Does this surprise you? Do you think your fellow drivers in Louisiana are rude or courteous? Are you a rude driver yourself?
Kars4Kids conducted a survey to determine how the states rank for rude driving behaviors as part of their courteous driving awareness campaign. While only 50 drivers from each state participated in the survey, the results were surprising. Louisiana drivers ranked 47 for rudest drivers. Our drivers were the second most likely in the nation to slow down when someone was tailgating them and handled exits most rudely in the country.
Of course, New York had the rudest drivers in the country (not surprising some would say). Louisiana receiving a D- and being ranked 47 does seem pretty surprising to us.
It Does Shed Light on Bad Driving Habits
The survey may not be very scientific or represent a large portion of drivers, but it does call attention to some driving behaviors that are dangerous in addition to being considered rude. For example, the survey asked respondents how they handled drivers who are traveling at a slower rate of speed — do they pass, tailgate, honk the horn, or flash their lights.
Other questions dealt with:
- Being tailgated by another driver;
- Speeding up to stop someone from passing you;
- Refusing to allow a car to merge into your lane in heavy traffic;
- Running yellow lights;
- Cutting people off to make a sudden turn;
- Using a turn lane to go around slow or stopped traffic;
- Cutting into heavy traffic at the last minute to exit instead of merging safely further back; and,
- Cutting someone off for a parking space.
All the questions refer to aggressive driving behaviors that can increase the risk of a traffic accident.
Current Research into Aggressive Driving
According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, aggressive driving is responsible for more than half of deaths in motor vehicle crashes. While 80 percent of drivers believe that aggressive driving is a serious problem, many drivers are guilty of these aggressive driving behaviors each day throughout the country.
AAA’s Traffic Safety Culture Index for 2015 seems to back up the belief that aggressive driving and dangerous driving behaviors are becoming a bigger problem on our roads. Some important statistics from the report include:
- Almost 94 percent of people disapprove of running red lights, but 1 in 3 people admit to running a red light in the past month.
- Over 88 percent of drives disapprove of speeding in residential areas, yet 45 percent admit to doing so.
- Over 77 percent of drivers believe that texting and emailing while driving is a serious threat and 80 believe the behavior is completely unacceptable, yet almost one-half of drivers admit to reading texts or emails while driving and a third admit to typing and sending them while driving.
It appears that as drivers, we do not practice what we preach when it comes to aggressive or dangerous driving behaviors.
Has A Negligent Driver Injured You in a Car Accident?
Call Attorney Fred Olinde of The Olinde Firm by calling (504) 587-1440 or 1-800-587-1889 to request a free consultation with a New Orleans accident attorney. We can help you recover compensation for your injuries, damages, and losses from the aggressive driver who caused your traffic accident. You should not suffer financial losses because of another driver’s negligence.