New study ranks Washington among states with the least amount of road rage. Here’s why

At some point in every driver’s life, they’ll inevitably experience road rage. Whether it’s screaming vulgarities, the middle finger, tailgating or aggression, being on the receiving end of road rage is jarring, and potentially dangerous.

But some parts of America are more prone to road rage incidents than others, according to a recent study from H&P Law . The firm used data from The Trace and the NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System to rank states by most common road rage incidents.

Washingtonians can consider themselves lucky - the Evergreen State falls in the bottom ten for reported or documented road rage incidents.

States with the least road rage

The report ranks all 50 states utilizing analysis of six key factors . Data points used include the number of firearm-related incidents, the percentage of crashes involving aggressive or careless driving, the number of accidents with fatalities, the total number of deaths from crashes involving aggressive or careless driving, the percentage of incidents involving aggressive or careless driving that resulted in a fatality, and speeding violations, at varying weights.

Washington ranks 44 of 50, making it one of the states with the fewest road rage incidents. Rhode Island was ranked the best.

The study ranked the least road rage prone states in the bottom ten as:

• Iowa
• South Dakota
• Wyoming
• Washington
• Massachusetts
• New York
• New Hampshire
• Virginia
• California
• Rhode Island

So, what made Washington’s score so low?

The Evergreen State has a low rate of firearm-related road rage incidents, at 1.5 per 100,000 residents. Less than 28% of the state’s car crashes involve aggressive or careless driving, according to the study. Washington experiences 2.5 fatal crashes due to aggressive driving per 100,000 residents, and a low number of speeding violations compared to other states.

Which states have most road rage?

According to the report, the states with the most road rage are:

1. Louisiana
2. New Mexico
3. Montana
4. Arkansas
5. Colorado
6. North Carolina
7. Delaware
8. Florida
9. Wisconsin
10. Tennessee