Study: The Most Annoying Driver Behaviors in America

Changing lanes with no signal. Tailgating. Sloppy parking. Missing green lights while texting. The list goes on and on as many Americans are guilty of a range of annoying behaviors while driving. While some places may be better than others, most people see these behaviors from time to time or are guilty of doing them themselves.

At the Lemon Law Experts, we take safety on roadways seriously, and while certain driving behaviors can be annoying, they can also be dangerous. That’s why we set out to learn where drivers in the U.S. are exhibiting the most annoying behaviors behind the wheel.

To do this, we surveyed Americans in 40 of the largest U.S. cities and asked a variety of questions about the behaviors they see while driving, what they are guilty of, and more. Read on to learn which states top our ranking. 

Key Takeaways

• Miami, FL, Las Vegas, NV, and Nashville, TN, are home to the most annoying drivers.
• Miami, FL, Philadelphia, PA, and Nashville, TN, are home to the most aggressive drivers.
• Miami, FL, Sacramento, CA, and Nashville, TN, are home to the rudest drivers.
• Using a phone, cutting across lanes without signaling, and tailgating are the most common driver behaviors Americans witness.
• Speeding on major roads and using a phone are the most common behaviors Americans admit to doing while driving.
• Gen Zers are the most likely generation to currently have a dash cam.

Cities with the Most and Least Annoying Drivers

Forgetting to signal to switch lanes or turn off your high beams are natural mistakes that most drivers have made at least once. What makes these behaviors truly heinous is when they are done routinely and intentionally. Regardless of where you live, when driving, you share the road with others. By adopting annoying driving behaviors, you not only put yourself at risk, but those around you as well.

When analyzing these habits across the country, we found it’s Miami, FL, that leads the way with an annoying driver score of 98.50 out of 100. When asked how annoying drivers are in their city, 86% of Miami residents responded with a 7 or higher on a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 representing extremely annoying.

Coming in second place is another top tourist spot in the country, Las Vegas, NV, with a score of 92.37 out of 100. To gain understanding of poor driving habits in cities, we asked about a variety of annoying behaviors and how often residents witness them. Overall, Las Vegas residents were the most likely in the country to witness several bad habits including: using a phone while driving (96%), speeding on major roads (90%), making a U-turn where prohibited (69%), loud exhaust (67%), not yielding to pedestrians at crosswalks (63%), and turning left where prohibited (40%).

Following closely behind in third place is Nashville, TN, with an annoying driver score of 91.03 out of 100. Topping the list of bad habits that are most commonly witnessed in the Music City include several behaviors that are likely the result of distracted driving. These include: not using headlights in low light or rain (60%), leaving high beams on (56%), and not pulling forward at the stoplight to close the gap (52%).

With so many Americans reporting annoying behavior, we wanted to learn if this has led to an increase in dash cams as a precautionary measure. We found that overall 17% of people already have a dash cam, with 35% reporting they have plans to buy one soon.

The Worst Types of Drivers in the U.S.

In addition to our overall ranking, we wanted to categorize annoying behaviors into several groups to learn which cities are most guilty of specific habits. Up first is our aggressive driver ranking, which includes behaviors like honking excessively, tailgating, and getting out of the car to confront someone. Leading the way once again is Miami, FL, with an aggressive driver score of 91.37 out of 100.

This is followed by Philadelphia, PA, with a score of 82.45 out of 100. Overall, Philadelphia is the top city where respondents reported drivers using rude gestures or yelling at others (61%). Similarly, 1 in 5 residents share they have witnessed someone exit their car to confront another driver.

Our next category is reckless drivers, which includes behaviors like cutting across lanes without signaling and rolling through stop signs. Topping this ranking is Las Vegas, NV, with a score of 96.55 out of 100, and this is followed by Miami, FL, (94.66) as 84% of respondents say they have witnessed drivers cutting across lanes without signaling.

Next among our categories is distracted driving, which includes habits like being slow to drive when the light turns green and using a phone while driving. While these may seem like minor infractions, distracted driving is very serious and according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), it was the cause of more than 3,200 deaths on U.S. roadways in 2023.

Topping this ranking are two cities as Oklahoma City, OK, and Orlando, FL, drivers tie with a score of 96.00 out of 100. Contributing to this ranking are the nearly 1 in 2 Oklahoma City drivers who admit they use their phone while behind the wheel. Similarly, 82% of Orlando residents report seeing drivers on their phones.

For the final three categories, rudest drivers, most entitled drivers, and most obnoxious parkers, one city remained at the top of the rankings—Miami, FL. Behind Miami for rudest drivers is Sacramento, CA, where 41% of residents say they have witnessed a driver litter from their vehicle.

In second place for the most entitled drivers is New Orleans, LA, as 52% of residents report drivers double-parking and more than half (52%) say they regularly witness drivers blocking crosswalks. For the most obnoxious drivers, two California cities claim second and third place—San Francisco and Los Angeles, respectively.

Contributing to the rankings are the 35% of people in San Francisco, CA, who frequently witness drivers who are slow to parallel park. In Los Angeles, CA, more than two-fifths of residents say they regularly see drivers using curbside pickup spots as parking and leaving their car unattended.

Most Annoying Driver Behaviors Americans See and Admit to Doing

After learning annoying, aggressive, reckless, distracted, rude, entitled, and poor parking behaviors locally, we wanted to gain more insight into the most common infractions. To do this, we analyzed both the percentage of respondents who witness the behavior, as well as the percentage who admit to doing it themselves.

Leading the way for witnessed behaviors is phone usage while driving, which 81% of people say they see regularly. This is followed by cutting across lanes without signaling (78%) and tailgating (71%), which is when a driver is too close to the car in front of them.

In fourth place is speeding on major roads which is reported by 70% of Americans. Following closely behind is waiting until the last second to merge (68%), speeding on residential streets (67%), and not letting others merge (65%). While some of these behaviors, like speeding, are ticketable offenses that can result in being pulled over, others are just simple common courtesy aspects of driving that it appears many Americans are failing to do.

Moving on to behaviors respondents admit to doing when behind the wheel, we have speeding on major roads leading the way with 2 in 5 people admitting to it. In second place is using a phone while driving, which 39% of people say they do.

For nearly 1 in 4 Americans, rolling through stop signs is a common infraction when they are driving. Similarly, 21% of people say they are guilty of making a U-turn where it is prohibited. And playing loud music and being slow to parallel park are next, tying for fifth place (16%).

Overall, when asked which of these behaviors are the most annoying, it was cutting across lanes without signaling and tailgating other drivers that led the way.

Conclusion

Next time you get in your car, keep in mind that the choices you make behind the wheel impact more than you and your passengers. While switching lanes without a signal or forgetting to turn your high beams off when another car is driving toward you may not seem like a big deal, it can still affect other drivers.

That’s why the team at Lemon Law Experts encourages everyone to be considerate of the other drivers on the road. By staying aware of your behaviors and their impacts, you become a safer driver and as a result make roads in your city safer as well.

In an effort to make roads safer, our team specializes in lemon law and finding economic and expeditious solutions for our clients. So if your car has continued to need warranty repairs, let our team help you navigate your case and relieve you of the headache that goes along with a lemon.

Get started by learning more about the lemon law process and share your car’s information with our team for a free case evaluation today.

Methodology

In this study, we set out to learn where drivers in the U.S. exhibit the most annoying behaviors. To do this, we surveyed residents in 40 of the largest cities and asked a variety of questions about the behaviors they witness, the behaviors they are guilty of themselves, how annoying drivers typically are in their city, and more.

We then awarded points to each habit respondents witness and admit to doing themselves and calculated the average score by city. We then adjusted those scores on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 representing the most annoying drivers.

In addition to our overall scoring, we divided behaviors into five categories (aggressive, distracted, entitled, reckless, and rude) and followed the same steps to rank cities on a scale of 0 to 100.