Does rush hour make your skin crawl? Does being cut off by an oblivious driver make you see red? Do you scream in your car at the unbelievable guy in front of you who is talking on his cell phone and shaving while driving? The words “road rage”and irate drivers are pretty common today. However, have you ever wondered which states or cities have the most road rage? Well, a new study says that St. Louis drivers are actually the 3rd nicest in the entire country (Toler, 2014).
Sure, when cruising around St. Louis you might encounter honking horns and flying obscenities but, compared to other cities, we’re doing alright. St. Louis ranked right behind Portland (number 1) and Pittsburgh (number 2) in a study commissioned by AutoVantage to find the most courteous drivers in the U.S. (Toler, 2014). This study looked at individuals over the age of 21 who personally drive in rush hour at least three days a week in America’s 25 largest cities. Which city is the most prone to road rage? Houston was named the city with the worst case of road rage followed by Atlanta and Baltimore (Toler, 2014).
One thing that is interesting to note is that St. Louis drivers are apparently getting nicer. This isn’t the first time AutoVantage commissioned such a study but it was the first time around St. Louis was at the top of the list. In 2009, the study named St. Louis number 8 for most courteous drivers (Toler, 2014).
St. Louis drivers may be pretty darn nice but the state of Missouri as a whole apparently doesn’t have very good drivers. In another 2014 study by Car Insurance Comparison, Missouri ranked 7th in terms of worst drivers (Nedelea, 2014). This study ranked all 50 states based on a score obtained by evaluating:
- Fatalities rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled
- Failure to obey (traffic signals and seat belts laws)
- Drunk driving
- Tickets
- Careless driving
The “winning”state (the state with the worst drivers overall) was Louisiana while the state that came in last (the state with the safest drivers overall) was Vermont (Nedelea, 2014).
What does all this mean? Well, in theory, states with bad drivers may face higher insurance premiums than states with better drivers. For St. Louis in particular, it means that if you’re in St. Louis, we may not be the best drivers but at least we’ll be nice about it when we cut you off or find ourselves in a car accident.