Denver’s Rank for Aggressive Driving

Dangerous Driving Behavior Leads to Fatal Auto Accidents

Every year, national organizations, media outlets, and now, even app developers rank cities based on certain criteria, such as the best cities to live in America, the best cities for women in technology, and so on. Recently, a popular fuel-saving app called GasBuddy analyzed data about users’ driving habits to come up with a list of the worst cities for aggressive driving.

Congestion Breeds Aggression

Aggressive driving is defined as unsafe driving behavior that is deliberate without any regard to safety. Aggressive driving encompasses behavior such as:

• Speeding
• Tailgating
• Ignoring red lights
• Weaving or erratically changing lanes
• Cutting in front of other drivers and then slowing down.

GasBuddy reviewed specific information submitted, including the frequency of speeding, excessive braking, and acceleration, which are all indicators of aggressive driving. Researchers then analyzed the information to form its “worst” list.

So, which city is the worst when it comes to aggressive driving according to GasBuddy? Los Angeles, California, ranks number one. In fact, when you look at the top 10 cities for most aggressive drivers, California has four cities ranked. When it comes to traffic fatalities in that state, accidents resulted in more than 3,600 deaths in 2017, which denotes that nearly 10 out of every 100,000 people in California are dying due to a vehicle crash. Cities outside of California that ranked among the top 10 were Philadelphia, Atlanta, Orlando, Detroit, Austin, and Las Vegas.

For those wondering about Colorado, Denver was ranked among the top 30, coming in at the 26^th city with the most aggressive drivers. Surprisingly though, when it comes to the number of fatalities in the state, 2017 saw 648 people die in Colorado auto accidents, which denotes that nearly 12 out of every 100,000 people in the state were killed in a vehicle crash, making driving in Colorado more deadly than in California.

Most Drivers Exhibit Aggressive Behaviors

A study by AAA notes that within the past year, nearly 80 percent of drivers questioned admitted to showing some form of aggressive behavior. The Insurance Information Institute (III) highlights the dangers of aggressive driving by noting fatal statistics gathered by The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In 2017, NHTSA said that speeding killed more than 9,700 people on our nation’s highways.

Road rage, which takes aggression to an even higher level creates an even more deadly situation. Road rage generally involves a driver who purposefully tries to harm someone with their vehicle or with a firearm, which shockingly results in about 30 murders a year.

Other aspects of the problem of aggressive driving highlighted in the GasBuddy research are:

• Friday is the most aggressive day of the week for drivers, while Wednesday is the least aggressive day.
• The impulse to react to aggression with aggression is the worst thing you can do as a driver.
• If you find yourself near an aggressive driver, pull over to a safe place and report the incident to the police. Aggressive driving can lead to serious road rage, so it’s always best to let the police handle these situations.

Aggressive driving is preventable, but it takes everyone on the road abiding by traffic laws and being courteous to other drivers.