GMAC rates states with worst drivers.

Worried about getting hit by some careless driver who doesn't know the rules of the road ? Well then you might want to steer clear of New York, New Jersey, Washington, D.C. and California.

Those four areas top this year's list of the states with the worst drivers, according to a survey performed by GMAC Insurance.

"It's discouraging to see that overall average test scores are lower than last year," said Wade Bontrager, a senior vice president for GMAC Insurance, which ranked drivers.

GMAC for the past six years has surveyed roughly 5,000 people across the country with 20 test questions taken from various state driving tests. It turns out than many Americans don't really know what it means when there is a solid yellow line on one side of the center line or what type of lights to use when driving in the fog. (No passing and use your low beams.)

If the numbers from the GMAC survey held true for the entire U.S. population, it would mean that one in five licensed drivers -- roughly 38 million Americans -- would not pass a written drivers exam if taken today.

The overall scores fell from 76.6 percent last year to 76.2 percent this year. Eighty-five percent could not identify the correct action to take when approaching a steady yellow traffic light (stop if it is safe to do so) and many remained confused by safe following distances (3 seconds.)

So where does your state rank? Below is a list of how each state fared from worst to best and their rank from last year. There was a lot of movement from the last test, so study up New Yorkers, there's always next year.

51: New York (51)

50: New Jersey (50)

49: Washington, D.C. (44)

48: California (48)

47: Rhode Island (46)

46: Louisiana (37)

45: West Virginia (28)

44: Hawaii (49)

43: New Hampshire (33)

42: Kentucky (35)

41: Florida (43)

40: Mississippi (39)

39: Pennsylvania (36)

38: Massachusetts (45)

37: North Carolina (20)

36: Arkansas (24)

35: Texas (25)

34: Connecticut (42)

33: Illinois (29)

32: Georgia (47)

31: Alabama (26)

30: South Carolina (40)

29: New Mexico (19)

28: Virginia (21)

27: Ohio (34)

26: Maine (31)

25: Delaware (32)

24: Colorado (15)

23: Utah (7)

22: Vermont (22)

21: Nevada (27)

20: Maryland (41)

19: Tennessee (38)

18: Wyoming (8)

17: Arizona (30)

16: Missouri (16)

15: Michigan (23)

14: North Dakota (13)

13: Oklahoma (17)

12: Wisconsin (2)

11: Washington (18)

10: Alaska (12)

9: Montana (3)

8: Idaho (1)

7: Indiana (22)

6: Nebraska (6)

5: Iowa (9)

4: Minnesota (11)

3: South Dakota (5)

2: Oregon (10)

1: Kansas (4)