New Brunswick drivers most likely to have road rage: survey

A new survey that looked at Canadian’s attitudes towards driving found the angriest drivers are in the Maritimes.

The survey, commissioned by autotrader.ca, asked 1,500 Canadians from coast to coast if they get road rage while driving, and the majority said yes.

The province with the most road rage was New Brunswick, with 61 per cent of respondents admitting to anger behind the wheel.

Whether it’s slow drivers, a bad parking job, or someone being distracted, many things can spark anger behind the wheel.

“You're mixing the senior citizens up with the younger people, like you got people going back and forth to work, you got commercial vehicles on the road, you got the elderly, students, new drivers on the road and that's what causes road rage,” says motorist Paul Eatmon.

The province of Quebec rated among the lowest in the country and Nova Scotia was close behind, with many motorists saying they don’t feel a lot of rage behind the wheel.

“This survey is asking New Brunswickers, for example, ‘how do you feel about other New Brunswick drivers?’” says Gary Howard, vice president of Marketing and Communications for CAA Atlantic. “‘Are they aggressive and have you experienced it, have you been a part of it?’ That's really a self-assessment.”

Howard says he thinks the results would be much different if the survey had asked New Brunswick drivers how they rated drivers in other provinces.

“What may be aggressive in our province is just how you normally drive in other provinces,” says Howard.

In addition, Howard says what you consider to be road rage also plays a part in your answer.

“It means different things to different people, but typically tailgating, aggressive speeding, even things you think are not aggressive, driving in the left lane when you're not passing somebody, that can actually create road rage,” says Howard.

Some New Brunswickers say they don’t agree with the survey results.

“I've driven from here to Florida a lot, here to Toronto and I would say that's not true,” says motorist Tom Howell. “I think New Brunswick drivers, on the whole, are pretty courteous.”

However, even Howell admits to getting a little heated on the road at times.

“I try and control it. I don't holler at people, I holler in my own head, but I don't holler or shack my fist, that's all you can do,” says Howell.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Ashley Blackford