Maryland Online Driver Test - bike/ped safety review
Before I give the impression I'm never impressed, please take a look at the test the Annapolis Department of Transportation (ADOT) did.
The on-line test has vastly improved since my last review but when compared to what ADOT did I still think there is room for improvement.
The good
This is really nice how the picture works in one of our major crash types into a general question.
This is a nice start but it really needs to emphasize just how deadly over 35mph is and I'm not sure drivers will get this as pedestrian safety question. After all as a driver of a car you are safe at speeds up to 90mph at 120mph things start to git a bit unsafe. I may be exaggerating but the point is this question does nothing to dispel that type of thinking.
The I'm not that keen about
If you had one question to put forth to the drivers of Maryland, would this be it? I don't think so but at least I can't be critical of this question as I have been in the past.
The bad
The big question is just where is the area pedestrians may cross in this typical Maryland intersection? Too many may be thinking "not shown here." We really need more emphasis on "stopping for pedestrians" then things that can be construed as "pedestrians may not cross here."
Summary
Before we only got one question for bike/ped for the whole test and here I pulled four questions from one test. Major kudos for that but still as far as covering major safety issues well like ADOT or being clear what is expected of a driver, this drivers test still remains a disappointment.
I still think there is too much of a slant in Maryland that if you get all the bike/ped safety issues then these are good questions. But what if a driver doesn't get all the bike/ped safety issues? Do these questions address those (potential) drivers? I don't think so.