Montana Makes Top 10 Least Rude Drivers

I get asked all the time about my choice to commute to work each day. I moved to the Bitterroot Valley 8 years ago. Mainly because I couldn't afford housing anywhere in Missoula. The move meant that I would have to log 50 miles a day for work. I average about 30 minutes each way. This is not bad, when you consider people in metropolitan areas commuting 1-2 hours each way to work. In fact, having lived blocks from work before, the commute is a nice way to decompress after a day on the job. It is a nice separation from work to home. That is of course as long as other drivers don't manage to unleash your road rage.

Bankrate.com recently compiled data to find the states with the rudest drivers. You know, the people that tailgate? Or the people that pass you, only to slow down. And, don't even get me started on the a-holes that drive below the speed limit in the PASSING LANE!

According to their website, here is how Bank Rate came up with their results for all 50 states.

To determine the rudest drivers by state, Bankrate examined five separate data studies related to driving rudeness, overall rudeness and bad driving. By adding up each state’s rank in these five studies, we assigned a number value to each state.

States with the lowest ratings appeared higher on the lists we studied for the behaviors listed above, and thus received a higher ranking for being a state with rude drivers, while states with the highest number ratings (thus appearing lower on the ranking lists for states with bad behaviors) received a lower ranking on our list of states with rude drivers.

What they found was that states isolated and tranquil seemed to score the lowest on rude driving. States with larger populations and tourism ranked higher. A great example of this, is my interactions with out of state drivers during this year's tourist season. Just this morning I was tailgated by a vehicle with Florida plates. Shortly after, I was cut off by a truck with California plates. Weird how both of those states made the top 5 rudest drivers list.

Where does Montana fall on the ranking of rude drivers. #42 (Or #8 on list of LEAST rude drivers). Montanans are overall good drivers and rarely rude. But, mix in the tourists and a couple traffic jams, and Montanans will get a little grumpy.

See the full rankings for the rest of the country here.