Which Bad Drivers Annoy You the Most?

Get ready. On Memorial Day more than 30 million Americans are expected to hit the roads and a good percentage of them will exhibit not only bad manners but potentially dangerous behavior.

In Expedia.com’s third annual Road Rage Report, the Texter, ranked as the most aggravating driver on the road, winning the least desirable roadmate spot three years in a row. (Texters make me particularly annoyed as one smashed into my car several years ago, totaling it with me in it.)

Expedia, one of the largest full-service travel sites, partnered with GfK, an independent market research company, who interviewed 1,000 American adult drivers to find out what types of road behavior make us furious.

Expedia’s List of the12 Types of American Drivers Who Make Us Angry

• The Texter, was listed by 22 % of respondents

• The Tailgater, 14%

• The Last-Minute Line-Cutter, 13%

• The Left-Lane Hog, 11%

• The Crawler, 8%

• The Multitasker, 8%

• The Speeder, 5%

• The Drifter, 5%

• The Honker, 3%

• The Inconsiderate, 2 %

• The Red Light Racer, 1 %

Of course, those behaviors only bother us when performed by others, not ourselves.

Which cities have the rudest drivers? New Yorkers were cited by 43% of respondents as “exhibiting the worst road rage,” making it, according to Expedia’s survey “the least courteous driving city in America.” Los Angeles drivers came in second, cited by 30%, and Chicago drivers ranked third, named for bad behavior by only 16% of respondents.

Of the 25 cities listed, Portland, OR, claimed first place as the most courteous, noted for negative driving traits by only 1% of respondents and Minneapolis/St. Paul, came in as second nicest, named for bad driving behavior by just by 2% of those surveyed.

Road Rage, Threats, and Fights

Road rage can be serious. If another driver’s bad form behind the wheel leads you to mumble a four-letter curse word that only you can hear, then consider that a way to vent. But when drivers act upon it, road rage causes accidents and even murder. We’ve all read the headlines.

Expedia reports that 20% of respondents felt physically threatened by another driver; 45% say they have been involved in or nearly involved in an accident due to an inattentive driver, 13% have been approached by an angry driver, and 9% have gotten into a physical fight with another driver.

Then again, sometimes it’s not other drivers who bug us, it’s our own passengers.

Expedia’s List of Passenger Behaviors that Irritate Us

• The Back-seat driver won worst passenger behavior, cited by 61% of respondents

• The passengers who won’t navigate, received 11% of responses

• The Radio Hog, 9%

• The Snoozer, 6%

• The Shoeless, 5%

The road rage report is almost enough to make you stay at home this Memorial Day Weekend. If you venture out, be courteous, forgiving, and vigilant.