Study: 1 in 5 unfit to drive

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - A study by GMAC Insurance finds that nearly 20% of Americans are unfit for the road and a large percentage of people don't know what a yellow traffic light means.

Phillip Brewer joked, "There's a joke about the green light, red light, and yellow light. Red light means stop and green light means go and yellow light means go faster."

According to the survey 85% of drivers don't know the right thing to do when they come to a yellow light.

GMAC also found that 1 in 5 drivers on the road cannot meet the basic requirements to get a drivers license.

According to the survey, nearly 37 million American drivers would not pass the written portion of the exam if they took the test today.

It also says the Northeast is the worst driving region with a 75% average score.

Chris Beauford of Chicopee was surprised by this, "Worst? That does surprise me a little bit because I lived in Louisiana before and they were the worst drivers I had ever seen."

For others they're not at all surprised by the results. They say its apparent some people are unfit to be out on the road like Aaron Dewar of West Brookfield, "I drive about a thousand miles a week and I see all sorts of things. I just saw somebody texting as they went along the highway at 40 mph and three people cut me off just as I got across because they were on the cell phone, so yes I could see that."

The study also says men have better driving knowledge with 1 in 4 women failing the test.

In the case of the yellow traffic light, yellow means stop if it’s safe to do so.