The Grinch is making his presence known in GasBuddy's annual aggressive holiday driving study. The study shows that U.S. drivers are up to 48% more aggressive on the roads during the holiday season. GasBuddy's study ranks the top 50 U.S. metros from most to least aggressive. Tucson, AZ is at the top of the “naughty list” for the third year in a row. Minneapolis, MN takes the honors as the city with the “nicest” holiday drivers, rising six spots from 7th in 2022.
GasBuddy says its study examined millions of drives during 2023’s Thanksgiving holiday weekend, measuring the number of events of speeding, hard braking, and fast acceleration.
Naughty List – Top 10 Cities with the Most Aggressive Holiday Drivers
- Tucson, AZ
- Nashville, TN
- Orlando, FL
- Jacksonville, FL
- New Orleans, LA
- Richmond, VA
- Salt Lake City, UT
- Buffalo, NY
- Memphis, TN
- Oklahoma City, OK
Two Florida cities made the “naughty list” for the second year in a row, though Tampa, FL, fell to the 13th most aggressive city. New Orleans also found itself in the top 10 most aggressive cities this year, rising from 14th in 2022.
New York City, pictured at the top, is 22nd on GasBuddy's most aggressive holiday driver's list.
As for some of our CarPro radio markets, Atlanta is ranked 20th. San Antonio is #23 followed by Austin No. 24, Dallas No. 25 and Houston No. 26. Sacramento appears at #28 on the list, Los Angeles ranks #36th.
Nice List – Top 10 Cities with the Least Aggressive Holiday Drivers
- Minneapolis, MN
- Providence, RI
- Portland, OR
- Seattle, WA
- Cleveland, OH
- Norfolk, VA
- Hartford, CT
- Las Vegas, NV
- Rochester, NY
- Columbus, OH
“Driving during the holiday season can be stressful, but it's important to remember to stay calm and courteous on the road," said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “Additionally, aggressive driving can negatively impact fuel efficiency, causing drivers to waste money that could be spent on holiday celebrations or gifts for loved ones.”
You can find the full rankings here. The most frequent aggressive driving habits during the holidays are hard braking (1), speeding (2) and rapid acceleration (3).
The study examined 8,149,863 drives in the top 50 metropolitan areas by population as defined by the United States Census Bureau from Nov. 23-26, 2023, noting all events of fast acceleration, hard braking and speeding. o read more about the study Methodology click here.
