{"id":76544,"date":"2014-05-20T10:35:35","date_gmt":"2014-05-20T14:35:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=76544"},"modified":"2014-05-20T10:35:35","modified_gmt":"2014-05-20T14:35:35","slug":"swervers-left-lane-hogs-and-honkers-whats-most-likely-to-trigger-our-road-rage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2014\/05\/swervers-left-lane-hogs-and-honkers-whats-most-likely-to-trigger-our-road-rage\/","title":{"rendered":"Swervers, Left-Lane Hogs and Honkers: What\u2019s Most Likely to Trigger our Road Rage"},"content":{"rendered":"
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What set him off? A new study finds plenty of reasons for road rage. Image courtesy: Allstate.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Even the calmest drivers have experienced the occasional moment of road rage as they suffer the follies of another rude or inconsiderate motorist. But what\u2019s most likely to set us off? Getting stuck behind slow pokes who won\u2019t move out of the left lane, tailgaters and those texting while driving are some of the most rage-inducing behaviors, according to a new study by travel site Expedia.<\/p>\n

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Subscribe for Free!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Curiously, the 2014 Road Rage Report found that 69% of those surveyed have been \u201cflipped off\u201d by another motorist for some perceived slight \u2013 but only 17% of those who responded to the study said they have ever extended a rude hand gesture on their own.<\/p>\n

The report was released just in time for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend, the traditional start of summer and the busiest highway travel season of the year.<\/p>\n

“As the unofficial start of summer, Memorial Day sees a huge spike in the number of drivers on the road,” said Expedia General Manager John Morrey. “The rule, as with airplanes and hotels, is that shared spaces demand decorum and attentiveness.”<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve all done something to tick off another driver \u2013 innocently or not \u2013 but some folks just seem intent on being rude, inconsiderate or even reckless.\u00a0 Indeed, despite the fact that almost every state now has a law against texting while driving, the risky act is still unpleasantly common \u2013 and rated by 69% of the drivers surveyed as the activity most likely to get their blood boiling.<\/p>\n

(Your “new” used car or rental vehicle may have some serious, undisclosed safety problems. <\/em>Click Here<\/span><\/a> for more.) <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

A close second on the list? The tailgater who seems to think that by riding three feet off your bumper they\u2019ll somehow get to their destination a bit quicker. About 60% of the respondents listed that as a top road rage trigger.<\/p>\n

Multi-taskers, who may be focusing on everything but driving, rated a complaint by 54% of those surveyed, followed by \u201cDrifters,\u201d who can\u2019t settle into one lane, at 43%, and \u201cCrawlers,\u201d at 39%, who bump along at well below the speed limit.<\/p>\n

Other road-rage inducing behaviors:<\/p>\n

*The Swerver, who will suddenly change lanes or turn without signaling, at 38%;<\/p>\n

*Left Lane Hogs, who will stay in the passing lane no matter how slow they\u2019re driving or how many cars are behind them, 32%;<\/p>\n

*The Inconsiderate, who make sure you don\u2019t merge into their lane, perhaps putting them one car back in line, 30%;<\/p>\n

*Speeders, who are running well about the local limit, 27%;<\/p>\n

*Honkers, who seem intent on using the horn to express their frustrations, 18%;<\/p>\n

*The Unappreciative, who can\u2019t be bothered to wave or give thanks when you do them a favor, 13%; and<\/p>\n

*Red Light Racers, who have to be prepared to blast off the moment the light changes; 12%.<\/p>\n

While the survey found that motorists have a long list of peeves when it comes to how others drive, they also admit to some bad behaviors of their own.\u00a0 For one thing, 55% of the 1,001 drivers surveyed by Expedia acknowledged they sometimes use their own mobile phones while behind the wheel, whether to call or text.<\/p>\n

And if the survey is an accurate indicator of how Americans drive, well, 70% of us have been guilty, at some point, of aggressive driving behaviors, whether speeding (58%), tailgating (28%), or yelling or swearing at another driver (28%).<\/p>\n

Oh, and lest you think that men are the most likely to drive aggressively, the gender gap may be closing. While 74% of men admit to such behaviors, so do 67% of the women who were surveyed.<\/p>\n

(Pregnancy linked to higher car crash risk. <\/em>Click Here<\/span><\/a> for more.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The 2014 Road Rage Report \u2013 which has an error rate of plus or minus 3.1% — follows another recent survey that indicated Houston has the rudest drivers in the U.S.\u00a0 According to Expedia, however, New York City ranks on top, followed by Los Angeles and Atlanta. But big cities, in general, are seen as having the rudest drivers.<\/p>\n

(Study finds Houston is America’s “Road Rage Capital. <\/em>Click Here<\/span><\/a> for the story.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Even the calmest drivers experience occasional road rage. But what are the behavior most likely to set a motorist’s blood boiling? Among the pet peeves are Texters, Tailgaters, Multi-taskers and Crawlers, reports TheDetroitBureau.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76545,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"make":[],"post-state":[],"category_old":[151],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76544"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76544\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76544"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=76544"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=76544"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=76544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}