Coming as no surprise to any of us, Houston has been named as one of the most stressful cities to drive in the country.
Like most major cities, Houston is plagued with traffic problems. Though Houston is a friendlier city than most it can feel like out on the road, it’s every man for himself. As a result, navigating the I-10 and I-69 is akin to an Odyssean journey.
Lemon Law Experts recently released a study ranking the most stressful cities to drive in the U.S., ranking Houston at No. 10. The largest stress factors, according to the study, are aggressive lane changes (89%), heavy traffic (87%), and distracted drivers on their phones (87%).
As a result, over half of Houston drivers (60%) have opted out of plans to avoid driving. Furthermore, nearly half of Houston drivers (49%) report that driving is more stressful now than a few years ago.
As far as its methodology, the study surveyed 2,003 American drivers across 40 cities. Participants were asked a range of questions regarding their overall stress while driving, how those feelings compare to previous years, the frequency of their anxiety behind the wheel, and their primary sources of frustration on the road.
The researchers then assigned point values to answers reflecting stressful experiences to generate an average score for each city – scaled from 0 to 100, with a score of 100 designating the most stressful driving environments.
The study points out that 1 in 3 American drivers feel anxious, angry, and/or stressed when driving, that over half of drivers feel anxiety before beginning their drive, and that 1 in 4 drivers have made occupational changes due to the drive
According to the study, Houston is not the most stressful city to drive in Texas; the title would go to San Antonio, ranking at No. 4 nationally. Conversely, the state capital of Austin was ranked as the No. 9 least stressful city to drive in the nation.
The country’s most stressful city to drive in, according to Lemon Law Experts, is Atlanta, Georgia. The least stressful U.S. city to drive in is San Francisco, California.
