Best informed drivers are in the Northwest

Oregon and Washington take the number 1 and 2 spots in a state by state survey of driving knowledge. Rhode Island ranks 51st, and other Northeast locations takeup the next bottom 8 spots, with 2 exceptions (Washington D.C. is included in the list, and is ranked 50th). To its credit, Vermont is in 3rd.

I'm as surprised as you are that West Virginia and Mississippi aren't ranked the lowest. WV actually pulls off a respectable 19. Go the Mountain State! Illinois is 22 and most of the top ranks are filled by the vilified midwest, I think. Does Idaho count as the Midwest? When does it become Mountain? Is Mountain just a time zone and not a region of the country? Well, it's rubeville anyway.

Granted driving isn't exactly rocket science. Notice that I phrased the title, "best informed drivers". This is all based on a test of driving knowledge, not on accident records. Driving in a place like DC or NYC is helluva lot harder to do than Boise, so accident rates wouldn't necessarily denote a city of poor drivers per se. But in my highly scientific study, consisting of living in Chicago for 4+ years and taking a couple airport shuttles in Boston, Bostonian drivers are the craziest effin' drivers you'll ever encounter in this country.

If you have a crazy driving story, leave it in the comments.

Here's the article, and here's the list.