Miami drivers have the most road rage and Portland, Ore., motorists the least, according to the AutoVantage auto club. AutoVantage’s second annual Driver’s Seat Road Rage Survey involved 2,521 respondents in 25 cities.
Miami won its dubious honor for the second year, followed by New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Portland’s drivers were judged the most polite, followed by Pittsburgh, Seattle/Tacoma, Wash., St. Louis and Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas.
The AutoVantage survey defines road rage very broadly, including not only angry or upset drivers, including out-of-control drivers and drivers who lose their temper; but also aggressive or merely bad driving, including carelessness and rudeness, cutting into lanes, cutting people off, tailgating, speeding and honking.
Other findings reported by AutoVantage:
Younger drivers and those who have the longest commutes are most likely to react to an aggressive or rude driver.
Road rage involves male and female drivers equally.
The most common bad driving behaviors are talking on the cell phone while driving (61 percent admit to this) and driving too fast (59 percent).
New York drivers are the most likely to witness daily another driver cutting over without notice (63 percent). Cleveland motorists are least likely to see this (25 percent).
Phoenix motorists are most likely to see tailgating daily (69 percent), Portland drivers the least (41 percent).
Miami drivers are most likely to witness daily drivers slamming on the brakes (39 percent), while drivers in Cleveland and Cincinnati are least likely (14 percent).
More than a fourth of drivers surveyed (27 percent) say they see drivers every day who run red lights. Miami drivers are the most likely to witness this (58 percent), Cleveland drivers the least (14 percent).
Nearly two-thirds of drivers surveyed say they see drivers every day driving a lot faster than is safe for road conditions. Drivers in Sacramento, Calif., are the most likely to see this (81 percent), while those in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn., are the least (55 percent).
Ninety percent of drivers surveyed say they see drivers talking on their cell phones daily. A full 96 percent of San Francisco drivers say they see this behavior daily; the lowest percentage was in Denver at 82 percent.
