A recent study conducted by the University of Calgary suggests one out of every 10 Alberta drivers know the rules of the road. It found nearly 89 per cent of motorists would fail if given a basic driving test.
In total, 2,394 Albertans were asked questions related to merging, right-of-way and meanings of road markings and signs.
The survey was developed by the University of Calgary's Schulich School of Engineering and was commissioned by the AMA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
Of the respondents, more than 80 per cent reported they had more than a decade of driving experience. And nearly 10 per cent said they had five to ten years of driving experience.
"What it found was the farther you are from getting your initial driver's license, your class 7 learners' licence, the worse your performance on the test," said Scott Wilson with the Alberta Motor Association.
Wilson believes motorists take driving for granted.
"The way we treat driving is it's not a very important activity unless somebody says, 'you know what? You can't drive any longer, we're taking away your keys, we're taking away your driving privileges,' then it becomes very important."
Wilson says one day down the road driver licence renewal many include some sort of exam similar to the one used in the survey.
With files from Susan Amerongen, CTV Calgary and the Canadian Press
