Survey: Arizona drivers ‘semi-rude,’ hated most by Californians

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A new national survey ranks all of the states by how rude their drivers are, and Arizona falls in the not-so-rude half of the pack, although the state is far from perfect.

The Insure.com survey of 2,000 licensed drivers put states — and Washington, D.C. — in four different categories according to respondents’ answers: most rude, medium rude, semi-rude and least rude.

Arizona fell in the “semi-rude” category, joining states such as Texas, Kansas and Illinois. To be more specific, Arizona was found to have the 34th-rudest drivers, right behind Kentucky and Maryland (which both tied for 32nd) and just ahead of Michigan.

The survey went even further, asking respondents which other state’s drivers they hate the most.

Arizona drivers were found to be most hated by California — likely because the neighboring state is a popular vacation spot. As far as which drivers Arizonans hate the most, there was a dual answer: Idaho and Alaska.

The survey collected answers from all areas of the country, and it consisted of an even number of male and female respondents.

Those who took the survey were also asked what makes them the most mad about other drivers. They had 18 options and could choose more than one answer, and the most common responses were talking on a cellphone while driving (47 percent), tailgating (37 percent), not signaling turns (35 percent), weaving in and out of lanes (28 percent) and driving too fast as if every road is a highway (26 percent).

If you’re looking to avoid the rudest drivers in the country, the top five places to stay off the roads, from worst to least-worst, are as follows: Idaho; Washington, D.C.; New York; Wyoming; and Massachusetts.

In addition to Arizona being low on the rude drivers list, a recent Allstate report found the Grand Canyon State boasts several cities that are among the safest places to drive in the country.

The report ranked the country’s 200 largest metro areas by how safe they are to drive in, and nine Arizona cities made the top half of the list, including seven in the top 50.

Gilbert came in the highest of any Arizona city at No. 20, while Mesa placed two spots behind.

Gilbert residents are 12.5 percent less likely than others to get in an accident, and most go almost 11.5 years in between crashes, the report found. Last year, the East Valley town ranked 29th.

Mesa residents are 11 percent less likely to get into accidents and go about 11.2 years in between crashes, according to the report. Last year, however, Arizona’s third-biggest city ranked No. 11.

Tucson, Scottsdale and Peoria all ranked in the forties — at Nos. 43, 45 and 47, respectively. Glendale came in 65th, while Phoenix place 79th. Despite the low ranking for Arizona’s capital, it actually was found to be one of the safer places to drive with a population of 1 million or more.

Fort Collins, Colorado; Brownsville, Texas; and Boise, Idaho were ranked the top three safest places to drive, respectively, in the Allstate report.