Be honest: Are you one of Colorado’s many bad drivers?
Before you say no, ask yourself these questions: Do you drive slowly in the left lane while others are forced to pass you on the right? Do you text while driving? Do you drive excessively fast or weave in and out of cars? Do you run yellow or even red lights? Do you illegally park in front of drop offs for your own convenience, thinking that hazard lights absolve you of entitled behavior?
Now the really messy stuff. What about road rage? Do you tailgate or honk your horn aggressively? Do you yell or flip off other drivers? Have you cut off cyclists or pedestrians, driven high, coal rolled passersby or pulled out a gun?
According to surveys, these are all things Coloradans do, and it has long ranked us as some of the worst drivers in the nation. Here are a few recent stats to prove it.
In 2022, the Colorado Department of Transportation highlighted a Forbes survey that cited us as the third highest state in the nation for road rage. Among the findings, 46% of Coloradans reported an experience with being “insulted or threatened by other drivers.”
In 2023, a similar survey revealed that 14.5% of Colorado drivers regularly encounter road rage, landing the state among the top third for overall aggressiveness on the road. Findings included 59.5% of people who reported being blocked from changing lanes, 63% being yelled at and 10% being forced off the road by another driver.
That same year, Colorado State Patrol cited over 3,000 road rage incidents in only two years, saying many led to the use of guns, knives and physical altercations. Some drivers are even shot.
Then there’s drugs and alcohol. According to CSP, 4,120 impaired driving citations were issued last year by CSP alone, with citations most often being issued in El Paso, Adams, Jefferson, Weld and Larimer counties. This horrifying data comes after a 2018 survey that revealed 69% of marijuana users reported driving high at least once, and some 27% reported driving high regularly.
There are also a record number of fatal crashes. In 2022, a 57% spike was marked in roadway deaths compared to the prior decade, with over one third of those deaths occurring among bicyclists and pedestrians. The highest rates of fatalities were found in El Paso County, followed by Adams and Denver.
Going further down the rabbit hole, Colorado’s poor roadway trends extend well beyond bad driving. In 2022, a Wallethub survey ranked the state low for everything from rush-hour traffic to car theft to auto-maintenance costs to road quality. Overall, this led to a dismal 44th placement nationwide, once again ranking Colorado among the worst states for driving. In other words, there’s pretty clear consensus on the issue, and this year isn’t looking any better.
So what gives, Colorado? Why are we so bad at transportation?
It’s easy to blame bigger cars, bad roads or CDOT, but their fecal upkeep of highways isn’t the only problem. We’re the ones getting behind the wheel, meaning it’s our responsibility and our responsibility alone to follow the rules of the road. We all took a driver’s test at some point right? How many people have to die before we take it seriously?
It’s hard not to notice how the overall trend of more bad behavior on the road appears to correlate with more anger in the country at large. For example, surveys show that Americans have grown increasingly angry for years, with 84% of Americans expressing in 2019 that they were angrier now than in the prior decade. And given that particular survey was conducted well before the coronavirus came to our shores, there’s clearly more to the story than COVID-19.
It might be political division.
On the whole, the U.S. is polarizing faster than other nations, and this divide is wreaking havoc on individuals and families. The end result is not good: Anger is up. Hate crimes are up. And 1 in 5 voters now say the divides have impacted their personal relationships.
So is this it? Have the larger tolls of toxic politics finally trickled down so deeply that we can’t even drive alongside each other respectfully anymore? Certainly the presence of more anger and hate would explain the increased propensity for road rage and substance abuse. It’d also explain an increase in impatience, selfishness and entitlement. But if political fallout is the root of the problem, what does that mean for trying to fix it?
Regardless of why, for now the fact remains that Coloradans clearly need to be better drivers, and it starts with us as individuals. Because based on the stats, there’s a good chance that you, dear reader, are part of the problem. So the next time you’re on the road, ask yourself honestly what you can do differently to improve the trends.
There’s no such thing as a perfect driver.
Trish Zornio is a scientist, lecturer and writer who has worked at some of the nation’s top universities and hospitals. She’s an avid rock climber and was a 2020 candidate for the U.S. Senate in Colorado. Trish can be found on Twitter @trish_zornio
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