Survey Asks Drivers How Well they Remember Road Rules
Not many of us like preparing for tests. Some people like to cram in all the information just before the test, knowing that they may never need to remember it in future!
Sure, maybe we haven't had to use high school math for 20 years, and we don't very often need to know the past tenses of German verbs.
However, that's not the same for all tests. Sometimes, we'll need to remember and use the information for years to come — perhaps even every day!
Here's a very important example: your driving test.
A company in the UK has been testing people to see how well they remember some of the information they needed to know when they passed their tests.
In the UK, the rules of the road are written in a document called the Highway Code. But 55% of people surveyed said they haven't read it since they passed their tests — at least 10 years ago, for most of the 2,000 people surveyed.
Car insurance company Go Compare did the survey. The participants were given a number of different statements about driving, and they had to decide whether the rule was true or false.
Some people didn't do a bad job, but it was actually those aged 18 to 24 who did the worst!
More than a quarter of people didn't realize that driving too slowly can mean you get a fine and penalty points on your license.
Almost four in 10 didn't realize that you could also be punished in the UK for driving without window washing fluid.
Six percent of people thought it was safe to drive the morning after drinking alcohol, when in fact if you drink too much you could still be over the safe limit the next day.
