Survey 3 in 4 Australians suffer from road rage

Angry drivers are the norm on Australian roads, with 74 per cent of drivers claiming they suffer from road rage, according to the study.

Rude hand gestures (53 per cent) and abusive shouting (49 per cent) were the most common forms of rage encountered. The top three causes of road rage were inconsiderate driving (46 per cent), someone pushing in front at the last minute (43 per cent) and tail-gating (42 per cent).

While down on the 87 per cent figure in similar research conducted last year, the research suggests road rage is still a concerning issue for road issues, says CARSguide.

“It’s no secret that road rage is an issue on our roads, but I think it is interesting that 74 per cent of our survey respondents readily admit they suffer from it,” chief operating officer for CARSguide.com.au, Tony Burrett said.

“There may be fundamental issues with the way our road networks are being managed if nearly three out of four drivers on our roads are suffering from road rage. A year after our initial research indicated the scale of this issue, it’s time authorities, legislators and the automotive industry came together to address the problem.”

In other findings, CARSguide found a desperately low level of satisfaction with particular types of driver, especially those perennial targets, taxi and bus drivers.

"Taxi drivers prove very unpopular, with our respondents considering them to be inconsiderate and reckless drivers, with over one third admitting they have felt intimidated by them – that is a major concern,” said Mr Burrett.

“People put a lot of trust into public transport drivers, they are responsible for their safety and for offering an acceptable level of service which, according to our survey, is not being met.”

Conducted by CoreData in partnership with CARSguide.com.au, the survey of 5,526 people also found that 70 per cent of respondents have been a victim of road rage, with rude hand gestures (53 per cent) and abusive shouting (49 per cent) the most common form of rage they encountered.

Seventy six per cent of respondents said taxi drivers are inconsiderate and uncourteous of other drivers, with 73 per cent claiming they have been in a taxi where the driver drove recklessly.

The top three causes of road rage are inconsiderate driving (46 per cent), someone pushing in front at the last minute (43 per cent) and tail-gating (42 per cent).

Over one third (37 per cent) of taxi passengers have felt intimidated by a taxi driver, with 49 per cent saying they had experienced a cab driver using offensive language while driving.

Just under one-third (33 per cent) of respondents claim they have had verbal or physical altercations with either a tax, tram or bus driver. 73 per cent of those who have had an altercation said it was with a taxi driver.

58 per cent of people have been in a taxi while the driver either talked on a mobile phone or ate whilst driving.

On a scale of one to ten, taxi drivers’ level of service rated a dismal 4.7. Bus drivers and tram drivers didn’t fare much better, rating 5.2 and 5.3 respectively.