NEW RESEARCH has found that two Lancashire areas are home to some of the country’s most foul-tempered drivers.

Car group, Motorfinity, sent Freedom of Information requests to police forces in cities throughout England and Wales, asking how many instances of road rage happened there in 2021.

According to the data from forces that responded, Lancaster and Preston are among the worst areas for road rage, placing in the national top five.

Preston and Lancaster both ranked at fourth overall with 191 combined incidents of road rage reported to the Lancashire Police last year.

The company also asked how many reports of dangerous and careless driving each of the cities’ forces had in 2021, to find out if angry drivers are found around the worst drivers.

However, as the data shows little correlation, it seems hot-headedness isn't necessarily caused by high numbers of unsafe motorists.

Regardless, Lancaster was ranked as one of the top careless driving incident hotspot with 24 reports made in 2021, ranking it fourth overall in the findings.

Motorfinity chief executive, Daniel Briggs, said: “These results show that some cities are clear hotspots when it comes to angry or impatient drivers.

“All of the top 10 are very busy urban areas, but it doesn’t necessarily follow that more motorists means more anger.

"Instead, the fact that the top few cities are so far ahead suggests that drivers may unknowingly copy each others’ bad behaviour.

“It’s never pleasant to be on the receiving end of road rage, but it’s also pretty unpleasant to be a regularly angry driver. Motoring should be an enjoyable experience, or at least one that people don’t dread.

“Given that road rage is generally considered commonplace, it’s likely that someone experiencing it has also been on the receiving end of another driver’s anger at some point. So it’s worth remembering that a car door probably doesn’t insulate your emotions as much as you first think.”

What to do if you’re the victim of road rage

If an angry driver confronts you in road rage circumstances, the most important thing to remember is to not retaliate. If possible, don’t make eye contact or react in any way, even if they were clearly in the wrong. You may only make things worse.

If it might be something you’ve done, don’t forget that we all make mistakes. It’s far better to simply learn from it and to move on. Saying sorry with a quick wave of your hand often works wonders in diffusing a situation.

What to do if you regularly have road rage

One of the most common causes of road rage is people being late and in a hurry to get to their destination. If that’s you, make sure to leave more time for your journeys.

You may have to regularly remind yourself that everybody makes occasional mistakes behind the wheel — including you. Realistically, shouting at someone is going to do very little to make things better. Particularly for something that has already happened.

By the same token, getting angry at another driver could turn the situation against you, if they become angry back. Better to tell yourself to calm down and let it go.