Revealed: Which state has Australia's most hated drivers
If you reckon you’re pretty good behind the wheel, your fellow drivers, family and friends probably have a big surprise for you.
A fresh report has revealed which state Australians blame most for having the worst drivers – and there’s a clear winner.
The recent survey of over 2,000 Australians, collected by the family location-tracking app Life360, highlights a common sentiment across the nation when it comes to Australia’s driving habits: “it’s not me, it’s you”.
A whopping 89 per cent of Australian drivers are confident in their driving abilities, and yet only 7 per cent trust other drivers on the road.
According to Australian motor racing driver and defensive driving instructor Paul Morris, a dangerous disconnect exists between how Aussie drivers perceive their skills and their actual behaviour on the road.
“As Aussies, we are all here for a bit of healthy competition. However, the gap between how we see ourselves compared to other drivers and how we actually behave on the road is where accidents can happen.”
Nearly half (43 per cent) of Aussies admit to judging others solely based on their number plates, and New South Wales drivers bear the brunt of this judgment.
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While it may or may not be a surprise depending on who you ask, 51 per cent of Aussies noted New South Wales drivers as aggressive. Additionally, 47 per cent consider them to be habitual speeders, and 37 per cent view them as inconsiderate.
Not far behind, Victorian drivers were labelled serial ignorers of road rules, with 36 per cent of those surveyed accusing them of tailgating, while 35 per cent pointed to distracted driving as a common issue among them.
Perhaps the harshest verdict was reserved for Queensland drivers.
Over a quarter of respondents (27 per cent) simply declared them the worst drivers overall, offering no specific complaints – just a general sense of disapproval.
However, according to Life360, Aussies may be steering the blame in the wrong direction.
The platform data suggests ACT is guilty of the riskiest road use.
The app recorded the highest rates of bad habits such as phone use, rapid acceleration and hard braking in the capital, with 4.6 per cent of all drives over the past seven weeks flagged for unsafe road behaviour — surpassing NSW (4.3 per cent), VIC (4.2 per cent), and QLD (4.1 per cent).
“At the end of the day, most of us think we’re good drivers but the data doesn’t lie,” says Paul Morris.
“No matter if it’s fuelled by state rivalries or a bit of backseat banter, there’s always room to improve.”
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And that caution might be warranted.
While 82 per cent of Australians consider themselves careful drivers — and nearly half (47%) claim they never speed — Life360 data paints a different picture.
Over just seven weeks, the platform recorded more than 81,000 speeding incidents and over 547,000 cases of hard braking across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.
And when it comes to what irritates Austrian drivers the most, over a quarter admit that they are annoyed by other drivers most of the time.
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The most aggravating behaviour is tailgating, with 42 per cent of Australians often frustrated by it. This is followed by failing to indicate at 39 per cent, speeding at 31 per cent and using a phone while driving at 28 per cent.
Ultimately, Paul Morris is advocating for safer and more responsible driving practices among Australians.
“Life360’s data – and Aussie opinions – make one thing clear: we’ve all got some work to do behind the wheel, because confidence is great but complacency, not so much,” Paul Morris says.
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