Where all the children are above average

[missroserose]

Having taken a psychology class or three, I'm well aware of many human fallibilities, including the Lake Wobegon Effect, where people tend to sharply overestimate their skills compared to the average person. The classic expression of this illusory superiority has for a long time been driving skill - ask people to rate themselves as compared to the average driver, and roughly 80% (with some variations by culture) of folks will put themselves above the midpoint, which is (of course) statistically impossible.

GMAC insurance recently sent out a quiz on basic rules of the road to people in different states to measure knowledge by state. Perhaps unsurprisingly, New York got the worst scores (Brian's theory is that it's because the answers weren't all "Hey buddy, fuck you!"), while Kansas scored highest (...because there's nothing to do in the Midwest other than drive? Very slowly?). They also posted the test online so you can try it yourself and see how you score.

So, an ethical question: How smug am I allowed to feel that I got 100% of the answers correct on the first go?

Comments

[flewellyn.livejournal.com]

Pretty smug, I'd say.

Is it wrong that I found the icon amusing, in this context?

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

What icon, just me looking innocent as usual?

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's about as innocent as you usually look.

[errant-variable.livejournal.com]

That depends, how much damage have you caused to your own or other vehicles, and how often do you break the road rules regardless of knowing them?

[errant-variable.livejournal.com]

Also, do you have any urge to move to Kansas to be with your driving kin?

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

The thought had occured to me. :)

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Aw. I missed the one about 'how soon do you signal'.
But I attribute that mostly to not having a real practical idea of how long a foot is.

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

I remembered that one because I specifically looked it up when I was studying - people's use of turn signals on the road was so haphazard that I really didn't have any idea from watching others.

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

I have the same issue! I got that one wrong, but while I'm pretty okay at visualizing one foot (since it's one wooden school ruler), I'm not good at imagining what 50 or 100 or 150 feet means.

[my-aerie.livejournal.com]

Point of interest: good and bad driving is a LOT more than just knowing the rules of the road (otherwise your average 14 year old getting a learner's permit would be an infinitely better driver than your average 30 year old who's been driving for half hir life). I, for instance, am still a little confused about what to do with my blinker when it comes to roundabouts, but I consider myself a very good driver because I know I have the skills to handle driving on ice, and handling unexpected conditions on the road such as a child darting out in front of my car or such. I may not know all the laws, but I'm very good at avoiding collisions, and I think that is BY FAR the better measure of good driving.

Incidentally, I only missed two--effectively I mixed up flashing yellow and flashing red lights.

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

You'll not get any argument from me on any of that. The test is absolutely only designed to measure knowledge, not application. That said, the same rules still apply - if you polled people on how well they thought they'd do on a knowledge test regarding basic rules of the road, 80% of them would say they'd score "above average". So then, of course, you'd need to make them take the test so you could crush their self-esteem. :)

[gracewanderer.livejournal.com]

You may be interested in an article called "unskilled and unaware of it". Google will do you well, if you choose to actually read the article rather than simply gleaning what it's about from the title.

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

Oh, come on. You're talking to an information addict here. That's like waving a red cape in front of me. :P

[bkleber.livejournal.com]

I'd go with being smug. You've earned it.

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

Pretty darned smug, since I got one wrong! (I had no idea how far in advance of a turn you're supposed to activate your turn signal -- I just sort of go with, "When it's in view and there are no obvious other intersections prior to it." I guessed, and apparently guessed wrong.)