Freeway, you might have suspected this: A national study released today shows that drivers in Hawaii are the third-worst in the country when it comes to rules-of-the-road knowledge.

The study, conducted by GMAC Insurance Group, ranked New York drivers as the nation’s worst, with New Jersey drivers second and Hawaii drivers third.
A written test of basic road rules was taken by 5,183 drivers, aged 16 and over, from the 50 states and the District of Columbia, according to the study.
The national average for the test was 76.6 percent, with below 70 percent considered failing, said the study.
New York drivers had an average score of 70.5 percent. New Jersey was at 71.5 percent and Hawaii at 72 percent.
Motorists from Idaho and Wisconsin tied for first, with an average score of 80.6 percent.
Applying the test results nationally, 20.1 percent of licensed drivers, or about 41 million motorists, “may be unfit for roads” and wouldn’t pass a written exam if taken today, the study said.
“I promise we’re not trying to pick on New York and New Jersey,” said Wade Bontrager, a GMAC spokesman. “Over the years you do see the worse scores coming from some of the most congested traffic areas every year. And if anywhere is congested, it’s New York.”
The score of drivers with knowledge of basic road rules decreased this year, averaging 76.6 percent to last year’s 78.1 percent, according to the test, which consisted of 20 questions taken from department of motor vehicle tests across the country.
Nationally, only 15 percent of drivers knew the correct answer to what to do at a traffic light with a steady yellow signal — stop if it is safe to do so — according to the study. Almost three of every four drivers couldn’t identify a typical safe following distance to the car in front of them: three seconds.
On the positive side, 98 percent of the test takers knew what to do when an emergency vehicle with flashing lights approaches, what to do when hydroplaning and the meaning of a solid yellow line.
Men averaged 81 percent on the test to 79 percent for women. The exam was taken in March and had a 1.5 percent margin of error.