The places where Britain’s angriest drivers live can now be revealed – and Londoners are far more hot-headed while behind the wheel than drivers any other region, new research reveals.
Commissioned by the UK’s leading independent road safety charity, IAM RoadSmart, the survey discovered that 58 per cent of Londoners find themselves getting angry at other drivers when they make mistakes. And with 2.5 million licensed cars in London, this could represent up to 1.4 million drivers losing their cool on the capital’s roads.
Meanwhile, residents of Northern Ireland and West Midlanders were the second most prone to road rage, with 45 per cent and 44 per cent respectively admitting they also get angry at other drivers.
Conversely, Scottish drivers were in fact the calmest drivers, with just a third (32 per cent) of motorists north of the border admitting they are prone to road rage. The Scots were closely followed by drivers from the North West and North East of England, with 33 per cent and 36 per cent of motorists from this region confessing to feeling angry behind the wheel, respectively.
And it appears motorists’ anger while driving is also leading them to sound their horns inappropriately, with over half (56 per cent) of Londoners stating that they are likely to sound their horn at a motorist who is driving too slowly in front of them.
This compares to just one in ten (10 per cent) of Welsh motorists and 14 per cent of East Midlanders who sound their horn at slower drivers.
Neil Greig, Director of Policy and Research at IAM RoadSmart, commented: “In the UK we have some of the busiest and most congested roads in Europe, perhaps making feelings of anger much more likely, and our research shows that this can be clearly observed in some regions more than others.
“Having said this, our research demonstrates that far too many motorists are putting the safety of themselves, as well as other road users at risk by succumbing to road rage, with Londoners in particular struggling to keep their cool on our capital’s busy streets.
Neil concluded with some advice for any drivers who are prone to rage while driving: “While feeling angry may be a totally natural response to another road user acting recklessly or dangerously, everyone is responsible for maintaining their composure in such instances so that the situation isn’t made any worse. So, for the benefit of yourself and others, take a mindfulness moment, keep calm and motor on!”
