They say Tennessee drivers are some of the worst in the nation. According to the results of a test done by GMAC insurance in 2010, Tennessee is the 33rd worst state of drivers. Anyone who lives here will cry bullshit, as these morons are the worst drivers I've ever seen. It's common knowledge to everyone who drives here and have driven other places that these are top 5 worst drivers in the nation. It didn't really don on me exactly why until Friday night at dinner at P.F. Chang's. Our waiter was originally from Michigan as I am. He was talking about how awful the drivers are here, and he knew why. You see, in Tennessee, you don't really have to do a whole lot to get a drivers license. All you have to do is go to the DMV and take a written test and an eye exam. Then, if you pass that, you get your learners permit. You must log 50 hours of driving time (10 of which have to be at night) with an adult over the age of 21 in the passenger seat, wait 180 days, be 16 years old, and BAM, your a legal driver in the state of Tennessee.
Now, according to my research, that's all it takes. I could be wrong, and anyone who lives here if free to correct me, but I'm pretty sure that's it. In Michigan, you had to take drivers training, log so many hours of on the road testing with the instructor, pass a written exam, and then you could get your level one permit. Then you had to log so many hours with an adult and you have that level one license for six months. Once you get passed that, you had to go to the level two classes, pass another test, and then you could get your level two license. Then, you had to go take a road test with an independent, third-party road testing organization (which I totally failed the first time at the age of 16). Then blah blah blah blah. You get the idea.
You have a lot more hoops to jump though in Michigan to get a license. This of coarse makes you learn how to drive better. While it's less of a hassle in Tennessee, the folks here didn't learn how to fucking drive, obviously. Not that I'm a better person for having gone through all that back in Michigan, it just makes me a better driver than you. So maybe the state needs to take a look at their system of getting a drivers license in the first place and perhaps do a bit of upgrading? After all, the road is a dangerous place, especially when everyone is just winging it. By the way, on the list I mentioned above, Michigan was the 37th worst drivers, so that's not all that much better than Tennessee, but it's still better. And like I said, anyone who drives here would agree these test results are total bullshit. Tennessee has the worst drivers, okay? I just told you why.
Maybe if there were more Michigan Lefts in other states, they would drive better... Drivers in the UP are the most courteous I've seen anywhere. If you are late, you can always blame weather and curvy 2 lane highways and getting stuck behind a logging truck. That and there is so little traffic in the first place to complain about. If you get down to Detroit however I think the car culture causes everyone to think they are entitled to go 85 down I-75. It reminds me of Chicago drivers but Detroit is more spread out and usually you are stuck in traffic anyways in Chicago. How did you fail your drivers test, by the way?
ReplyDeleteI have zero recollection of taking a level two set of drivers training classes. And I'm pretty sure I only took one written test. I remember this because I had my foot in a cast the entire time I was in the "book learnin'" part of drivers training.
ReplyDeleteI once had a friend who tried to convince me that his many accidents weren't so bad because "most of the things I hit weren't moving." I tried to explain to him why that made it worse but it didn't work. And he wasn't from Tennessee or anything. Oh, and one more thing, take a look at the drivers in other countries. Yikes.
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