US Ranks Second for Aggressive Driving as Drivers Rate Their Own Countries

The car rental comparison and booking website DiscoverCars.com has carried out new research, surveying over 700 drivers around the world to find out which brands of car as well as which countries are associated by both locals and visitors with aggressive driving – and the US placed high in each of those rankings. The data also includes what people say annoys them the most about other drivers, as well as how often they themselves feel frustrated on the roads.

The car brands most associated with aggressive driving

1. 58% said aggressive behavior on the roads made them think of BMW. A previous DiscoverCars.com study also found that BMWs were the most likely to fail to signal.
2. 30% of survey respondents selected Audi.
3. In third place, 14% shared that they associated Land Rovers most with aggressive driving.
4. 12% of respondents selected Tesla, another premium brand.
5. For 11% of the survey respondents, Volkswagen, breaking the pattern of premium vehicles having a worse reputation.

Outside the top five, the car brands most associated with aggressive driving were Mercedes (3%), Toyota (2%) and Mazda, Ford and Volvo (1%).

How people rate driver aggression in their country

The survey also asked respondents to rate how aggressive they find fellow drivers in their country, from 1 (very calm) to 5 (very aggressive). The average score around the world was 3 out of 5.

1. The country with the worst rating was Italy, where residents gave their fellow drivers 3.5 on the scale from calm to aggressive.
2. Tied for second place, people based in the USA and New Zealand gave their countries 3.4 respectively.
3. The UK ranked in third place, squarely in the middle with a score of 3 out of 5.
4. Tied for fourth place, drivers in the Netherlands and France both scored their respective countries a lower score than the world average, at 2.9 out of 5.
5. In fifth place, Canadian drivers rated their fellow drivers 2.8 on the scale.
6. With the lowest score, Australia was given a score of 2.7 by residents.

The countries most associated with aggressive driving

DiscoverCars.com also asked drivers to share which destinations they associated with aggressive driving the most.

1. 23% said they had experienced the most aggression from other drivers in Italy.
2. Next, 11% said they had experienced this in the UK – with London also being one of the top mentioned cities.
3. 9% of survey respondents associated the US most with aggressive drivers. New York specifically was name-checked as one of the top destinations where people said they had experienced this behavior on the roads.
4. 5% of drivers answered France, with the same percentage citing Australia.
5. Tied for fifth place, 4% of survey respondents said they had experienced the most aggression on the roads in Spain or Turkey.

Road rage statistics

DiscoverCars.com asked survey respondents about how often they get frustrated with other drivers. The majority at 68% said “occasionally” with 17% saying this happens “often”. 5% feel annoyed every day while 10% said they never do.

65% of drivers admitted to using their horn “occasionally” but 32% said they never do this. Only 2% honk at other drivers often, with an even smaller 1% doing so every day.

The survey also looked into what behaviors annoy drivers the most, with a multiple choice question that invited respondents to select their pet peeves.

1. Not using turn signals (56%)
2. Tailgating (46%)
3. Slow driving in the passing lane (43%)
4. Distracted drivers (39%)
5. Sudden braking (20%)
6. Other (10%)

Aleksandrs Buraks, Head of Growth at DiscoverCars.com, comments:

“As a car rental comparison and booking website, we were able to survey more than 700 drivers to explore their opinions and experiences when it comes to how people behave on the roads. Four out of the top five car brands that make people think of aggressive driving are premium brands associated with a high price point, with Volkswagen being the outlier. This matches up with our previous study that found the cars most likely to fail to signal correctly were BMWs – this brand was also the number one car manufacturer most associated with aggressive drivers according to this new survey.

“We also found that Italy was the country that residents gave the worst rating for aggressive driving, as well as being the country that drivers from around the world associated the most with this kind of behavior on the roads. But we hope that doesn’t put you off a trip to this beautiful country! Sometimes different driving customs just take a little getting used to, such as hearing the horn a bit more often.”