I haven't seen any data that shows a correlation. More expensive cars do get more deference on the road so that may factor in.
I don't know why stating a fact has offended people. Bumper stickers (because that means you are more connected to your car as an extension of your personality) are also correlated with more aggressive driving/road rage.
Aggressive driving connected to identifying with your car
Study findings also included:
- Increased materialism, or the importance of one’s possessions, is linked to increased aggressive driving tendencies.
- A sense of being under time pressure leads to more aggressive driving.
Perhaps it is not a surprise that aggressive driving tendencies increase incidents of drivers break the law. The study authors state that:
Individuals may view cars and the road space they occupy as their territory and will seek to maintain control over it and defend it as necessary.
SUV drivers now the most aggressive
The survey of 3700 drivers across Australia found SUV drivers led in six of the 10 aggression cues: impatience; accidents caused by impatience; speeding in suburbs or outside schools; angry tailgating; yelling or swearing at other drivers; and gesturing rudely.
With almost two thirds of SUV drivers being women aged 25-49 and men aged 50 or older, the results overturn perception that young males in ‘hot’ cars are the aggression leaders.
AAMI believes the key to SUV driver behaviour is the large size and height of their vehicles, which gives the illusion of superiority.
“When you get behind the wheel surrounded by tonnes of steel, you feel confident, you feel safe -- and perhaps you feel you should be getting somewhere faster than everybody else,” AAMI spokesman Reuben Aitchison says.
“With that feeling of safety and security, you’re more likely to take risks.
“Simply being in a big car doesn’t give you any superiority on the road, despite what people think. Our statistics show it’s not the size of your car, it’s what you do with it that counts.
“Getting aggro on the road won’t get you to your destination any faster, and the same rules apply to us all.”
The AAMI study also found that drivers of black cars tended to be more aggressive than those of any other colour.
SUV drivers were most likely to:
- Consider themselves to be an impatient driver
- Have had an accident in the last five years because of their own impatience
- Ignore restricted speed limits in places like suburban roads or outside schools
- Have become angry with the actions of another driver and tailgated them
- Yell or swear at another driver for doing something they thought was rude or dangerous
- ‘Gesture’ rudely at another driver they think was doing something rude or dangerous
