How angry do bad manners on the road really make us?
To find out how we truly feel when fellow drivers dont say a simple thanks, we asked more than 1,400 UK drivers to spill the beans. It may be a regular occurrence, but it turns out that not being thanked makes us seethe. More than 80% of Brits get angry when not being thanked by other drivers when theyve given way, and its younger drivers who feel the most aggrieved. 88% of drivers under 24 said they feel some anger when theyre not thanked, and nearly 60% describe the feeling either very angry or somewhat angry. Those aged 55 and over are the most chilled out driving age group. Although more than 73% of drivers aged 55+ said they feel some level of anger by not being thanked, just a little over 5% agree that they feel very angry when not being thanked. Women are more likely to feel anger in this situation than men; 10.03% of female drivers said they feel very angry when asked how angry they get when people dont thank them for giving way. This compares to just 8.2% of men. Location-wise, those in Nottingham feel the most incensed. A huge 87% of drivers in the city feel incensed, with Leeds (87.18%) and Newcastle (86.79%) coming in a close second and third. The sun, sea and sand must have somewhat of a calming effect as youll find the least irritated drivers in Plymouth. A little over two thirds of drivers said they felt anger when theyre not thanked for giving way to other drivers. Drivers in Belfast are also a little less likely to be enraged, with 71.43% of drivers reporting anger from a lack of manners. It may seem trivial in the grand scheme of things, but nearly 11% of drivers - thats one person in nine - said that not being thanked made them angrier than being cheated on. Avoiding spoilers has become part and parcel of modern life, and being told a spoiler can literally ruin your favourite TV show and drives people up the wall. However, a lack of basic manners on the road seemingly makes some of us angrier than having a spoiler revealed to us. More than one person in four (27%) gets more irate after not being thanked, than having the ending of a TV show revealed to us. Nearly 30% of people also said they feel more anger than discovering the person in the loo before them has only left one sheet on the toilet roll, and a similar number (28.93%) said that dirty dishes in the sink made them less furious. It may be a huge issue for drivers, but its not just basic manners for giving way that gets us mad. Nearly 70% feel anger when theyre not acknowledged for saying thank you. This doesnt appear to be a new issue, though; older and potentially more experienced drivers are less angered by people not acknowledging their thank you. This increases as we move down the age groups, and as such, drivers under 25 are most likely to see red.