An annual survey of the attitudes of drivers in metropolitan areas across the United States found the metropolitan areas with the worst road rage are: 1) New York, 2) Dallas/Fort Worth, 3) Detroit, 4) Atlanta, and 5) Minneapolis/St. Paul. The five most courteous metros include 1) Portland, Oregon, 2) Cleveland, 3) Baltimore, 4) Sacramento, and 5) Pittsburgh. What do you think about these results? I am personally surprised that Los Angeles isn't number one in road rage.
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it’s no joke. i moved to portland from the philly a couple years ago and seriously had to revamp my driving style! don’t drive anymore, but the courteous attitude makes biking in portland a breeze.
My uncle used to visit us from Atlanta and he was scare of driving here in Puerto Rico.I had visited some areas in USA and had no problem driving I even found it very pleasant and easy .
Miami is # 1 in Road Rage!
Huntington Beach, CA has the rudest, meanest, most inconsiderate drivers I’ve ever seen. In fact, Orange County California has too many drivers who are angry and mean PLUS talking on their cell phones. SUV drivers are the worst.
I am surprised NOT to swee Boston anywhere on the worst driver’s list. Or maybe triple parking, and the practice of if one car is waiting at a Stop sign and there is time for him to go, everyone else waiting behind him, also goes (even up to 8 cars), one right after the other, not mattering if there are now cars coming on the cross street.
Ditto on Boston – have we all gone mellow here? Or maybe since the Sox won the series this curse has been lifted, too!
It is obvious the person making this driver evaluation/road rage study has never been to Charlotte, NC. I have driven in all 50 states and been in 49 countries (drove in some of them) and I would put the drivers in the Charlotte area as the #1 suckasses in the nation, mabey the world.
I agree that Pittsburgh drivers are some of the nicest, kindest people in the country. But then, who wouldn’t be if they could live in a great city with a big heart and two of the finest sports teams in the world?!?!?!?
I am only surprised that Las Vegas is not on the best driver’s list. They are the most courteous and patient freeway drivers ever. I am always amazed no one has honked at me or flipped me off. I am not the most skilled freeway driver either. We don’t even have the finest sports team either because they are all the way in Chicago and they are bears. Interesting article Matt-thankyou.
Sacramento? Courteous? Throw this whole survey in the circular file …. do not read further.
I postulate, from long experience, that the New York City denizen, from any one of the 5 Boroughs, is the meanest, slackest,pushiest,rudest,miserable creature on the Planet. However, I love New Yorkers; you can learn from them, as they know everything. It’s a fabulous City except for the populace it exports.
Atlanta has not only angry drivers, but, even more important, high speed drivers in a hurry to get everywhere. Everything in this miserable city is based on the clock, and no one cares about their impact on others. Truly the most rude of any drivers in the 20+ cities and towns where I have lived. I can’t wait to see Atlanta in my rear view mirror for the last time.
Minneapolis-St. Paul in the top ten of this list??? Really interesting…especially since “the streets were designed by drunken Irishmen…”.
Would have to see the bias of the selection process for “Worst Drivers” but Boston deserves the distinction for worst. Anytime in conversation and asked, have yet to receive any argument against Boston drivers as leader for their terrible drivers.
Seattle has, hands down, THE WORST drivers i have ever dealt with. It’s not that they are rude, road raging, inconsiderate speedsters; quite the opposite. They are frakkin’ clueless. It’s as if they got their license from a cracker jack box. If the speed limit is 40, they go 25, 30. Where it says “no left turn between 9am and 6pm,” it’s guaranteed they’ll be sitting with their blinker on at 3pm, backing traffic up for blocks and blocks. Per capita, Seattle traffic congestion is far worse than Chicago, San Francisco or Phoenix, all places i have lived. In a nutshell, Seattle’s horrible traffic congestion is caused by idiots that have no clue how to drive. Frustrating.
I’ll have to agree with the ‘Where the hell is Miami’ on this survey. A letter to the editor in the Miami Herald ranted long on the incredibly bad attitudes of Miami drivers – even going so far as to say it was worse there were they lived before moving to Miami. Punch Line? They moved from New York City. They aren’t bad drivers; actually they’re very good ones. Just don’t piss them off.
It’s Miami, hands down.
For the record I live in Mass now and used to live in PA where I constantly had to interact with Jersey drivers. I say Boston takes the cake for double parking and cutting people off, but New Jersey drivers win for tailgating and general antisocial behavior on the road. The New Jersey Turnpike could quite possibly be the worst stretch of highway in the cosmos.
ok have any of you been to Illinois….when I’m there I’m happy to be cut off with a turn signal…..most people just cut you off without a signal!!! I also agree….driving in Pittsburgh is so nice people will give your turn …unlike in most places I drive…
I’ll just say that Utah drivers are the most rude, impatient, and inconsiderate group of drivers I have seen! I learned there that a blinker is not a signal to change lanes, but an indicator to fight to the death! You must have “before hand knowledge” when the light will turn green. Tailgating is a requirement. I live in Sacramento and it is really nice. Especially on the East side.
Charlotte, NC has the worst drivers I have ever experienced. No knowledge of merging. If you know your exit is approaching, get over PRIOR to the exit. Do not shoot over from the fast lane 3ft before. Same goes for getting on the expressway. If you see traffic, adjust your speed and merge when appropriate, just because the lane blends into the road does not mean you get to as well.
I lived in Detroit prior, which is ranked in this survey for Road Rage. I would rank Charlotte FAR above Detroit.
I recently lived for four years in Orange County, and, while driving there was definitely not laid back, I didn’t notice a lot of instances of road rage. In the whole four years I was there, I never got honked at. The most pervasive problem is that drivers tailgate (for some reason, the tailgaters drive huge trucks or SUVs).
Then I moved to the Olympic Peninsula, and I recently found myself driving in Seattle. Maybe Seattle should be on your list of rudest drivers. They use their horns constantly. I thought I was in New York city. The truckers not only are rude, but dangerous. While on a two lane highway on the Olympic Peninsula, with a single lane of traffic in each direction, I suddenly found a truck barreling down toward me in my lane, trying to overtake a truck he was passing. I was forced over onto the shoulder. And people say the Olympic Peninsula is unexciting!
For the most part, I would say that, if Orange County is representative of L.A., the people are pretty nice. I can’t say the same for drivers in Seattle.
Miami has the worst drivers in the US. Ok. not mentioned here, but drive in Miami and you’ll catch my drift. Drivers here are RECKLESS and have no regard for human life. There are no excuses…..a category 5 or rising sea levels need to wipe Miami off the face of the earth!
Miami already got hit with a cat 5 (Andrew). It didn’t work.
Pittsburghers may not have most road rage but they are the worst drivers I have been around. They don’t know the laws and their heads are up their keesters. They also do, what’s known as a “Pittsburgh left”. They believe it’s their God given right to make a left turn in front of oncoming traffic as soon as the light turns green. Also, they may let you go out of turn at a four way stop sign but then when you start, they change their minds and go when you are in mid-turn. I would prefer everyone knowing the rules first and foremost, and then following them.
To me, the worst drivers I have ever seen are here in San Antonio. Here are some of what makes them so bad: 1. Turn signals given 10 yards before turning. 2. Driving 25 mph in a 40 mile zone and 80 in a 60 mph zone. 3. Exiting the freeway at freeway speeds. 4. Inability to stay in lanes. 5. Sitting at a light and when it turns green waiting for the car in front to get 10, 15, 20 yards away before proceeding. 5. Sitting at a light with no turn signals and when it turns green then putting a left hand turn signal on. 6. Taking 1/4 mile to get up to 35 mph. I could go on but the only way to describe San Antonio drivers is pathetically horrible.
Good point! Not to mention those Seattle F**** like to come and stare at your license plate if you are from out-of-state (and I thought it was bad in the Northeast.)
Have you ever drove in Miami and Hialeah, Florida? Well, I don’t think you have, however if you do, you will feel you are driving in a different planet. It is just terrible.
I’ve lived in several states and a number of cities and parts of the east cost. Minnapolis / St Paul have THE most disrespective drivers. They run every stop sign, block cross walks, pass very close to bicyclest and pedestrians, do not yeld to pedestrians and on and on.. Not all are like this, but over 99% are.
I’ve bicycle everywhere, I’ve been hit by a hit and run, from the rear while stopped at a red light, have had motorist swerve in front of me and jam on the brakes and even had one attack me.. I have motorist run stop signs while people (or me) are clearly in the crosswalk.. And the police.. They not only don’t enforce, but also break every traffice law, too.
What is supid, I moved to Minneapolis because it is “A bicycle friendly city” HA HA
For my mental heath, I’m fixing to move to the Organ!
These voilent and mentally ill people are just that…. Stay away from Minneapolis/St. Paul if you value quility of life.
hello Paul -
Just read you comments about twin cities drivers.
I have to agree. For the past 10 years Ive watched
it get worst and worst. It seems nobody cares about
safety of life or property– and many are willing
to even kill over their “right” to tear up the roads
with selfish speedy recklessness. Even the older
drivers are doing same now! I learned to drive back
in 1970- I was taught courtesy always, never to tailgate, and to give the other guy room to live-
today my courtesy is run over by other drivers like
a tin can in the road. It all boils down to our very
culture. America has long lost it’s ” heart “–
it shows when they get behind the wheel. I wish you
all the best wherever you go!
steve in st. paul
I just moved from Los Angeles to Dallas area and i thought it was just me about the deplorable level of driving here but now everybody keeps the people in Dallas are great until they get behind the wheel…
I’ve driven all over the country and the worst drivers in my book come from Seattle and Vancouver, BC. Seattle drivers have no clue of the concept of a “fast lane” on the freeway. In LA, the left lanes go faster. In Seattle, they all go the same speed, and those wanting to go faster simply weave around the others. Living in wide-open eastern Oregon, you can always spot western Washington drivers on a deserted freeway because they will be the lone car driving in the fast lane and they will NOT move over no matter how many lights you flash. Vancouver drivers are equally bad, because not only do they copy Seattle’s bad habits, but many of them come from China and other Third World (Commonwealth) hellholes where driving is a form of public suicide.
Atlanta has by far the worst drivers in the nation. I’ve lived in the NE, Pacific NW, Florida, Texas, Hawaii and driven in S. Africa, Malaysia, Europe, S. Pacific, and so on. Atlanta drivers are either ignorant, because they don’t know the basic universal rules of driving or incredibly passive agressive drivers, who on freeways are afraid to drive on the left side of the freeways and find comfort in driving very aggressively on the right side of the freeway. It is almost universal around the world that while on highways, freeways, etc. faster traffic drives on the outside lanes and slower traffic, i.e. traffic getting on or off the road drives on the the inside lane for entering and exiting the road, but not here in ATL. If given a choice an Atlantan will overtake on the right, and speed on a inside lane, weaving in and out of traffic like they’re in a NASCAR race rather than drive in and outside i.e. left lane, even if the outside lanes are CLEAR.
Also, as someone had pointed out on anther web site, Atlanta drivers have a very hard time with you merging into their lane even if there is five or more car lenths of space ans I would also point out that Atlanta drivers don’t like it when you pull out in front of them, again even if there are many, many car lengths of space between you and the car. I think this has to do with the Southern attitude of politeness- they think you are cutting them off and take it personally. Well, if I wait for the 15 car lengths of space that you want, driving in this city, I will never be able to get anywhere.
I lived in NY but not Manhattan and now live in Miami-dade.
I can not fathom more aggressive and reckless drivers than Miami-dade with the most useless policve dept I have ever seen as far as enforcing traffic laws.
I have even seen vehicles with no license plates or covered up tinted plates with police right behind them sitting at a red light and police did NOTHING.
Standards here are zero.
Hands down, Charlotte NC has not only the worst but the rudest and just plain stupidest drivers in the UNIVERSE! It is a mortal sin to use a turn signal, yellow lights are totally ignored, turn lanes are just to be stopped in so some stupid fool can back up traffic to cross over three lanes to get to the OTHER turn, and overall, it’s an experience that brings me closer to Jesus each time I get behind a wheel. No one takes any driving course, they all think they’re nascar drivers, and dear jayzez, heaven help you if you actually think of extending any courtesy to another. I hate driving in Charlotte more than I’ve hated driving in London, Paris, NYC, and San Francisco combined. If they had any sort of safe public transportation, I’d recommend it but alas, that’s not safe either.