Road rage in London and the south east is leaving some drivers scared to get back behind the wheel , according to a survey.

A fifth of motorists in the region who took part in a poll by www.tyre-shopper.co.uk said that experiencing somebody else’s road rage had made them feel anxious about driving .

Half of the survey’s respondents said they had been verbally abused by another driver, while two thirds had received a rude or threatening gesture from another driver.

A quarter of them said their car had been followed due to another driver’s road rage.

Road rage is also more common in the south east than people might expect, the survey shows, as respondents said they were victims three times a year on average.

Among the less surprising findings was that 80% of respondents were last on the receiving end of road rage from a male driver with an average age of 37.

It also came as no shock that they were most likely to encounter road rage at a junction.

The respondents were much less likely to be the source of road rage, the survey shows.

According to the results, 40% admitted verbally reacting to another driver while just a quarter said they had made a rude or threatening gesture to another driver.

Only 5% of respondents said they had followed another driver’s car due to road rage.

The good news is road rage in the south east is not as common as the British average.

Looking at the national picture, 60% of those surveyed said they had suffered either a verbal or physical attack while three quarters experienced a threatening gesture.

Overall, 80% of respondents across Britain were victims of road rage in the past year.

It turned out that the women who took part in the poll were more likely than men to suffer three or more incidents of road rage in a single year (35% compared to 25%).

It followed that female respondents were twice as likely as men to feel hesitant about getting back behind the wheel of a car (28% compared to 14%).

Country roads were safest, according to the survey, as just 10% of respondents had experienced an angry motorist on them.

Bus drivers came out of the survey with their record intact, as only 7% of drivers polled said they had felt threatened by a bus.

Jack Underwood, of www.tyre-shopper.co.uk, said: “It’s no wonder road rage is rife in Britain, given the number of congested roads and ongoing roadworks around the nation’s motorways.

“Having busy lives to lead, people can get impatient behind the wheel and this can lead to incidents I’m sure they later regret.

“It’s key for drivers to stay calm and composed on the roads.

“It’s better to take a little while longer to get from A to B, than arrive frustrated a few seconds quicker.”

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