Do you know which sections of the Driver’s Manual should draw your focused attention, when you practice a learner’s permit test online? This can help you get prepared for the written exam and avoid failing it by making the most common mistakes. According to NHTSA survey published in 2011, up to 60% of applicants fail the knowledge test in Florida, Mississippi and Missouri, while only in 8 out of 24 states participated in the study more than 30% of the applicants pass examination on the first try. A similar result was shown in a CarInsurance.com quiz, which revealed that almost half of its participants had failed to score 80% of correct answers when answering 20 traffic rules questions similar to those you answer passing your driver’s license test online. The most common mistakes involved questions about stopping for school buses and pedestrians, as well as four-way stops.
When it comes to passing a road test, the situation seems to be somewhat better: the above-mentioned NHTSA survey showed that two-thirds of test takers passed it on the first try in 22 out of 24 states. Still, other experiments revealed that in some states (NY, for example) near 50% of applicants failed to pass the road exam. It’s rather curious that in Mississippi and Tennessee almost every applicant passes the road test, while 50-60% of them fail their driving permit test online. According to driver course instructors, the most common mistakes when passing a road test are:
- failing to park accurately;
- speeding;
- failing to make a complete stop at a stop sign;
- failing to yield when entering intersections;
- failing to ensure good observation.
And what does this have to do with traffic tickets? Well, statistics shows that the most common mistakes during the process of obtaining a driver’s license have much in common with driving violations, which result in receiving traffic tickets. How Much Does Your Speeding Cost?
According to traffic ticket lawyers, speeding is the most common traffic violation, including both exceeding specific speed limits and choosing an unsafe speed rate in certain circumstances (like driving too fast on a wet road). A Statistic Brain research showed that every year nearly 41 million US drivers get speeding tickets with about 112 thousand people receiving this type of tickets every day. Considering the total number of licensed drivers in the United States, this means that every fifth driver has to pay a fine for speeding at least once a year.
Though the fine varies depending on a state, the total amount paid throughout the United States annually impresses deeply – $6,232,000,000! The average fine makes up about $150, but the fine amount depends on several factors:
- the number of miles above the speed limit (when you drive 10 miles per hour above the limit, you pay 3-4 times less than when you drive 30 miles per hour);
- the zone you were driving in when you were caught over-speeding (speeding in a school or work zone will cost you more than exceeding the speed limit on a road);
- the number of offences (the more offenses the higher fines).
In different states various surcharges and fees (like court fees) must be paid along with speeding tickets fines, and thus a $35 base fine can be easily turned into a $150 fine. But this isn’t nearly the highest price that you may pay for speeding. Reckless driving at excessive speed provides a $1000 fine in a number of states like Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Maine, while in Illinois excessive speed penalty makes up to $1500 not to mention possible imprisonment and driver’s license revocation. Washington (state) boasts the highest reckless driving penalty of $5000!
According to Popularmechanics.com, the most draconian approach to speeding is adopted in:
- California with its many speed traps and multiple surcharges in addition to a base fine;
- Virginia where driving 80 miles per hour on any road or 20 miles per hour above the posted speed limit you can get $2500 fine for reckless driving;
- New York which issues more traffic tickets than most of other states;
- Massachusetts having a complex fine structure and almost the largest number of speed traps per mile in the US;
- New Jersey which ranks first in speed traps per mile and features doubled fines for 10 mph over-speeding on public highways.
In contrast, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Colorado and Tennessee are easy on speeding featuring low and clear fees along with relatively small number of speed traps and rather high speed limits.
As for real cases of speeding violations, there is a kind of an urban legend saying that in 2003 a driver was arrested in Texas for driving his sports car doing 242 miles per hour in a 75 mph zone. His expensive car was impounded and he was imprisoned, but there is no information about the fine.
Parking Tickets or the Way Cities Earn Money on Parking Violations
While speeding is the most common moving violation in the US, parking fines rank first among non-moving violations, so it makes sense to practice parking-related questions heartily during your DMV permit test online. This can help you avoid common mistakes that lead to receiving parking fines, such as parking in a prohibited space, on sidewalks, in disabled zones or too close to a street crossing. Quantitatively, parking tickets even exceed speed penalties: only in New York City the number of parking tickets issued in 2016 amounted to almost 11 million!
As a matter of fact, NYC is among the U.S. cities with the largest parking fines reaching a $165 fine for shutting off a pedestrian ramp and more than $500 million in revenue from parking violations annually. A research made by TicketZen shows that many American cities make a lot of money on parking violations:
- Chicago ($176 million annually based on parking tickets)
- Los Angeles ($250 million)
- Houston ($139 million)
- Philadelphia ($99 million)
- Phoenix ($98 million)
- San Antonio ($84 million)
- San Diego ($81 million)
- Dallas ($80 million)
- San Jose ($60 million)
Other cities with the highest parking penalties include:
- Washington – $159 annual parking fine per citizen
- San Francisco – $108 per citizen
- Boston – $99 per citizen
Do you think it isn’t a large amount of money to pay? Think of a Chicago woman who got more than $100,000 in parking fines and finally had to pay near $3000 for a car her ex-boyfriend had left in an airport parking lot for almost 3 years!
Vehicle Checklist Before Driving Exam