BY LINDA BENTLEY | jUNE 22, 2011
Sixty percent of Arizonans can’t pass driving test
PHOENIX – In May 2010, GMAC Insurance (now ALLY), which began conducting its National Drivers Test survey in 2004, reported 20 percent of Americans could not pass the written test required for a driver license.
The survey polled 5,202 licensed drivers from 50 states and the District of Columbia, presenting 20 questions culled from various motor vehicle division exams.
Arizona did better than simple one-upmanship; it has triple the national failure rate.
According to the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT), the failure rate of those taking Arizona’s 30-question, multiple-choice exam is close to 60 percent, citing out of the 190,000 or so who took the written test between July 1, 2010 and April 30, 2011, only about 77,000 passed (40.5 percent).
In an effort to boost the passage rate of those taking the written test to obtain an Arizona driver license, ADOT Motor Vehicle Division, in addition to the driver’s manual, has posted a practice test online (www. azdot.gov/mvd/driver/PracticeTestInfo.asp).
The 2010 GMAC report also noted, for those who passed, scores dropped slightly from the prior year, with the average passing grade at 76.2 percent.
Those receiving less than a score of 70 percent were considered to have failed.
The report also found 85 percent of those surveyed could not correctly answer what action to take when approaching a yellow traffic light, while 73 percent did not know what constituted a safe following distance.
