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Study: Aggressive driving spikes during holidays

Posted at 1:58 PM, Dec 14, 2018
and last updated 2018-12-14 14:58:00-05

By Brennon Gurley

TYLER, TX (KLTV) - If you’ll be hitting the road this Christmas season, experts say there is a chance you’ll encounter aggressive driving.

We know people get stressed during the holidays, but sadly, this stress translates to the way we drive.

new study, from GasBuddy.com, confirms aggressive driving gets worse during the holidays. The recent report puts Texas third on its list of top 10 states with the most aggressive holiday drivers.

“Slow drivers in the left lane that’s my biggest frustration. If they’re going to drive slow, they need to stay to the right,” explains driver Ange Everett.

Other East Texans expressed similar sentiments.

“Maybe people just cutting in front of me. In my regular four-wheel car tailgaters,” adds Donny Crenshaw.

Chris Miller, Executive Director, with North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority said that’s one reason the organization expanded Toll 49. He says Toll 49 is alleviating some of the congestion.

“Anytime you have that many drivers, that many people on the road in around the holidays you’re just going to have people getting aggressive or getting frustrated because somebody in front of them is driving to slow," he said.

That’s why Miller and Northeast Texas Regional Mobility Association are constantly working hard to improve traffic woes and driver stress with the recent opening of the Toll 49 Lindale Relief Route.

“We would hope that we we’re going to contribute to a decrease of aggression because it’s a drive that people obviously have the opportunity to move at about 75 mph so they’re not going to be stuck in traffic," Miller said.

Miller wants drivers to arrive at their destination safely and as quickly as possible.

“(The toll) provides an opportunity to go as far away as Whitehouse all the way up to Lindale, the north part of Lindale, and stay on the same road and do it in about 20 to 25 minutes,” he said.

And drivers seem to like the convenience.

“I enjoy the new toll road cause we got to miss all that traffic today as we went into South Tyler,” says Everett.

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