More than three out of four drivers engage in aggressive behavior: report

Washington – Seventy-eight percent of U.S. drivers displayed aggressive behavior behind the wheel at least once in 2014, according to a new report from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

Researchers surveyed 2,705 licensed drivers ages 16 and older who had driven at least once in the previous 30 days. The top aggressive driving behaviors reported were tailgating (50.8 percent), yelling at another driver (46.6 percent) and honking to show annoyance or anger (44.5 percent), the report states.

Other findings included:

• 32.5 percent of drivers made an angry gesture at another driver.
• 24.1 percent tried to stop another driver from changing lanes.
• 11.9 percent cut off another driver.
• 3.7 percent left their vehicle to challenge another driver.
• 2.8 percent bumped or rammed another vehicle.

The researchers noted that aggressive behaviors may be underreported because the actions are perceived to have negative social connotations.

“Given that previous research has found that many fatal crashes likely involve aggressive driving, and a large majority of the motoring public admits to at least some driving behaviors that may be considered aggressive, interventions are necessary to decrease the prevalence of aggressive driving and related crashes,” researchers wrote.