Road ragers and their particular behaviors aren’t limited to one part of the United States, but the cities best known for being vehicularly irate last year have made a concerted effort to clean up their act, according to a recent survey.
Houston displaced New York as the city with the least courteous drivers, according to AutoVantage’s annual “Driver’s Seat Road Rage Survey.”
Only one city — Atlanta — that was in the top five last year showed up in the top five in 2014. Atlanta was rated fourth in 2013 and moved up to second this year.
Drivers in “Hotlanta” got the job done by being most likely to hit another vehicle on purpose, as well as being home to the most speeders and tailgaters.
Houston was not in the top five last year, and moved up seven spots from the original survey in 2009. What catapulted Space City to victory this year? When compared to drivers in other cities, survey participants in Houston are:
- Most likely to see another driver cutting them off and most likely to admit performing this behavior
- Most likely to see someone else slam on their brakes
- Most likely to admit talking on their phones while driving
The winner of the most courteous driver category was Portland, Oregon, for the second straight year. The Rose City kept the top spot among the most courteous because its drivers were:
- Least likely to honk the horn at another driver
- Least likely to have been speeding
- Least likely to have seen other drivers cutting between lanes without warning
Perhaps the biggest mover on the survey was Baltimore, whose drivers apparently were unhappy with being perceived as too nice. The city finished third on the “most courteous” list last year, but moved 20 spots to finish third on the “least courteous” side of the ranking this year.
Charm City got the job done the old fashioned way by being most likely to use an obscene gesture while driving.
For the full rankings, see the AutoVantage survey here.
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