Lawyers share the 5 worst cities in America for violent road rage incidents
Road rage is an epidemic. While not unique to the United States, American drivers tend to excel at letting their emotions trump their logic on the road. Of course, no American city is the same as the next. As such, every city has different levels of hot-blooded tantrums on its streets and highways.
Despite spending less time behind the wheel, drivers in Houston, Texas are more prone to road rage than LA and Miami drivers
Angel Reyes & Associates compiled data from the NHTSA, US Census, Numbeo, and Gun Violence Archive. The data ranks the cities with the most rage-predisposed drivers in the country. Using records of “violent outbursts,” including reckless driving, hit-and-runs, and shootings on the road, each city earned a road rage score. Here are the top five cities with anger to spare.
- Houston, Texas
That’s right. The most populous city in the Lone Star State takes the top spot among the most outburst-prone drivers in America. Houston’s 2.3 million people contend with a road rage score of 64.15, about 0.90 ahead of the No. 2 spot. Most notably, Houstonites have a shooting score of 36. As a result, Houston is the city with the greatest frequency of rage-related driver shootings in the country.
- Los Angeles, California
Driving in Los Angeles, California, can be a challenge. For starters, LA has some of the worst traffic density in the country. Granted, LA drivers are less prone to shoot one another than Houston motorists. However, LA leads the country in dissatisfied commuters, inefficiency, and time-wasting driving. Coupled with a high propensity toward reckless driving, LA motorists earned an overall score of 63.25.
- Chicago, Illinois
Chicago, Illinois takes the No. 3 spot, with an overall score of 56.35. Drivers in the Windy City report worse dissatisfaction and more perceived time wasters in their drives than Houston. What’s more, Chicago still gets a shooting score of 33, despite having much more restrictive gun laws than Nashville, Tennessee, the No. 4 city.
- Nashville, Tennessee
An overall road rage score of 56.25 puts Nashville, Tennessee just 0.10 behind Chicago for angry, possibly violent drivers. Nashville has a lower shooting score than Chicago at 26. However, Music City, USA, has a reckless driving score of 63, second only to Houston among the top rage-prone American cities.
- Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida rounds out the top five cities with the angriest, outburst-liable drivers in the country. Miami earns a 56.15 overall, putting it just behind Nashville but well ahead of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Like LA, Miami motorists complain of deeply dissatisfying commutes and wasted time behind the wheel, contributing to the Florida city’s tendency to get mad behind the wheel.
