Massachusetts Driver’s Test is Second Hardest in the Nation

New drivers, study extra hard! New data shows that the Massachusetts Driver's Test is the second hardest road test in the country!

A lot of people actually. According to the Registry of Motor Vehicles, between 28 and 31% of people fail their Massachusetts driver's test on their first try. I know plenty (of all ages) who were first time failers.

Lawyer group Siegfried & Jensen were curious which states had the hardest and easiest road tests so they came up with a methodology to determine the rankings: They gathered license and test information from each state’s Official Driver Handbook, and asked an expert to assign each element an overall score. They then averaged the scores from each category and voila! Their rankings were born!

Washington state has the hardest driver's/road test in America. Their test scored an overall difficulty score of 80 out of 100. Massachusetts was hot on Washington's tail though scoring an overall difficulty score of 77 out of 100. Maryland, South Carolina, and Kansas round out the Top 5 hardest road tests in America.

Are we mad that our road test is more difficult? I'm sure most 16 year-olds currently waiting to take that road test would answer "yes" but I'm more in the middle. A harder test should mean better drivers. And we all know we could use more "better drivers" on the road around here. I'll trade an eager, focused new driver over some of the knuckleheads I share the highway with daily. Oi.

While we're at it let's hand out the bragging rights too. South Dakota has the easiest road test in America, scoring an overall difficulty rating of just 42 out of 100. Cake compared to Mass. Ohio, Arkansas, New York, and Nebraska have the next four easiest driver's tests in the US.

If I asked you which US state has the worst drivers, what would you say? I bet you either just said New York or Massachusetts, didn't you? Meanwhile THIS study by FLT Law says that New Mexico has the worst drivers and Massachusetts doesn't even make the Top 10!! Still, we in the Bay State regularly make many "worst driver" lists every year too. So what makes Mass drivers so annoying? We went right to the source and asked Massachusetts drivers what their biggest pet peeves about Massachusetts drivers are and the top results can be found below.

Oh my gosh I could write a book just based off my own frustrations. But this isn't about me. Breathe. Ok, I'm good. Some recurring answers we got from Massachusetts drivers when we asked what annoyed them about other fellow Massachusetts drivers included:
"When you go to pass them and suddenly they wake up, slam the gas, and race you to the death." (Paraphrasing.)
"When they're parked at the pump... and they're not even there for gas!"
"Tailgating, tailgating, tailgating!!"
"People that start creeping forward at a red light until they’re practically in the intersection, only to drive slow AF once it actually turns green."
"Not accelerating up the on-ramp. You're left trying to merge at 45 miles an hour."
"People who cut you off. Even worse: people who cut you off then immediately hit the breaks!"
"Traffic." (Enough said. lol)

And these are only some of the Massachusetts Driving Pet Peeves that didn't make the Top 5 most mentioned! We'll get to those now. By the way, I'd love to continue finessing this list so if you have any Massachusetts driving pet peeves to add to our lists, please do! DM me on Instagram @jacksonblueshow - I look forward to hearing your angst! :)

It's such an issue around here that MASSDOT even made that highway sign famous. "Use Ya Blinkah!" It's not just a statement. It's a way of life. And a daily frustration around here.

Before I moved to the Boston area I lived on Cape Cod for a while. That was my first intro to rotaries (or roundabouts if you will). I understand how daunting they can appear to newbies since I remember being very overwhelmed myself at first. However, please never ever stop inside a rotary to let someone enter. No, no, no.

These next two are two of my worst hot buttons. I feel like it's almost become normal for drivers to get on the highway and immediately make their way to the far left passing lane for travel where they settle in and travel 5 miles under the speed limit. Meanwhile getting passed by cars in the other 1 to 3 lanes constantly. Can we please get back to using the left lane for passing? Not for getting passed?

Do they even teach about the humble ol' yield sign in driver's ed anymore? It's gotten so bad that when I actually see someone obey it correctly I feel overjoyed. I applaud them and feel like sending them a thank you card.

Nothing funny here. If you're still face-in-your-phone while driving nowadays there's really no excuse. I know our society is phone-addicted (I'm guilty too) but let's leave the phones to when we're not behind the wheel. If you do, it'll probably save a life at some point. Maybe even your own. Let's do better.