We get it. Boston can sometimes be a cold city. And no, I’m not talking about the 40-degree days in May. The city’s inhabitants and many of those in the Greater Boston Area tend to be a bit harsh when it comes to things like who will speak at students’ commencements, or if one of our beloved sports teams falls to its rival, or if one simply wants to make a new friend. It should come as no surprise at all, then, that these not-so-nice sentiments often translate into blistering road rage.
Yes, Boston has miserable traffic conditions that permeate into the collective consciousness of Greater Boston commuters, often rearing its ugly head come rush hour. Yes, there’s a reason people think the label ‘Masshole’ is clever. A new survey from AutoVantage aims to explore why Boston is so angry behind the wheel while comparing it to other corresponding cities.
AutoVantage commissioned Prince Market Research to conduct an independent survey representative of 25 major metropolitan areas in the country between March 27, 2014 and April 4. They posed questions to 2,500 consumers aged 21 and up who drive during rush hour Monday through Friday at least three days per week. The only thing that could’ve acted even worse in Boston’s favor is including the most Masshole demographic of them all: freshly licensed rookie drivers.
As noted by AutoVantage, “Rankings were determined by measuring a wide array of driving actions that inhabitants admit to performing and acknowledge seeing, along with observations of their reactions to other drivers.”
They determined that Boston is the fifth least courteous city to take to the road.
Not only that, but when compared to drivers in other cities, survey participants “in Beantown” are…
Wait.
Hold on one second. AutoVantage, you dare refer to Boston – a.k.a. The Hub, a.k.a. The Cradle of Liberty, a.k.a. The Athens of America – as Beantown? How audacious of you. To be clear, no self-respecting Bostonian or New Englander at large would ever in their right mind invoke the most outdated, irrelevant, vexatious label that has ever been bestowed upon their fair city.
Lesson learned, AutoVantage.
Now, where was I? When compared to drivers in other cities, survey participants in Boston are the second most likely to curse at another driver, third most likely to have acknowledged tailgating another driver, and fourth most likely to have seen another driver run a red light as well as seen another driver talking on their cell phone.
AutoVantage conducted a similar survey back in 2009, though the most recent data was taken accounting for Charlotte, Orlando and San Antonio in lieu of Cincinnati, Cleveland and Sacramento which are no longer amongst the top 25 markets nationwide.
What’s perhaps most enlightening about both datasets is that Boston jumped 12 spots from 2009 to the fifth spot in 2014, meaning the city has increasingly become more agitated once they shift into drive.
The four cities worse off than Boston? Houston, Atlanta, Baltimore and Washington D.C. The top five most courteous drivers hail from Portland, Pittsburg, St. Louis, San Francisco and Charlotte.
Image via Shutterstock
