Survey: Best and Worst Road Rage Cities

New York has the most enraged drivers and Portland, Oregon, has the most courteous, according to an annual survey commissioned by AutoVantage. The telephone-based survey focused on 25 major metropolitan areas, with data collected from more than 2,500 interviews. The results indicate where not to commute and also insights into driver behavior.

The American Automobile Association (AAA) describes road rages as a term that “may have originated in the United States. In its broadest sense it can refer to any display of aggression by a driver. However, the term is often used to refer to the more extreme acts of aggression, such as a physical assault, that occur as a direct result of a disagreement between drivers.“

The AAA estimates there are up to 1,200 road rage-related deaths a year in the U.S.


Least Courteous Cities (Worst Road Rage):

* New York
* Dallas/Fort Worth
* Detroit
* Atlanta
* Minneapolis/St. Paul


Most Courteous Cities (Least Road Rage):

* Portland, Ore.
* Cleveland
* Baltimore
* Sacramento
* Pittsburgh

Other cities surveyed include Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa, and Washington, D.C.

Survey respondents reported the behaviors by other drivers that cause stress that could lead to road rage:

* Drivers who talk on their cell phones (84 percent see this every day)
* Driving too fast (58 percent)
* Tailgating (53 percent)
* Drivers eating or drinking while driving (48 percent)
* Texting or e-mailing while driving (37 percent)


And, as a reaction to rude or bad driving by others, people surveyed admitted that they:

* Honk their horn at the offending driver (43 percent admit doing this every month)
* Curse at the other driver (36 percent)
* Wave their fist or arms (13 percent)
* Make an obscene gesture (10 percent)
* Call the police to report the driver (7 percent)
* Slam into the car in front of them – yikes! (1 percent)


When you are bordering on road rage, breath deep and count to 10. Getting feisty will add to your stress and may inspire unsafe behavior – something to be avoided when commanding a two-ton, high-speed weapon.