Canadians are pretty confident in their driving skills, says a newly released survey.
Only 1 percent of drivers admit to having below-average driving skills, while 86 percent rate themselves as average or above-average drivers, according to the survey from Pollara Strategic Insights.
Men are more likely to be confident in their on-the-road abilities than women, the survey found. While 53 percent of men labelled their driving skills as “above average,” only 33 percent of women did so.
However, self-proclaimed above-average drivers also admit to being guilty of habits apt to cause rage on the roads. Fifty-two percent say they often drive too fast while 11 percent don’t allow drivers to merge into their lane.
Overall, 64 percent of drivers admit to at least one anger-inducing driving habit, with speeding being the most common. While men are more apt to drive fast than women, 41 percent of females admit to speeding on occasion compared to 49 percent of male drivers.
Not only do Canadian drivers admit to bad driving etiquette, nearly 90 percent confess to being annoyed or angered by others’ habits.
“Blowing through stop signs or red lights is the top source of driving-fuelled anger in the country, making 89 percent of Canadians angry or annoyed,” Pollara said in its report. “Drivers talking on their cellphones spurs strong emotions, as it is second only to drivers blowing through stop signs as something that makes people very angry.”
Despite cellphone talkers being a major pet peeve for most drivers, 7 percent of Canadians admit to doing it themselves. While younger drivers typically get blamed for this behaviour, only 12 percent of drivers who copped to this habit were under 34.
Eighty-four percent of Canadians are annoyed by tailgaters as well as by drivers who cut them off or don’t properly signal lane changes.
Eighty-two percent of those polled are irritated by drivers who speed up when they try to pass them and 74 percent become frustrated by drivers who won’t let them merge.
Driving Habits by Province and Politics
Broken down by province, the poll found Alberta drivers admit to the most bad driving habits with a full 70 percent saying they are guilty of at least one anger-inducing behaviour. Only 60 percent of Quebec drivers admitted to the occasional bad behaviour.In the middle was Ontario at 62 percent, British Columbia at 65 percent, the Atlantic provinces at 67 percent, and Saskatchewan and Manitoba at 68 percent.
When examined according to political affiliation, Green Party supporters were most apt to drive too fast, talk on their cellphones, blow through red lights, and not allow drivers to merge. They also tied for being most likely to tailgate with Bloc Québécois supporters.
People’s Party of Canada supporters were the most likely to drive too slow, speed up when someone tries to pass them, and fail to signal when changing lanes or turning while NDP supporters were most likely to cut people off and park outside the parking space lines.
Liberal and Conservative supporters reported a propensity for driving too fast but did not take first place in any category.
