The cities with the most and least aggressive holiday drivers: A naughty and nice list

It’s the season to revel in feelings of peace and goodwill toward our fellow humans. And we could do it — we really could — if they’d all just stop trying to drive.

Especially in places like Tucson, Arizona, and Nashville, Tennessee. A new study shows aggressive driving has started to rise in those two places and a few others, as the days grow shorter and the holiday shopping lists grow longer. In Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Providence, Rhode Island, drivers somehow hold onto calm.

The data comes from Gas Buddy, the gasoline price tracking service. Millions of users have downloaded a smartphone app the company offers that tracks local gas prices. But the app has an optional service that helps Gas Buddy study aggressive driving.

The app’s Drives Feature, Gas Buddy explains, is optional. Users have to opt in to turn it on. If they do, it uses the phone’s accelerometer to track “events of fast acceleration, hard braking, and speeding,” prompting drivers to avoid them to make the most of their car’s fuel economy.

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The app works harder over the holidays. “U.S. drivers are up to 48% more aggressive on the roads during the holiday season,” Gas Buddy reports. The company examined 8,149,863 drives around Thanksgiving in the top 50 metropolitan areas by population. It found that “the most frequent aggressive driving habits during the holidays are hard braking (1), speeding (2) and rapid acceleration (3).”

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Naughty list — top 10 cities with the most aggressive holiday drivers

Tucson, Ariz.
Nashville, Tenn.
Orlando
Jacksonville, Fla.
New Orleans
Richmond, Va.
Salt Lake City
Buffalo, N.Y.
Memphis, Tenn.
Oklahoma City

Two Florida cities made the “naughty list” for the second year in a row, though Tampa 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.

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