State Farm Survey Reveals Aggressive Driving Increases During Holiday Season

According to an online survey of 1,000 U.S drivers over 18 years old conducted by State Farm and KRC Research, nearly two out of three (64 percent) U.S. drivers have experienced an act of aggressive driving six times or more in the past three months from another driver.

With a large number of drivers affected by aggressive driving already, the new survey revealed nearly a third of drivers say their likelihood to engage in aggressive driving increases during the winter holidays.

Survey Key Findings
• Forty-four percent of drivers reported that they have engaged in aggressive driving behaviors in the past three months.
• 32 percent of younger drivers (ages 18-29), 28 percent of middle aged drivers (ages 30-49) and parents (30 percent) were significantly more likely to report being provoked or engage in aggressive driving around the major winter holidays compared to only 9 percent of older drivers (ages 50 and older) and non-parents (15 percent).
• About half of survey respondents perceive men and women to be equally courteous when driving. When it comes to aggressive driving, however, the majority (54 percent) of drivers cite men as the most likely culprits of aggressive driving, compared to only one in 10 who said that women are more likely. The remaining 37 percent of drivers reported men and women to be equally likely to engage in aggressive driving.
• Top situations most likely to make drivers respond aggressively were traffic jams (63 percent), running late (55 percent) and road closures or construction (47 percent).

“These findings reinforce how important it is to keep safety top of mind when driving every day, but especially during heavy travel times like the winter holidays,” says Chris Mullen, director of technology research at State Farm. “Both negative and positive emotions can affect the way drivers behave and it’s vital to be aware of your state of mind and continually refocus your attention on the road and practicing safe driving behaviors.”

Naughty – or aggressive – driving can include speeding or driving too fast for conditions, improper lane changing or passing, and tailgating according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

About the Study
The study was an online survey designed and conducted by KRC Research on behalf of State Farm from October 25 to November 3, 2013. In all, 1,000 drivers among a demographically representative U.S. sample of adults 18 years of age and older were surveyed. All respondents were required to have a valid U.S. driver’s license to participate in the survey. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

Source: State Farm, KRC Research