Brits top of international road rage charts

The results of a recent study show British drivers experience more road rage than any other nationality. This comes from new data released by LeasePlan.

The survey, which consisted of a poll of 3,000 drivers in 20 countries around the world, discovered that British drivers were much more likely to experience aggression and/or rudeness when driving from fellow motorists.

The research has been published as a mark of Road Safety Week, a national campaign to get drivers of all ages to improve their driving and become more aware of road safety. One finding of the study was that 53% of participants experienced verbal aggression behind the wheel. Meanwhile 76% of people said they had experienced aggressive gestures and a very high 73% said they had been blocked off on the road by another driver.

These worrying findings put Britain at the top of the road rage ladder, particularly when it comes to experiencing aggressive behaviour on the roads – well ahead of the Germans, Czechs and French.

For example, only 52% of Indians said they had experienced aggressive gestures by fellow drivers, while only 47% of Germans had encountered what is deemed verbal aggression.

A further finding of the survey was that British motorists are also guilty of so-called distracted driving. Many drivers use phones to text or make calls when behind the wheel, with other eat or drink while driving.

Managing Director of LeasePlan UK, Matt Dyer had this to say:

“What the LeasePlan research has uncovered is that heavily congested roads and busy lives are taking their toll on UK drivers, and this is resulting in worrying levels of poor driver behaviour.

“At LeasePlan driver safety is our priority, which is why we recently applauded the Government for injecting £15 billion into improving our roads.

“We have long campaigned for more funding to be directed towards this vital part of the nation’s transport infrastructure and we hope that regardless of which party or parties form the next Government, this commitment to a ‘roads revolution’ will be delivered in a timely fashion to benefit UK drivers.”