We Canadians pride ourselves for our polite behavior, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t things that get us ticked. As we gear up for a summer full of adventures, we’re also getting ready to battle gridlock, weekend getaway traffic and construction delays. We conducted a survey of over 1,500 Canadians to dig up what grinds Canadians' gears while they’re behind the wheel. SPOILER ALERT: don’t text and drive!
The #1 biggest driving pet peeve? People who talk and/or text while driving
We looked at the numbers and were impressed that the biggest pet peeve is socially responsible: other drivers texting and talking while driving. In fact, almost 30% of respondents named texting and talking while driving their #1 pet peeve. However, 15% of people still admitted they text while driving. Meanwhile 36% said that they at least sometimes talk on the phone while behind the wheel, and 27% of those who talk and drive said they use a handheld device, the rest wisely using a hands-free connection or device.
Here are some more interesting results from our nation-wide surveys, with interesting revelations about which provinces are best behaved, and which tend to let the anger boil over.
Stay back! 20% of Canadians hate drivers who tailgate
Thankfully, only 3% of people choose to tailgate another driver if they cut them off.
Slow and steady? Or Fast and furious? 25% of Canadians admitted driving speed is a pet peeve
Almost 19% of Canadians are bothered by slow drivers while only 7% are troubled by those who speed.
Comically, 10% of people who hate speeders actually admitted to being speeders themselves.
Use your signals. Almost 18% of Canadians are annoyed by those who don’t signal
Over 50% of Canadians admitted to disobeying traffic signs when driving with 60% British Columbians and almost 57% of Quebecers being the highest, with 15% of Quebecers surveyed admitting that they disregard traffic signs daily or at least often – I guess there's a reason they call it a 'Montreal stop' after all.
Other irritating driving habits include bad parkers and road rage. According to the survey, drivers in New Brunswick are the angriest, as 61% of people in the province admitted to having road rage. Quebecers boasted to having the least road rage, with 70% of people surveyed in the province saying they do not experience the emotion, followed by Nova Scotians with 58%.
