The Most Stressed Out Drivers in the Country

Some of the most stressed out drivers in the country are in cities in the PIA Western Alliance states. In the top-10 are Portland, Oregon (at number 1), Seattle, Washington, San Francisco, California, Oakland, California and Phoenix, Arizona.

Information on the cities with the most stressed drivers came from an AI tool developed by HiRoad Assurance. It looked at texts sent by people while driving and assigned a score. That analysis is from 1.3 million tweets sent out in May of this year.

There are lots of reasons people are stressed while driving. Most of the stress listed in the top-10 is traffic, however, traffic is not the number-one stressor. It’s rain. Just over 56% of those tweeting while driving complained about rain.

Other issues uncovered in the study:

• *Bad weather
• *Snow
• *Other drivers using phones while driving
• *Speeding

Here is the list of the most stressed out drivers:

1. Portland, Oregon

Percentage of driving-related Tweets registering stress — 47.6%

Biggest cause of driver stress in Oregon — Traffic

2. Chicago

Percentage of driving-related Tweets registering stress — 46%

Biggest cause of driver stress in Illinois — Traffic

3. New York City

Percentage of driving-related Tweets registering stress — 45.7%

Biggest cause of driver stress in New York — Cyclists

4. Washington D.C.

Percentage of driving-related Tweets registering stress — 45.6%

Biggest cause of driver stress in the nation's capital — Traffic

5. Seattle, Washington

Percentage of driving-related Tweets registering stress — 45.4%

Biggest cause of driver stress in Washington — Traffic

6. Philadelphia

Percentage of driving-related Tweets registering stress — 45%

Biggest cause of driver stress in Washington — Speeding

7. San Francisco

Percentage of driving-related Tweets registering stress — 44%

Biggest cause of driver stress in Washington — Traffic

8. Oakland, California

Percentage of driving-related Tweets registering stress — 43.8%

Biggest cause of driver stress in Washington — Traffic

9. Phoenix, Arizona

Percentage of driving-related Tweets registering stress — 43.2%

Biggest cause of driver stress in Washington — Traffic

10. Providence, Rhode Island

Percentage of driving-related Tweets registering stress — 42.9%

Biggest cause of driver stress in Washington — Cyclists

By the way, the National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA) says in 2021 the United States saw huge increases in highway deaths and hit a 16-year high. Here is a look at where the fatalities increased in 2021:

• *Multi-vehicle fatal crashes — up 16%
• *Urban road deaths — rose 16%
• *Pedestrians killed — increased 13%
• *Fatalities in the daytime — jumped 11%
• *Motorcyclist fatalities — up 9%