Question: Are Massachusetts Drivers Hostile? Answer: HELL, YEAH!
Fellow Berkshire County residents, is it just me, or have other drivers out there on the roadways become even crazier since the pandemic? Maybe I'm just delusional, but it seems like more and more drivers are pulling some dangerous stunts out there lately.
For instance, never in my entire life have I seen as many people run red lights as I've seen do it in the past year or so. And we're not talking "yellow lights turning to red lights", either. We're talking blatant red lights. That's dangerous.
How often lately have you been cut off by another driver? Or had another driver right on your ass until you pulled over and got out of their way? Or had someone yell and scream at you? Or just lay on their horn incessantly? Or are you that other driver doing all those things?
Forbes Advisor recently conducted a road rage study and came up with some pretty interesting results. They ranked the states according to most confrontational drivers. Where do you think Massachusetts placed?
First off, the team at Forbes Advisor scored each state by 10 factors including everything from obscene hand gestures to cursing to forcing another driver off the road and shooting at them! 5,000 drivers,100 from each state, were surveyed.
Guess what? Utah came in at #1! For crying out loud, the Beehive State ranked #1 for the most confrontational drivers. According to the survey, 27% of Utah drivers said they were aware of someone in their state who was injured during a road rage incident.
Missouri came in at #2 and Colorado has the third-most confrontational drivers in the country. I have to admit, although I love the Bay State, I thought Massachusetts would have ranked higher in the study. Not that we weren't high. Massachusetts came in at #15. 15 out of 50? That's pretty high.
By the way, I don't think I'll be in a hurry to move to Missouri anytime soon. Missouri drivers were more likely than drivers in any other state to report that another driver shot at them or pointed a gun at them. Not for me, thanks.
On the flip side, the state with the least confrontational drivers is...North Dakota. Followed by Pennsylvania, Michigan, Florida, and believe it or not, New York. The study features a lot of cool data to peruse. Do yourself a favor and check it out for yourself by visiting the Forbes Advisor website here.
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