Miami rage

Miami drivers speed, tailgate and cut off other drivers so frequently that the city earned the title of worst road rage in a survey of major U.S. metropolitan areas released Tuesday.

AutoVantage, an automobile membership club offering travel services and roadside assistance, also listed Phoenix, New York, Los Angeles and Boston among the top five cities for rude drivers.

Minneapolis, Nashville, St. Louis, Seattle and Atlanta were rated as the cities with the most courteous drivers, who were less likely to change lanes without signalling or swear at other motorists.

More than 2,000 adult drivers who regularly commute in 20 major metropolitan areas were asked to rate road rage and rude driving in telephone surveys between January and March. The survey conducted by Prince Market Research had a claimed margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.

Drivers owned up to some rude behaviour themselves: Nearly all said they had talked on a cellphone while driving, and 64 per cent acknowledged they occasionally drive too fast.

Young drivers and people with long commutes were found to be the most likely to react to an aggressive or rude driver. The top reactions included honking the horn, cursing or making an obscene gesture.

No distinct differences were found between male and female drivers.

"Human behaviour is so involved with crashes at all levels," said Elly Martin, a spokeswoman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. "(Aggressive driving) is a pattern of behaviour drivers exhibit over and over."

AutoVantage, based in Norwalk, Conn., hopes to use the survey to educate people about how to resist road rage. Among its tips are remaining calm and not making eye contact with an angry driver.