NYC, Finally The Worst Road Rage City In America

AutoVantage released its annual survey of the Best/Worst Road Rage Cities in the country and New York is at the top of the heap, baby! After polling 2,500 respondents in 25 major markets, NYC was found to be the least courteous, followed by Dallas/Fort Worth, Detroit, Atlanta and Minneapolis/St. Paul (the more courteous cities were Portland, OR, Cleveland, Baltimore, Sacramento and Pittsburgh); Miami, which was the worst city for four years, slipped from the top five of least courteous cities! According to the consulting company which commissioned the survey, "New Yorkers were most likely to wave their fists or arms. They were most likely to lay on the horn and they were most likely to make some sort of obscene gesture." As for what respondents think causes road rage, they cited things like "Bad/careless driving, such as cutting others off, speeding, tailgating, talking on cell phones, making obscene gestures and not using proper signals," "Traffic problems, accidents, poor road conditions or construction" and "Inconsiderate, disrespectful, selfish drivers who think they own the road."

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By Jen Chung in News on June 17, 2009 11:14 AM

Comments [rss]

Potty Boy

What about the 2 knuckleheads that pulled knives on each other by the Holland? One pulled a knife, then the other pulled a machete. 1st knife guy calls the cops. That happened in Jersey, didn't it?

Kevin Walsh

I was in Pittsburgh for a few days in 2007. No matter how bad traffic was I never heard any horns. It was heaven.

www.forgotten-ny.com

JenChungsBaby

It's the bikers fault -- they're driving everyone else mad.

fauxsella

I think this to do with the rather anonymous and transient nature of NYCers, which leads to no one really caring about their fellow motorists -- after all, are you really expecting to see the guy you tailgated for ten miles on the LIE again? If you did, you'd be a bit more polite.

Mattachine

Why haven't they invented car windows or bumpers with quick text messaging capabilities to say "Fuck Off" to other drivers?

It would save everyone the need to express anger with their driving, i.e. cutting someone off, tailgating, flashing the high beams, etc.

I still fantasize about the window with the quick text messaging... "Pay attention to your blind spot you douchebag".

Rocknrope

Although I think that's a million dollar idea, I think it may also be illegal to have images that distract drivers from the road, but I'd love to hear if someone knows for a fact that's the case.

NYCMIKE80

women drivers from new jersey. nuff said.

slyseekr

Wait, Sacramento is one of the most courteous cities in the world? What a sack of s***! I've gotten the bird and actual death threats from more times from soccer moms in Land Rovers on the highways of Sacramento than I've nearly been hit by cabbies while biking around the streets of New York!

New York still belongs at the top of the list.

ed_Extinct

Thank you all you douche bag drivers for making this possible. We couldn't have done it without you!!

Ed

As a pedestrian in Midtown, I've taken to waiting a few seconds after the light turns green before crossing at the crosswalk. I've seen drivers speed into the crosswalk itself when the light is against them too often recently.

Its actually safer to jaywalk in the middle of the street, you don't have do deal with drivers turning the corner suddenly without slowing down.

janelle

WE'RE #1! WE'RE #1!

bsalamon

I blame it on the tourists from Jersey and Connecticut

openheads

If that's what you need to tell yourself.

dmf

a 'lack of courtesy' and rage aren't exactly the same thing, ya know...

personally i prefer driving in NYC to any other city. they may be a lot of things, but erratic and illogical is generally not one of them. which is the most frustrating thing to deal with. who gives a shit about an errant digit or appendage? :)

and hey, ya gotta give DC a special shout-out for standing tall in the field of "people that intentionally ram other cars".

hotstepper

ha! i wasn't aware of the DC "ramming" syndrome.

i can (usually) agree with your NYC driver preference, they all want to get to their destination as fast as possible. driving anywhere south of the mason-dixon is maddening. southerners will drive slow as shit in the left lane and will sit at a green light for 30 seconds before stepping on the gas. arrgh!

westernqueensland

In all those other cities you have to drive. Here, if you don't like the stress of the @$$es you can skip out on the mess

nicemarmot

Yeah, except when you're just minding your own business and the incompetent drivers hit you in the crosswalk, or come up on the sidewalk and kill you...

drewo

The gas pedal got stuck. No, the brakes didn't work. I didn't see anything. I didn't hear anything.

Can I keep driving now?

Gwinny

Well done, drewo. You did manage to encaspulate everything about all the "faultless" drivers in NYC in just a few words.

resa

I question this survey. How the heck did Boston manage to fall of the list? Did they suddenly mend their ways?

Steven

Every city has those kinds of drives, which is way I hate these surveys. If you want to find nice drives live in a small town, with a population in the hundreds.

Kojak

An added thought: We've been so desensitized by all the bullshit that goes on living here, that when visiting anywhere else we're shocked at the politeness of others.

Its a nice feeling to get out of New York every once in a while to experience that.

Potty Boy

I was in Orlando. Some dude hesitated when the light turned green. I honked him in a New York Minute, and then caught myself "dang, I just did a New York." All my buddies agreed.