Worst Cities In UK For Road Rage Have Been Named
A whopping 62 percent of people have admitted to experiencing road rage while out driving and the worst cities in the UK for angry drivers have been revealed.
A recent study from Compare the Market surveyed more than 2,000 British motorists about their experiences of road rage and some cities fared a lot better than others.
The worst city for road rage was Belfast, with 71 percent experiencing anger while driving, followed by Sheffield with 68 percent and Birmingham and Nottingham both on 66 percent.
London came in fifth place, believe it or not.
In terms of the cities with the least amount of road rage, Edinburgh and Newcastle topped the survey, with only around 50 percent of motorists admitting to losing their cool when behind the wheel.
When it comes to locations most likely to make drivers see red, first place went to city centres, with 21 percent, followed by city traffic on 18 percent and roundabouts and motorways tied on 15 percent, just ahead of residential roads with 14 percent.
The survey also asked people how they are most likely to express their road rage, with most (44 percent) saying they beep their horn, followed by 40 percent who said they shout inside their car.
Not everyone was content with beeping and shouting, though, as a more worrying six percent said they would damage another vehicle and just under one in ten said they would step out of their cars to confront a fellow motorist.
Neuro-linguistic expert Rebecca Lockwood has explained what it is about driving that can leave us fuming in our seats.
She explained: "Our road rage tendencies are partly down to our experiences while watching others drive which can have a great impact on how we perceive what is normal while driving.
"For those who have grown up watching a parent express road rage, it can be common for us to inhabit these behaviours as we grow older.
"Road rage is often intensified by external factors we experience in our day-to-day lives. While experiencing stress in other areas of your life it's common for them to burst out in other situations."
Explaining why cars appear to amplify our frustrations, she added: "When we are experiencing road rage in the car, it's much easier to forget that the other cars hold real people. It dissociates someone from the situation and creates a barrier between the person and the car."
Claire Reid