posted May 17, 2006 09:12 AM              

(May 17) - Stressed Miami drivers speed, tailgate and cut off other drivers so frequently that the city earned the title of worst road rage in a survey released Tuesday.

Top Five Rudest

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More than 2,000 adult drivers were asked to rate road rage and rude driving.

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AutoVantage, an automobile membership club offering travel services and roadside assistance, also listed Phoenix, New York, Los Angeles and Boston among the top five cities for rude driving.

Minneapolis, Nashville, St. Louis, Seattle and Atlanta were rated as the cities with the most courteous drivers, who were less likely to change lanes without signaling or swear at other motorists.

And the Most Polite



AP
Minneapolis is listed as the city with the least road rage, followed by Nashville, St. Louis, Seattle and Atlanta.

More than 2,000 adult drivers who regularly commute in 20 major metropolitan areas were asked to rate road rage and rude driving in telephone surveys between January and March. The survey conducted by Prince Market Research has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.

Drivers owned up to some rude behavior themselves: Nearly all said they had talked on a cell phone while driving, and 64 percent acknowledged they occassionally drive too fast.

Young drivers and people with long commutes were found to be the most likely to react to an aggressive or rude driver. The top reactions included honking the horn, cursing or making an obscene gesture.

No distinct differences were found between male and female drivers.

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"Human behavior is so involved with crashes at all levels,'' said Elly Martin, a spokeswoman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. "(Aggressive driving) is a pattern of behavior drivers exhibit over and over.''

AutoVantage, based in Norwalk, Conn., hopes to use the survey to educate people about how to resist road rage. Among its tips are remaining calm and not making eye contact with an angry driver.

05-17-06 02:51 EDT

posted May 17, 2006 12:25 PM              

I would have to think that Michigan has to be right up there on the top of the list for rude drivers but I think everyone feels that way about the area of the country they have to drive in daily.

posted May 17, 2006 02:14 PM            

No one obeys the speed limit and usually goes about 20 miles or more above it. My dad lives in Litchfield Park (near the Air Force base) and they had to lower the 101 speed limit from 65 to 55 because people started to drive over 100 MPH.

We also have many out of country and out of state drivers due to the season / location. Many don't understand the rules, roads etc.. and you have Arizonan's driving like wild cats and others wondering where in the heck they are.

Tucson isn't as bad, but I would rather spend my time in Phoenix.

I live in a rural county so we don't have AS many problems. Again, it is mostly with people from Sonora or Chihuahua Mexico that don't understand our MPH versus their KPH. So they slow waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down on our two lane highways forcing us to pass them or breathe in their noxious fumes from their less that stellar gas.

I never though LA was too bad, but I didn't care for commuting to Baltimore or working there for the 6 years I lived in Annapolis. Tons of aggressive drivers existed in MD / VA surrounding DC.