With roads getting busier after weeks of not really going anywhere, it got the team at Quidco Compare thinking about what we've not missed about driving. The traffic jams, the need to top up the petrol tank every week, and the constant parking charges are just a few of the things that spring to my mind, but what grinds our gears the most about other drivers? Well as it turns out, there's quite a lot!
Our biggest pet peeve is not indicating. Yes, that simple action that we're all guilty of ignoring, is collectively our biggest pet peeve. In fact, more than 40% of people we asked said this was the thing that wound them up the most.
What are your biggest driving pet peeves?
It turns out, the older we are, the more likely we are to get riled by this; over 55s find this lacklustre habit the most annoying, with almost 50% saying it topped their driving pet peeve list. 16-24 year olds, however, are less bothered by a lack of indicating, instead feeling most enraged when drivers throw litter out of the window.
Other annoyances include using a phone whilst driving, taking up multiple parking spaces, and driving more slowly than we deem acceptable.
So how do we cope with these annoyances? Well, more than half of us get angry; over 50% of drivers said they experience road rage on a weekly basis. Men are slightly more inclined to have road rage (52.57% v 48.70% for women), as are 16-24s (a staggering 81.65% said they rage).
When it comes to road rage, it seems that city driving turns us into monsters on the road. London drivers are the most prone to road rage, with nearly 60% of Londoners experiencing road rage at least once a week when behind the wheel. Liverpool drivers come in a close second, with more than 56% of drivers seeing their blood boil on a weekly basis. If you’re looking for a more leisurely drive, head to Nottingham (37.97%) or Edinburgh (41.03%) as these city drivers are the most chilled out.
Despite raging, it seems we’re a bunch of hypocrites and admit to doing exactly what we hate. More than 16% of us have admitted to not always indicating when driving, with 35-44s most likely to commit hypocrisy. Over 97% of 35-44s said they haven't always indicated when they should over the last 12 months - almost 10% said it’s happened more than 20 times.
The faux pas we admit to making the most is driving through amber lights; over 25% said they've driven through amber lights during the last 12 months, and nearly 2% said they’ve done it more than 20 times.
Now for the juicy stuff... Who are the best drivers? And, more importantly, who are the worst drivers? Well, look away young males as you’ve officially been voted as the most annoying (except by yourselves). More than 4 in 10 (41.73%) think young males are the most irritating drivers on roads. And young males who drive a BMW have nowhere to hide; over a third (34.27%) of people associate BMW drivers as being the most annoying.
What groups of people, if any, do you think are the most annoying drivers?
There is a silver lining, however. Men seemingly get better with age; dads are officially the least annoying drivers. Just 4% of people say that dads are the most frustrating when on the roads. And if you're a dad that drives a Renault, give yourself a pat on the back!
What makes of vehicle do you associate with being the most annoying?
So there we have it - a snapshot at UK roads - just in time for us all to get back behind the wheel again.
