This State Has The Most Road Rage In America According To Consumer Affairs

Who can say with all honesty that they haven't been agitated by others on the road? Whether it's driving home at rush hour, frustrations with sharing the road with cyclists or other drivers, or even just being cut off without signaling, we've all had flashes of anger while behind the wheel. It's okay to be upset or frustrated, but what's important is how we act on our emotions. Being reckless on the road or trying to teach other drivers a lesson is exceptionally dangerous and leads to multiple deaths each year.

Consumer Affairs analyzed various data points on aggressive driving, including speeding, tailgating, honking and obscene gestures, running a red light, aggressive driving, and cutting off vehicles, to determine which state exhibits the most anger-induced driving. Road rage is quite common all across the United States, with Consumer Affairs finding that 92% of Americans reported seeing an example of road rage at least once in the past year. 

One might expect a densely populated state like California or New York to be the first-ranked state for incidents of road rage, but it appears that population has little to do with such incidents. The No. 1 state is actually Louisiana.

Louisiana received a score of 47.32 in the analysis performed by Consumer Affairs. Out of all the reported accidents in the state, 62.2% were caused by aggressive/careless driving. Meanwhile, the deaths were just as high, with 62.8% of all fatalities being caused by aggressive/careless driving. 

Axios reported that there were 1.53 road rage-related shootings per 1 million people in Louisiana in 2023, just slightly higher than the national average of 1.36. While Louisiana didn't have the highest gun-related road rage incidents — that was New Mexico – there are a great many drivers who claim to keep at least one weapon in their car at all times. In a national poll, 45% of drivers claim to have pepper spray, while 40% say they have a gun, and 50% claim to keep a knife close by. 

There are several factors that can be contributing to these statistics, including people driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. However, traffic fatalities in Louisiana are down 10% from 2023, which the Highway Safety Commission attributes to more people wearing seatbelts.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has used the term "aggressive driving" since the '90s to describe traffic offenses. It differentiates road rage from aggressive driving, which is considered any behavior that can pose a potential danger to other drivers, such as tailgating, speeding, and running stop lights. All these actions can lead to an accident but don't directly impact other drivers on the road. 

Road rage, on the other hand, usually entails a violent action toward a specific vehicle or driver. There are criminal charges to go along with rageful actions like sideswiping, bumping, or ramming another vehicle, brake checking, or forcing another car off the road.

If you're a victim of another driver's anger, move to the far right lane and allow them to pass. Don't let your ego get the best of you because it's more important that you and your passengers are safe. Stay away from speeding vehicles, as they're more likely to cause an accident. If you see somebody swerving or driving recklessly, steer clear of them. Call 911 if another driver is harassing you. You can also purchase devices like dashcams to combat road rage drivers. Something like the Garmin Dash Cam Live can provide footage to prove your innocence in case of an accident or confrontation, which may keep your insurance rates from skyrocketing.

If you feel your anger rising, pull over to where it's safe, even if that means exiting the highway, and breathe. Don't drive again until you're able to manage your stress better.

Consumer Affairs isn't the only organization collecting data on drivers who succumb to road rage. In July 2024, Forbes Advisor released its own study that put California at the top of the list, not Louisiana. In fact, Louisiana ranked 22. In its research, Forbes reported that 47.5% of those asked saw other drivers cut them off on purpose, and 60.5% said another driver had tailgated them. Forbes Advisor's methodology used nine metrics to arrange its ranking, including the aforementioned metrics, other drivers forcing people off roads, drivers exiting their cars to yell at others, and five different categories of reports.

It's worth noting that these are reports from drivers. They're essentially surveys from eyewitnesses; if you know anything about eyewitness testimony, you know how unreliable it can be. How does one driver know they were cut off on purpose as opposed to the other driver swerving to avoid a hazard in the road? Consumer Affairs, on the other hand, used statistics of incidents that occurred from the Gun Violence Archive and NHTSA. 

Of course, there could be some flaws in the Consumer Affairs study as well since they categorize speeding as aggressive driving. Even if somebody is speeding, it doesn't always mean they are angry or experiencing road rage.