Almost 60 per cent of Australians have experienced road rage, survey finds

More than 1.3 million motorists are in line to shed a point after a good behaviour demerit point trial proved successful across NSW,

Almost 60 per cent of Australians have experienced road rage, according to a new study.

A Compare The Market survey of 1003 Australians found 58.9 per cent had experienced road rage in some way, with 23.2 per cent direct victims.

Tailgating was the most frustrating behaviour (64.6 per cent), followed by seeing someone on their phone while driving (53.1 per cent) and not indicating correctly (53.1 per cent).

The least irritating behaviours included bad parking, unnecessary high beam use and slow drivers.

It found younger generations were more likely to have experienced road rage than older generations.

Australians were most likely to react to road rage by swearing.

Nearly 80 per cent of people said they gave a thank you wave to other road users.

Adrian Taylor, executive general manager at Compare The Market, said dangerous driving not only endangered lives but also impacted the cost of a driver’s insurance policy.

“Car insurance companies use all the data they can to assess risk,” Taylor said.

“If you have a bad driving record this could see your car insurance premiums increase.

“Additionally, if you were doing something illegal or dangerous at the time of an incident because you were engaged in road rage, you could be completely liable but your claim could be declined.”

The US and Canada had similar survey results to Australia.