With so-called ‘March Madness’ on the roads, as students head back to school and workers get back to business, road rage has emerged as a growing concern for kiwi motorists.
A nationwide survey from AA Insurance finding around half of kiwis – 49% of respondents – believe road road has become worse in the last year.
That’s especially true in Auckland – 60% of residents say it’s a growing issue.
“I think it’s widely held that Aucklanders are some of the worst drivers in the world, I’m tailgated constantly”, one motorist told 1News.
“It’s mostly when people don’t follow the road rules”, said another.
The survey also found one in ten kiwis had experienced a road rage incident, with younger drivers aged 18-29 more likely to instigate road rage.
“There’s a bit of a spectrum there, reckless driving, trying to cut people off, to at the very minor end, potentially just flipping the bird,” said AA Insurance Head of Motor Claims Beau Paparoa.
“It really comes down to increased congestion, I think since Covid there’s a lot more people back on the roads.”
An Auckland Council report out this week found congestion in our largest city will cost $2.6 billion a year by 2026, factoring in things like the cost of lost time and reduced consumer spending.
Efforts to reduce that are underway.
A bill, which would introduce time of use charges on busy roads at peak times, passed its first reading on Tuesday.
The Government intends to pass the changes into law by the end of the year.
Police told 1News road rage is difficult to quantify or comment on, as it’s not a specific offence under the law and they don’t collect data on road rage incidents.
AA Insurance’s research was conducted by Kantar.
A nationally representative sample of 972 New Zealand drivers, aged 18 and over, completed an online survey in October 2024.
