1 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:07,120 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from how stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:10,280 Speaker 1: Lauren Vogel bomb here. If you drive a car, or 3 00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:14,080 Speaker 1: sometimes take cabs or lifts, or have ever been around cars, 4 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:17,200 Speaker 1: you've likely had at least a few frustrating or scary 5 00:00:17,239 --> 00:00:21,599 Speaker 1: experiences with really bad drivers. You know, erratic merging or 6 00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:25,240 Speaker 1: u turns, or casual disrespect for stop signs, speed limits 7 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:30,080 Speaker 1: or pedestrian right of way, or perhaps not disrespect but ignorance. 8 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:34,680 Speaker 1: Of study conducted by GMAC Insurance, nearly one in five 9 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:37,160 Speaker 1: drivers weren't able to pass a written test of basic 10 00:00:37,240 --> 00:00:40,880 Speaker 1: driving knowledge, the sort that license applicants take. But even 11 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:43,960 Speaker 1: though most people passed, there were some glaring gaps in 12 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:48,080 Speaker 1: critical areas. Of those tested, for example, couldn't name the 13 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:50,560 Speaker 1: correct thing to do when approaching a yellow traffic light, 14 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:52,800 Speaker 1: and only one in four knew how to calculate the 15 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:55,640 Speaker 1: safe distance for following a vehicle. And see the article 16 00:00:55,760 --> 00:00:57,440 Speaker 1: version of this story at how stuff works dot com 17 00:00:57,480 --> 00:01:01,640 Speaker 1: if you want to quiz yourself or acquiring experienced motorists 18 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:04,720 Speaker 1: to regularly demonstrate their competence isn't something that's ever been 19 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:07,640 Speaker 1: conducted on a widespread basis in the US, where some 20 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:10,160 Speaker 1: states didn't even require novice drivers to pass a road 21 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:14,000 Speaker 1: test until the nineteen fifties. Only one state, Illinois, has 22 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:17,319 Speaker 1: a law mandating road skills tests for licensed renewals, and 23 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:19,880 Speaker 1: that's only for motorists who have reached age seventy five. 24 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:23,440 Speaker 1: New Hampshire once had a similar age related testing requirement, 25 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:27,880 Speaker 1: but repealed it. In Pennsylvania randomly selects a small sample 26 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:30,759 Speaker 1: of the states forty five and older drivers and requires 27 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:33,720 Speaker 1: them to undergo additional medical and vision exams. Based on 28 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:35,839 Speaker 1: those results, they might have to take a driving test 29 00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:40,080 Speaker 1: as well. Additionally, a handful of other states Iowa, Missouri, Michigan, 30 00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:43,880 Speaker 1: and California, allow officials to selectively require road tests for 31 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:48,400 Speaker 1: license holders whom they have reason to believe might be unsafe. 32 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:52,120 Speaker 1: We spoke via email with Andrea Henry, director of Strategic 33 00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:55,880 Speaker 1: Communications and Policy for the Iowa Department of Transportation. She 34 00:01:56,040 --> 00:01:59,480 Speaker 1: explained that in her state, quote drivers with valid licenses 35 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:02,920 Speaker 1: maybe to demonstrate their driving ability prior to renewal due 36 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:06,360 Speaker 1: to changes in their health. This includes physical and mobility conditions, 37 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:10,840 Speaker 1: as well as produced vision and cognitive issues. While data 38 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:14,160 Speaker 1: on how many retests are conducted wasn't available, most of 39 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:17,400 Speaker 1: those drivers end up getting renewals anyway, though many have 40 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:20,520 Speaker 1: restricted privileges such as a lower personal speed limit or 41 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:26,720 Speaker 1: daytime driving. Only one obvious problem with regularly retesting experience drivers, 42 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:29,040 Speaker 1: who numbered around two hundred and ten million in two 43 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:31,600 Speaker 1: thousand nine, the most recent year for which Federal Highway 44 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:34,560 Speaker 1: Administration data was available, is that they'd have to get 45 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:37,600 Speaker 1: in line with all of those first time applicants. That 46 00:02:37,639 --> 00:02:40,519 Speaker 1: would create even longer lines of testing stations that already 47 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:43,440 Speaker 1: have their hands full coping with nervous adolescents struggling to 48 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:46,840 Speaker 1: perform complex maneuvers like the dreaded reverse two point turnabout 49 00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:50,280 Speaker 1: without hitting those little yellow cones. A lot of those 50 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 1: youthful license applicants end up coming back for retests themselves. 51 00:02:53,919 --> 00:02:57,120 Speaker 1: As of twenty eleven, in California, for example, forty two 52 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:00,080 Speaker 1: point seven percent of applicants flunked the knowledge test a 53 00:03:00,919 --> 00:03:03,880 Speaker 1: bombed out on the skills test. The worst knowledge test 54 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:06,359 Speaker 1: performance was in Missouri, with a sixty one point four 55 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:09,320 Speaker 1: percent failure rate, while mains would be motorists did the 56 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:13,880 Speaker 1: worst in driving skills with not making the grade. In 57 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:16,280 Speaker 1: the US generally has driving tests that are a lot 58 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:18,280 Speaker 1: easier than the ones used by the rest of the world. 59 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:21,760 Speaker 1: In the Canadian province of British Columbia, for example, would 60 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:24,320 Speaker 1: be drivers have to undergo forty five minutes of testing 61 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:27,440 Speaker 1: on several different types of road, and also must verbally 62 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:30,919 Speaker 1: describe what specific road hazards are immediately beside their vehicles, 63 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:34,400 Speaker 1: one block ahead and also behind them to test their awareness. 64 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:37,880 Speaker 1: There isn't a lot of evidence that additional testing over 65 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:42,000 Speaker 1: the years necessarily would improve safety on the roads, As 66 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:45,560 Speaker 1: the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety explains, studies have yielded 67 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:48,920 Speaker 1: conflicting results on the question of whether age restrictions reduced 68 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:51,720 Speaker 1: the rate of crashes. In Illinois, they did, but in 69 00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:55,240 Speaker 1: New Hampshire they didn't. The rate of injury causing crashes 70 00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 1: per one hundred million miles driven actually is highest among 71 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:01,560 Speaker 1: teenage drivers, and then decrease and levels out for decades 72 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:04,400 Speaker 1: before starting to rise again slightly among people in their 73 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:07,240 Speaker 1: seventies and eighties. That's not the pattern that you would 74 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:09,840 Speaker 1: see if many people saw their driving skills or knowledge 75 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:14,760 Speaker 1: deteriorate significantly in middle age. We also spoke by email 76 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:17,440 Speaker 1: with Jake Nelson and Triple As, Director of Traffic Safety 77 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:21,720 Speaker 1: Advocacy and research, he said. Retesting where if you fail 78 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:23,760 Speaker 1: the test, you lose the license, has been shown to 79 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:27,240 Speaker 1: have zero safety impact on the drivers involved, and it 80 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:29,440 Speaker 1: has been shown to reduce mobility by way of drivers 81 00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:32,000 Speaker 1: voluntarily giving up their licenses due to fear of getting 82 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:35,440 Speaker 1: them taken away rather than any legitimate concerns about their driving. 83 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:38,920 Speaker 1: There's no justification through data and research for testing or 84 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:43,400 Speaker 1: screening at a certain age one. Gary Biller, president of 85 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:46,880 Speaker 1: the National Motorists Association, which is a nationwide advocacy group, 86 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:50,920 Speaker 1: is similarly skeptical about the value of retesting experienced drivers, 87 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:54,839 Speaker 1: he said via email. Safety statistics consistently show that the 88 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:57,360 Speaker 1: accident rates of drivers seventy years of age and older 89 00:04:57,520 --> 00:04:59,560 Speaker 1: are not much different than those in the thirty five 90 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:02,960 Speaker 1: to six nine year age group. By contrast, drivers younger 91 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:05,160 Speaker 1: than thirty five are at the highest risk of accident. 92 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:08,640 Speaker 1: That indicates a couple of things. One is that experience 93 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:10,480 Speaker 1: behind the wheel is one of the most important factors 94 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:13,279 Speaker 1: for safe driving. Another is its state requirements for the 95 00:05:13,279 --> 00:05:17,480 Speaker 1: renewal of driver's licenses are reasonable. Those requirements vary state 96 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:20,320 Speaker 1: by state, but generally include more frequent re licensing and 97 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:23,920 Speaker 1: vision tests. Once driver reaches sixty, seventy or seventy five 98 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:28,359 Speaker 1: years of age. But Billard does think there could be 99 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:31,440 Speaker 1: value in allowing officials the option of re examining certain 100 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:36,279 Speaker 1: potentially problematic drivers. He said there should be an objective 101 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:39,400 Speaker 1: process through which the licensing agency could be petitioned to 102 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:42,200 Speaker 1: do an evaluation of a given license holder based on 103 00:05:42,279 --> 00:05:45,599 Speaker 1: firsthand knowledge of family members, a law enforcement agency, or 104 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:48,680 Speaker 1: the courts. In fairness, there should also be an appeal 105 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:50,760 Speaker 1: process for the person who is in jeopardy of losing 106 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:54,000 Speaker 1: his or her license or having it restricted. That approach 107 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:57,040 Speaker 1: might offer some protection against the most clearly impaired potentially 108 00:05:57,120 --> 00:06:00,200 Speaker 1: dangerous drivers out there, but as for the driver who 109 00:06:00,279 --> 00:06:02,280 Speaker 1: violate the rules because they think they can get away 110 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:04,560 Speaker 1: with it, you're probably just going to have to continue 111 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:12,159 Speaker 1: to be wary of them. Today's episode written by Patrick 112 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:14,880 Speaker 1: Jake Tiger and produced by Tyler Clang for iHeart Radios 113 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:16,880 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works from one on this and lots of 114 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:19,480 Speaker 1: other topics that will absolutely let you merge if you're 115 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:22,160 Speaker 1: using your turn signal, visit our home planet how to 116 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:25,279 Speaker 1: works dot com, and for more podcasts from my Heart Radio, 117 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:28,200 Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app Apple podcasts, or wherever you 118 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:29,440 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.