The 12 Worst Driving Behaviors

The 12 Worst Driving Behaviors

You’re sitting at a red light, second in line. The light turns green. The car in front of you doesn’t move, and you can see the driver’s head is facing down. He’s texting and doesn’t notice it’s time to go until you honk. “The Texter” remains the worst driving behavior by Expedia.com, which issues an annual analysis of driving etiquette. More than 1,000 adult U.S. drivers were asked to give their opinions of fellow motorists, including which behaviors infuriate them the most. The 12 worst driving behaviors:

1. The Texter: 22 percent
2. The Tailgater: 14 percent
3. The Last-Minute Line-Cutter: 13 percent
4. The Left-Lane Hog: 11 percent
5. The Crawler: 8 percent
6. The Multitasker: 8 percent
7. The Swerver: 8 percent
8. The Speeder: 5 percent
9. The Drifter: 5 percent
10. The Honker: 3 percent
11. The Inconsiderate: 2 percent
12. The Red Light Racer: 1 percent

More statistics:

• The most common motorist misbehavior is weaving in and out of traffic, which has been witnessed by 80 percent of the American driving public.
• The second most common offense is “dangerous speeding” (77 percent), followed by “multitasking” (76 percent), being “cut off” (73 percent) and “aggressive tailgating” (68 percent).
• Drivers in New York City exhibit the “worst road rage,” according to 43 percent of survey respondents, making it the least courteous driving city in America. Los Angeles ranked second, cited by 30 percent of survey respondents, while Chicago drivers were called out by 16 percent.
• Of the 25 American cities listed in the study, Portland, Oregon, was deemed most courteous, cited by only 1 percent of respondents for being discourteous. The second most courteous city was Minneapolis/St. Paul, at 2 percent.
• A surprising number of drivers report receiving the middle finger while on the road. Nearly half (48 percent) of survey respondents have been on the receiving end of a “rude/hostile hand gesture,” 35 percent have been yelled or cursed at and 13 percent have been accosted by a driver who exited his or her vehicle to do so.
• An alarming 9 percent of survey respondents have gotten into a physical altercation with another driver, 19 percent have called the police to report a fellow driver’s misbehavior and 45 percent say they have been involved in, or nearly involved in, an accident due to an inattentive driver. About 20 percent of Americans also report that they have felt “physically threatened” by another driver.