Drivers are up to 48% more aggressive on the road during the holidays; Tucson, AZ tops naughty list third year in a row
(December 7, DALLAS) – Santa Claus is coming to town... but let’s hope he’s not taking the highway. GasBuddy, a PDI company, today released the results of its annual aggressive holiday driving study, revealing that U.S. drivers are up to 48% more aggressive on the roads during the holiday season. The study ranked the top 50 U.S. metros from most to least aggressive, placing Tucson, AZ at the top of the “naughty list”, and Minneapolis, MN as the city with the “nicest” holiday drivers, rising six spots from 7th in 2022.
GasBuddy’s 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.
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.”
The full rankings can be found here. The most frequent aggressive driving habits during the holidays are hard braking (1), speeding (2) and rapid acceleration (3).
*Methodology
The findings were compiled using data from GasBuddy’s optional, opt-in Drives Feature in the GasBuddy app that offers drivers an assessment of their driving habits during their trip to improve fuel efficiency, mapping out where a poor driving habit occurred. GasBuddy 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.
About GasBuddy
GasBuddy is the leading fuel savings platform providing North American drivers with the most ways to save money on gas. GasBuddy has delivered more than $3.5 billion in cumulative savings to its users through providing real-time gas price information at 150,000+ stations, offering cash back rewards on purchases with brand partners, and through the Pay with GasBuddy™ payments card that offers cents-off per gallon at virtually all gas stations across the US. As one of the most highly-rated apps in the history of the App Store, GasBuddy has been downloaded over 100 million times. Acquired by PDI Technologies in 2021, GasBuddy’s publishing and software businesses enable the world’s leading fuel, convenience, QSR and CPG companies to shorten the distance between the fueling public and their brands. For more information, visit www.gasbuddy.com.