Roadrageous! Motorists Rank Most Annoying Driving Habits

American motorists call texting and driving the most annoying habit on the road, worse even than tailgating. It’s also one of the habits that puts drivers at greatest risk of a car accident, and it’s illegal in 43 states and the nation’s capital.

USA Today reports that 69 percent of drivers say people who text and drive, send email or talk on cellphones while behind the wheel are the most aggravating drivers on the road. Yet, as the newspaper reported, many people admit to some of the same habits, according to Expedia’s 2014 Road Rage Report.

Other most annoying driving habits:

• Tailgating or following too closely
• Weaving between lanes
• Straddling lanes
• Driving well below the speed limit
• Multi-tasking (driving while eating, applying makeup or reading)

More than half of the drivers surveyed think that other driver’s bad habits are the problem, according to the survey of 1,001 licensed motorists. The survey was conducted between April 29 and May 5 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent.

Some 55 percent of those surveyed acknowledge that they also use a cellphone while driving.

Car crashes attributed to distracted driving can be fatal, often because the driver doesn’t look up or hit the brakes until it’s too late. Nearly 3,330 people were killed in distraction-related accidents in 2012 and 421,000 were injured, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Distracted driving is defined as any activity that takes a motorist’s attention away from the primary function of driving, including eating, reading, taking pictures, using electronic devices and even talking and singing.

The survey also ranked the cities with the rudest drivers.

The nation’s rudest drivers are in America’s largest cities, the study found: 71 percent rated New York among the five most annoying places to drive, followed by Los Angeles at 22 percent and Atlanta at 9 percent.

No city in Oklahoma was singled out for rude drivers. But Oklahoma is one of seven states in the nation where texting while driving isn’t banned. Novice drivers and those with intermediate driver’s licenses are prohibited from using hand-held cell phones while driving, except in emergencies. School bus drivers and public transit drivers are prohibited from texting while driving.

Oklahoma does have a couple of initiatives, “Stop the texts. Stop the wrecks.” And “Not worth it. One text or call could wreck it all.”

It is up to Oklahoma drivers to take responsibility for their driving habits and put their focus on the road. Consider your own driving habits that put you and other drivers at risk.