Infrastructure

American Drivers Are Really, REALLY Angry

AAA defines road rage as anything from purposely tailgating to ramming another vehicle on purpose.

American Drivers Are Really, REALLY Angry
Getty Images / Scott Olson
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"Jesus. Where'd that guy come from?"

"This driver wants us dead!"

OK. Your road rage might not be this extreme. 

But according to AAA, almost 80 percent of drivers in the U.S. have expressed some sort of road rage in the past year. 

The majority of drivers said they engaged in aggressive behavior, such as purposefully tailgating, yelling at another driver and honking to show annoyance or anger. 

But 8 million drivers still engaged in what AAA called "extreme examples of road rage," which included getting out of their vehicle to confront another driver and ramming into another vehicle on purpose.

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To compile this data, AAA surveyed more than 2,700 drivers who were at least 16 years old and had driven in the past month. 

AAA also determined men are three times more likely than women to engage in road rage behaviors like ramming other vehicles and getting out of their cars. And drivers in the Northeast are more likely to honk, yell and gesture angrily than those in other parts of the U.S. 

That actually goes against a recent study by Auto Insurance Center, which analyzed Instagram posts with the hashtag #RoadRage and found the most came from Los Angeles. New York City did come in second, though. 

Of course, there's always the chance that more people in Los Angeles use Instagram for these type of posts than other cities. 

Mount Pleasant, North Carolina, Chicago and San Diego rounded out the top five. 

To help prevent road rage, AAA says people should — among other things — attempt to be forgiving of another drivers, maintain space around your vehicle and not cause other drivers to change their direction or speed. And if things get really bad, call 911. 

This video includes images from Getty Images and a clip from GAGA / "Road Rage."