Many drivers can attest to a similar emotion: you have waited patiently in traffic, followed the rules, only to see someone skip past you by driving on the shoulder. Or you have rushed back to the car, only to find another driver has blocked you as they have run into a store for a quick purchase. 

Encounters such as these seem to happen remarkably frequently, and some people believe rules only apply to them when it suits their interests.

We carried out a survey of 3,056 drivers across the country to identify the cities where they seem to be more willing to bend the rules. 

Key Findings

New York drivers live by their own rules. 

The data is clear that four New York cities appear in the top 20: New York City (#2), Rochester (#10), Yonkers (#13), and Syracuse (#19). That gives the state more entries in the top 20 than any other. The state even had another entry (Buffalo, at #43) in the top 50. 

Bad drivers in Texas are not far behind New York. 

All five Texas cities included in the study fall within the top 40: Dallas (#6), Houston (#17), Austin (#27), San Antonio (#33), and Fort Worth (#37).

Florida’s drivers offer a mix of rule followers. 

The Sunshine State demonstrates that a state can have a wide variation of followers and breakers of laws. Miami ranks eighth, followed by Orlando (#34), Tampa (#35), and Jacksonville (#50). Then there’s St. Petersburg at #130.

Use of the horn is the biggest protest against bad driving. 

Indeed, the survey showed that use of the horn is the most common action when drivers consider another driver to be annoying or angering them. 22% reported honking repeatedly, 17% making an angry gesture, and 17% shouting from their vehicle. Other protest actions included accelerating to prevent another driver from passing. 

Drivers who intimidate on purpose are surprisingly plentiful. 

Fifteen percent admitted to having, on at least one occasion, used their car to make someone feel threatened. Approximately half had done it more than once. 

Being followed by another car has to be one of the most unsettling experiences on the road. 

A surprisingly high 10% of drivers said that they have been followed before by another person following a road-rage incident, though only 3% reported an actual physical confrontation. An encounter does not have to become physical to feel threatening, especially when it continues after someone has tried to drive away.

Most would stay following a collision. 

When respondents were asked whether they had ever been tempted to leave the scene of a collision, 14% said they had been tempted but stayed, while 7% admitted they had driven away.

Final Thoughts

“It was only for a minute”, or “they started it” are familiar excuses drivers make when confronted by police. However, neither statement would change the potential, and in some cases, severe consequences of breaking road rules. 

Depending on the transgression and state, breaking rules can result in points on a license or losing the right to drive. Leaving the scene of a collision can carry penalties even when nobody is injured, and the damage appears minor.

However, the stakes can become far more serious if someone is hurt. A driver who caused a fatal collision can face a serious criminal charge and imprisonment. 

A poor decision made in seconds can negatively shape the rest of someone’s life.