Driver attitude — Idaho Permit Test

Driver error causes more than 90% of highway crashes.

Almost nothing on the road breaks by itself. What fails is a decision somebody made.

Driver error causes more than 90% of highway crashes

If you are worried or distracted you cannot count on being alert enough to drive safely, and if you are upset you should let someone else drive.

Anger and worry take the attention that the road needs, and the driver is the last person to notice.

If you're upset, let someone else drive

Quarrels, misunderstandings, financial problems, illness in the family, personal fears or over-confidence make you far more likely to have a crash.

Each of those takes part of a driver's attention away before the car has even started.

personal fears, or over- confidence make you far more likely to have a crash

Concentration is vital to safe driving. The driver's seat is no place for daydreaming, window shopping, intense conversation or looking at scenery.

Each of those moves a driver's eyes or mind off the road for whole seconds at a time.

The driver's seat is no place for daydreaming, window shopping, intense conversation, or looking at scenery

Be patient, do not let heavy traffic get on your nerves, never change your mind at the last minute or act too quickly, and do not rely on warnings or signals from other drivers.

A signal is what another driver intends, not what they will do, and acting on it hands them your decision.

Don't rely on warnings or signals from other drivers. Depend on your own alertness, not theirs

Give a lot of room to drivers who may not see you, including drivers entering from intersections or driveways where the view is blocked, drivers backing out, and drivers whose windows are covered with ice or snow.

A driver who cannot see out is going to pull into the space you are in, and the only warning is the iced windows.

Drivers whose windows are covered with ice or snow

Allow extra room for people who may be distracted, such as delivery and construction workers, children playing, drivers tending children, tourists working out a complicated intersection, and drivers looking for a house number.

Each of them is looking at something that is not the road, which means they will not see you at all.

Drivers looking for a house number

Watch for drivers who pass as you approach a curve, hill or an oncoming car; slow down and let them back into your lane quickly.

They have run out of room, and the only thing left that can make space is you.

Slow down and let them back into your lane quickly

Make room for any driver about to be forced into your lane by a car, pedestrian, bicyclist, obstacle or a reduction in the number of lanes.

They are being pushed out of their own lane, and refusing to make room turns their problem into a collision.

Make room for any driver who is about to be forced into your lane by a car, pedestrian, bicyclist, obstacle, or a reduction in the number of lanes.

What share of highway crashes does driver error cause?

More than 90%. Almost nothing on the road breaks by itself. What fails is a decision somebody made. July 2026 Idaho Driver's Handbook, p.86: “Driver error causes more than 90% of highway crashes”