Whoever Said Maine Has the Lowest Road Rage is Full of Total Crap

For the record, this isn't smack talk against the good people of WGME, because they're just reporting on the study that came out. They're solid humans that do a solid job of reporting the news, weather, and all the things in between.

This isn't even necessarily smack talk against the people that put the study together. They're just looking at statistics. But if you know, you know -- what looks like one story on a sheet of paper isn't exactly reality. And, in this case, it's not even close.

Road Rage Study

A study by LendingTree took a look at multiple statistics when it comes to driving, including the vehicles that tend to be involved in crashes the most, age groups that tend to cause the most crashes, genders that cause the most crashes, and the states where the most crashes/deadly crashes occur.

According to that particular study, since Maine reported zero deadly crashes, they were deemed as having the lowest road rage in the country.

Which -- spoiler alert -- couldn't be further from the truth.

Maine Road Rage

Maine sucks to drive through. Maine itself as an existing area? Amazing. Driving through it? Absolute hot garbage.

It's not all bad. Who doesn't love the fact that the speed limit on the Turnpike (Interstate 95 if you're from away) is 70 mph, which means most people see the speed limit as between 85 and 90 mph. It's truly a highway that everyone wins on -- drivers get to where they want to go faster, and state troopers have a field day pulling people over.

Maine 295

That said, if you want sympathy from people by self-inducing a heart attack, drive on 295 behind some moron in the passing lane who is driving side-by-side with, or even a hair slower than, the grandma/grandpa driving in the right lane.

Since it's only a two-lane highway, you're up Schitt's Creek (see what I did there?) without a paddle, just left to feel your blood pressure increase, heart pounding harder, and a string of swear words come flying out of your mouth while you're boxed in going under the speed limit.

Route 1 Maine

It's not just the two-lane suckfest that is 295 or even highways in Maine that are spark life in road rage, it can also be the beautiful, scenic, rural roads like Route 1, too, no matter the Maine city or town you're in on it.

Case in point with a first-hand story, I was at an intersection in Brunswick, Maine, that Route 1 runs through. I took a legal right on red with no oncoming traffic immediately nearby (you know what I mean, the kind where you put the pedal to the metal to make the turn and get in the traffic flow while another car is closely approaching).

Shortly after the right on red, I switched to the left lane to take a turn into a business, and was met with a long-pressed car horn and a screaming driver in my rear view mirror. Why? Not because I cut her off. Not because I did anything illegal. Because she was big mad that she had to stop and wait for me to turn.

"Maine has the lowest road rage in the country?" Yeah. GTFO. I don't think so.