The Burrow
Oct 14, 2024
Anyone who’s ever hit the road with four wheels before knows just how stressful driving can be, especially if you’ve only just passed your test. Whether it’s bad traffic during your morning commute, or speeding drivers cutting you off on the highway, there are plenty of factors at play that can make for a rather hair-raising drive.
But while the local roads around Australia can be potholed and backed up with angry motorists at the best of times, how does it compare to the rest of the world? Just which country is the most stressful place to drive in?
As car insurance experts, we examined a variety of road-stress factors, such as congestion levels, road quality, parking availability, and general online sentiment around driving in various places, in order to find out which country proved to be most stressful for drivers.
Take a look at our findings below!
From the quiet backroads in the heart of Europe to the cluttered highways of the US, here are the top 5 most stressful places to drive in the world:
First on our list, we have Romania. One of the largest countries in Eastern Europe, Romania is famed for its stunning mountain views, medieval fortresses, and local culture. But sadly, it seems it’s also known for its truly dreadful roads and drivers, scoring a total of 51 out of 100 in our ranking.
In fact, according to our data, Romania had the worst percentage of congestion out of any country we analyzed. At 55%, that’s 25% more than Australia (29.9%) and well over double that of the United States (22.7%).
Add to this a low road-quality rating of just 3 out of 7 and it would appear people are going nowhere fast in this country – despite the max speed limit being a blistering 130km/h! And, unfortunately, the news just keeps getting worse for Romanian drivers, with the country having the 4th highest fatality rate per 100,000 (9.6).
However, in spite of this, the local sentiment for driving in Romania appears to be rather positive, with only 890 searches per year around stressful driving, showing that it’s not an opinion shared by those who call this country home.
If you’re an Aussie reading this, then we’re almost certain you were expecting Australia to place relatively high on the list, though perhaps not in second place. But with a total score of 48 out of 100, it turns out Australia might be one of the most stressful places to drive in around the globe.
For starters, Australia came top of the list for parking costs per 2 hours at $28.30 AUD, well over double that of the next country, the US ($13.88). Alongside this, it placed 10th overall for stressful driving searches at 2,810 per year, showing just how conscious people are about driving in our country. Australia also has few electric car charging stations, sitting at 27th place for electric car chargers, which is a source of stress for the growing EV market.
However, motorists in Australia will be pleased to hear that Aus didn’t score quite so highly in other areas. For example, Australia placed middle of the road for both congestion and road fatalities per 100,000 at 29.9% and 4.5 out of 7 respectively, with the same also being true for its place amongst the rest of our other factors, though it would seem that, cumulatively, this is not enough to save it from scoring so highly in the index.
Moving onto our third-place country, we have another destination well known for its rush hour traffic and extensive highway network – the US. Scoring a similar point total as Australia at 48 out of 100 (48.337 to be precise compared to Australia’s 48.376), drivers in the US certainly have it cut out for them when the roads get busy.
And sadly, the hectic nature of many of America’s roads has resulted in the US placing 2nd for road fatalities per 100,000, sitting at 14.2, only being beaten by South Africa’s 24.5. But the bad news doesn’t stop there, as the US is also the 3rd worst place on our list for car thefts per 100,000 at 291.3.
Even parking is surprisingly expensive in the states, with 2 hours costing motorists an average of $13.88, putting America 2nd in this category, while also coming 4th overall for stressful driving searches per year (10,100).
Indeed, the only things seeming to save America from ranking higher are its better road quality, high number of electric car chargers, and surprisingly, its lower-than-average congestion percentage (busy New York traffic notwithstanding).
Moving closer to home for our fourth most stressful country to drive in, we’re actually popping across the pond and taking a spin in New Zealand. With another close score of 48.137 out of 100, it would seem that the Kiwis have some of the rowdier roads out there.
To start with, New Zealand roads aren’t exactly stellar, placing joint 7th overall with a rating of 4.5 out of 7, as well as having a staggering number of motor thefts per 100,000 people at 954, putting it 1st in this category. Parking prices aren’t much better here either, with an average 2-hour stay costing New Zealand drivers $13.01 AUD.
Still, New Zealanders can rest easy knowing that their average congestion percentage is rather reasonable at 28.2% and that most drivers are unconcerned about stressful driving situations, with just 680 searches made around this topic each year, both of which help to keep New Zealand from placing any higher on our list.
Last, but not least, we have one of Europe’s most popular holiday destinations – Italy. Despite being well-regarded as a must-visit country for many people, Italy has a well-earned reputation for stressful driving, scoring an unenviable 46 points out of 100 using our factors.
For one thing, even though Italy sees countless tourists visiting each year, it has some of the worst roads on our list overall, scoring 4.4 out of 7 and placing joint 6th, while also being 7th for car thefts per 100,000 at bang on 213.
And it seems that this reputation for stressful driving has also made its way firmly online, with a whopping 15,810 searches being made on the topic each year, only being topped by the United Arab Emirates’s 20,160. In other words, if it was not for Italy’s good congestion rate and low driving fatalities, it would almost certainly have a higher spot on our ranking.
So, we know which countries out there are the most stressful to drive in, but what can you do to ease the anxiety and concern you might feel when driving in these places or simply when out and about at home?
Here are our top tips for handling driving stress when the roads get busy:
Alongside this, Adrian Taylor, Executive General Manager of General Insurance at Compare the Market, highlighted these essential points:
“At the end of the day, whether we’re driving the familiar streets of our hometown or the confusing maze of a brand-new city, it’s important to remember that everyone is in the same boat and everyone on the road has a responsibility to drive safe.
“By acting calm and exercising good driver etiquette, you might find that those sharing the road with you are equally polite. But remember, just because someone cuts you off in traffic or speeds past you out of the blue, does not mean they’re doing it intentionally, and there could be many reasons behind why they’re driving that way.
“Of course, even good driving is no guarantee of avoiding an accident, which is also why it’s very important to give yourself peace of mind by investing in comprehensive car insurance cover – that way, you’ll have one less thing to worry about when out and about as it provides cover for accidents caused by yourself or others.
“Before purchasing any car insurance policy, be sure to review the Policy Disclosure Statement (PDS) and Target Market Determination (TMD) to see the terms and conditions and decide if it’s suitable for you.”
This dataset ranks 35 countries, based on how stressful they are to drive in. To do this, 8 different factors were used. Once the data for the factors was collected, the factors were then normalised, to provide each factor with a score between 0 and 1. If data was not available, a score of 0 was given.
The normalised values were then summed and multiplied by 12.5, to give each location a total score out of 100. The locations were then ranked from highest to lowest, based on their total scores.
The factors used were as follows:
The factors were indexed as follows:
All data is correct as of 18/09/24. The ranking data shown is a compilation of multiple data sources and may not be representative of real life. All data is accurate with regard to the sources provided. For the purpose of the ranking, as Germany does not have a maximum speed limit, we used the recommended limit of 130 km/h. The exchange rate used was $1 USD to $1.48 AUD.