Many older drivers struggle when quizzed on SA’s road rules – can you do any better?

Many older drivers struggle to remember important road rules, the RAA has found – but are you up to speed on our traffic laws? TAKE THE ROAD RULES QUIZ

• Drivers flout mobile phone crackdown despite heavy fines
• How an Advertiser subscription puts you in the driving seat

South Australia’s most experienced drivers are among the rustiest on the road rules, RAA data suggests.

Quizzes delivered to groups of seniors around the state show that on the majority of questions, between a quarter and a third of participants chose the wrong answer.

On questions about safe distance between cars and indicating at roundabouts, the failure rate is over 70 per cent.

The RAA also runs an online quiz which is popular with individuals studying for their learner’s test.

The quiz features 42 questions randomly selected from 319 and participants need at least 32 correct out of 42 to pass.

In the past three months, the test was taken almost 43,000 times and 84 per cent of attempts recorded a passing grade.

There were 11 questions which tripped up more than half of respondents, with many being about legal turning and overtaking manoeuvres.

RAA research also has found that a third of arriving migrants find SA road rules difficult to understand.

The peak motoring body is in its 10th year of its Years Ahead program, which educates seniors about road rules and vehicle safety.

RAA community engagement senior manager Ben Haythorpe said the RAA gave more than 120 presentations a year across the state, with the majority of participants aged over 65.

“These people have been driving for a long time and there’s still a bit of confusion about some basic road rules,” he said. “Some of them were a little bit surprising.”

Some of the Years Ahead talks also covered vehicle safety.

Mr Haythorpe said many older people would say: “They don’t make cars as good as they used to because they’re all made of plastic.”

It was a “widely held misconception” among older drivers, he said.

Although mature drivers were among the safest, they were over-represented in the road toll.

A total of 243 road users aged 65 and over were killed on SA roads in the past 10 years.

This equates to about 24 per cent of the state’s total road toll, despite older drivers making up only 18.2 per cent of the population.

“As you get old, your fragility index increases,” Mr Haythorpe said.

“You are more likely to survive a crash if you’re in a newer car.

“Buy the newest car you can afford and the safest car you can afford.”