When and Where Does Road Rage Most Often Strike?

Do you want to avoid angry drivers on your local highways? Then, in August, drive less — especially on Fridays.

According to Instagram posts, motorists are most irritated – and most likely to suffer from road rage – while navigating the nation's roads during the month of August and on Fridays

A study of Instagram posts with the hashtag #RoadRage discovered that drivers were most likely to post about their driving frustrations on Fridays and in August. This is not to say that there are more road rage-related accidents or incidents during these times. However, this demonstrates that motorists are frustrated enough with traffic to post about it on Instagram more frequently.

From June 2013 to April 2016, the hashtag #RoadRage was used on over 65,535 Instagram posts. What is the goal? To determine where and when motorists in the United States are most irritated.

"Inconsiderate driving, bad traffic, and life's daily stresses can turn minor annoyances into dangerous road rage," says Jurek Grabowski, former director of research for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. "Far too many drivers are losing themselves in the heat of the moment and lash out in potentially fatal ways."

When are angry motorists out

So, what's with August? The month saw an average of 7,136 Instagram posts with the hashtag #RoadRage, according to the research. This is a significant increase over the second-place month, July, which had an average of 6,203 such posts.

One reason could be that people drive more frequently and for longer distances during the summer months of August and July. Kids are out of school, and many families are traveling for summer vacations. These journeys can be hundreds of miles in length. It stands to reason that as people drive longer distances on increasingly congested highways, their feelings of traffic frustration will increase.

May has the fewest #RoadRage posts, with an average of 3,737, and April has the most, with an average of 3,803. Why are there so few posts about road rage in these months? It's difficult to say, but perhaps there are fewer drivers on the road during these months.

Days of the week when road tempers flare

Then there are the weekly days. You'd think that with morning and afternoon rush-hour commutes, most weekdays would be equally clogged with road rage posts. But you'd be mistaken. Which day of the week sees the most Instagram posts with the hashtag #RoadRage? Friday has arrived.

What will happen on Friday? The work week has come to an end. Perhaps motorists become increasingly frustrated with rush-hour traffic throughout the week, and then, as the weekend approaches, their rage explodes. That could explain why road rage Instagram posts peak at 10,469 on Fridays. The large number of motorists leaving work early that day, clogging roads for a longer period of time, could also have an impact.

Road rage posts tend to increase throughout the week, with an average of 10,311 #RoadRage posts on Thursday and 10,017 on Wednesday. Tuesday's average is 9,914, while Monday's average is 8,674.

Sunday appears to be the calmest day on the roads. The average number of #RoadRage posts on that day was 7,472, the lowest of the week. There appears to be a fairly obvious reason for the decrease in angry Instagram posts on weekends: people aren't generally commuting to work on these days. As anyone who has been stuck in traffic on their way to work can attest, it's an aggravating feeling that can lead to thoughts of road rage.

Posts about road rage also increase during the day. However, it does not always follow the expected pattern.

You might expect road rage posts to spike during morning rush hour, level off during the day, and then spike again as evening rush hour approaches.

What actually happens is that road rage posts rise throughout the morning, continue to rise even after the morning rush hour ends, peak during the evening rush hour, and then gradually decline throughout the rest of the day.

An average of more than 8,800 Instagram posts on road rage were discovered between the hours of 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., when motorists are most likely fighting their way home after a long day at work. It's not surprising that angry posts spike during these congested hours.

According to the site's research, the hour of 6 p.m. sees the most road rage posts, with an average of nearly 4,500. 5 p.m. comes in second, with an average of more than 4,200 #RoadRage posts.

Angriest states for road rage 

The study's final interesting finding is that drivers in Hawaii are the most irritated by traffic.

Hawaii had the highest rate of road rage Instagram posts per 100,000 drivers, with 5,872 posts per 100,000 drivers.

Why? Hawaii's traffic is notoriously bad, with traffic in Honolulu, the state's largest city, ranking third worst in the country in 2015 according to the Tomtom Traffic Index. At the same time, Hawaii is overrun with visitors. These out-of-state drivers are frequently driving on roads they have never driven on before. This can result in an increase in accidents and slow traffic, which can irritate residents.

California came in second with 3,506 Instagram posts per 100,000 drivers, followed by New York with 2,200 posts.

How to stop road rage

What can be done to prevent road rage? More road rage information, hopefully, will help people recognise the symptoms they see in themselves and work to remain calm.

One possible solution comes from Arlington, Texas, where the police department has established a new road rage hotline to report aggressive drivers. Its purpose is to communicate with registered owners whose vehicles have been reported to have been involved in an aggressive driving incident.

Contact information, a detailed description of the aggressive driver and vehicle involved, a general description of what happened, and the location and time of the incident are all provided by callers to the hotline.

Investigators follow-up on the incident by providing the license plate of the alleged suspect vehicle. A letter describing the allegation and providing tips on how to remain calm in traffic and safely diffuse future incidents will be mailed to the registered owner.

"We hope to use this hotline in addition to our enforcement efforts to deter and report aggressive drivers," says Lt. Jeff Pugh, commander of the Traffic Unit. "We believe that there has been an increase in the frequency and severity of road rage type incidents on our area freeways.

"We will not tolerate driving behaviors that endanger the public and will deal with other criminal acts that occur in tandem with aggressive driving."

The department recently launched an aggressive driving task in which officers work in covert as well as marked units to detect, apprehend, and enforce laws on Arlington roadways.

Officers look for aggressive drivers who are speeding excessively, tailgating, making unsafe lane changes, driving on improved shoulders to pass traffic, throwing objects at vehicles, brandishing weapons, and engaging in other risky behaviors that can lead to road rage incidents.

"Our goal is to keep citizens safe while they travel on our highways," says Police Chief Will Johnson. "There is absolutely no reason for anyone to engage in aggressive driving behaviors that can lead to violence, which can result in unnecessary injuries or even death."