Where road rage is a way of life: These states have the most confrontational drivers, survey says

Abigail Celaya and James Powel, USA TODAY
Updated ·2 min read
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A report by Forbes Advisor named Arizona the state with the most confrontational drivers in the US.

The report said that road rage incidents are on the rise nationwide. 413 people were injured in a road rage shooting in 2022, which was a 135% increase from 2018, according to the report.

The survey was conducted by the market research company OnePoll for Forbes Advisor. OnePoll surveyed 10,000 licensed drivers older than 18 who owned at least one car and compared its data across all 50 states. Respondents were asked about being: forced off the road, blocked from changing lanes, cut off on purpose, yelled at, insulted or threatened.

The United States top 5 most confrontational driving states

  • 1. Arizona (100/100)

  • 2. Rhode Island (98.46/100)

  • 3. West Virginia (97.82/100)

  • 4. Virginia (96.97/100)

  • 5. Oklahoma (96.49/100)

More than 80% of drivers in Arizona have been yelled at, insulted, cursed at or threatened by another driver, and 31.5% of Arizona drivers reported that another driver exited their vehicle to yell or fight with them – fifth highest ranking in the nation.

Arizona and Oklahoma tied for having the third highest percentage (70.5%) of drivers who have been tailgated.

Rhode Island drivers were most likely to report that another driver has yelled at them, insulted them, cursed at them or made threats with 96.5% saying that they had been threatened, the report said.

West Virginia and Texas drivers tied for being most likely to report that another driver has cut them off on purpose.

Illinois drivers had the highest percentage of drivers respond that they had been forced off the road at 23.5%

The lowest ranking states were Delaware (0.0), Idaho (1.76) and South Dakota (7.87).

Fatal incident: Texas woman killed in road-rage shooting after husband says he 'flipped off' driver

What are the top 5 reasons for road rage?

  • Heavy traffic: 39.35%

  • Already feeling stressed: 38.06%

  • Running late: 33.89%

  • Already feeling angry: 32.49%

  • Feeling tired: 26.86%

Dangerous streets: Police seek tips in road-rage shooting that killed an 18-year-old woman in Phoenix suburb

Where does road rage occur?

  • Freeways or highways: 26.59%

  • Parking lots: 14.9%

  • Intersections: 12.36%

  • Rural roads: 6.99%

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: These states have most confrontational drivers in the US, survey says