A new study conducted by dash cam specialists Nextbase found that almost two-thirds (64.5%) of motorists surveyed have fallen victim to aggressive driving, or road rage.
The study asked respondents about their experience with other motorists -- folks with whom you share the road -- performing aggressive driving to reveal which generation has the worst road rage.
Nextbase’s survey reveals that over a quarter -- 27.4% -- of road rage incidents are caused by Millennials. Respondents who shared their experiences of road rage identified individuals aged between 29 to 43 years old as the primary culprits.
The acts of road rage that millennials are accused of committing the most are physical gestures at other drivers and tailgating, with almost half of the respondents (48%) witnessing road rage from millennials performing either of those acts. Whereas blocking others from passing or merging is the act of road rage they are least likely to commit with only one in eight (12%) drivers surveyed experiencing them from millennial drivers.
Approximately one-fifth of U.S. drivers -- 19.7% -- have encountered road rage incidents involving individuals from Generation X, making them the second most likely age group to exhibit aggressive driving behavior. Generation X includes drivers between 48 and 58 years of age.
Similarly to millennials, tailgating is the act of road rage that Generation X is accused of committing the most. This was cited by with a third (33.3%) of respondents. The next act of road rage Generation X is most likely to commit is speeding. More than one in five (22.2%) of respondents have witnessed people in this age group speeding.
Almost one in five Generation Z drivers (18.6%), aged 16 to 28 years old, have been identified as participants in road rage incidents.
Following the trend of millennials and Generation X, tailgating is the most common act of road rage for Generation Z drivers, with almost half (47%) of respondents witnessing this from drivers in that age range. Speeding followed closely behind with almost a third (29.4%) of U.S. drivers surveyed saying they had seen drivers from Generation Z committing this offense.
The two generations that are the least likely to commit road rage are baby boomers and the post war or silent generation. Only 1% of respondents had seen a driver aged 77 and above committing acts of road rage. However, this could be due to there being fewer drivers of this age on the road.
Just 8.7% of respondents witnessed baby boomers, drivers aged between 59 and 77 years old, driving aggressively.
Of those respondents who had witnessed or fallen victim to road rage 24.1% did not specify which generation had been the perpetrator.
