UK Road Rage Survey: Our Biggest Road Annoyances Revealed

Wednesday 2nd September 2020

Many of us have found ourselves in situations where we’ve felt frustrations whilst driving; in fact our recent survey of 500 UK drivers has revealed that 60% of us have been on the receiving end of road rage.

What Are Our Top Annoyances On The Road?

Our survey found four clear annoyances for drivers:

• Dangerous Driving
• Tailgating
• Cyclists / Motorbikes
• Lack of Indication

What’s interesting though, is that London tops the list of those aggravated by cyclists and motorbikes, with almost 50% of respondents saying this was their biggest annoyance on the road, whilst those in Edinburgh and Glasgow were much less likely to have the same frustrations.

Here’s the top annoyances by city:

If we break it down by gender, women are much more annoyed by lack of indication than men (almost 50% of women see this as a cause of road rage!); whilst men find dangerous driving to be their biggest aggravation.

Which City Has The Most Road Rage?

Based on how frequently our respondents said they felt road rage, the angriest cities are:

1. Belfast
2. Edinburgh
3. Manchester
4. London
5. Liverpool

4 in 10 people in Belfast experience road rage weekly, leading to the city topping the list.

Which Cities Are The Calmest?

1. Birmingham
2. Sheffield
3. Bristol
4. Leeds
5. Nottingham

Brummies are much calmer, with the majority only experiencing road rage every so often (less frequently than monthly).

How Can You Keep Calm On The Road?

We’re only human and emotions are natural, however if you feel you’re becoming angry whilst driving, try these steps:

• Try not to drive unless you’re in a good frame of mind. Setting off when you’re upset or distracted can lead to increased chances of road rage.
• Plan for delays. If you give yourself extra time for your journey, you’re less likely to be annoyed by traffic.
• Don’t overreact to someone else’s bad or dangerous driving. This can be extremely difficult, but it’s important to focus on your driving, rather than others.
• Refrain from unnecessary gestures, flashing your lights, honking your horn and other actions which can not only aggravate yourself, but other drivers.
• Deep breathing is a great technique to control your frustrations. Pull over where it’s safe to and calm yourself with breathing techniques, until you feel your frustrations ease.