Raleigh falls off top 10 list for ‘naughtiest’ holiday drivers | Eastern NC Now

    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the Carolina Journal. The author of this post is David Bass.

    A new survey from GasBuddy has some good news for drivers in North Carolina's capital city - Raleigh is no longer on the top 10 list for Scroogiest drivers during the holiday season.

    GasBudy reviewed data from millions of drives during the Thanksgiving 2022 holiday weekend to reach its results. Raleigh dropped to 19th on the list compared to 7th in 2021, while Charlotte ranked 16th. No other North Carolina cities made the top 50.

    Tucson, Arizona came in at No. 1 for aggressive driving for the second year in a row. On the flipside, drivers in Portland, Oregon were deemed the least aggressive.

    GasBuddy defines aggressive driving habits as quick acceleration, hard braking, and speeding.

    The other nine top cities for aggressive drivers are:

• Jacksonville, Florida
• Nashville, Tennessee
• Orlando, Florida
• Birmingham, Alabama
• Richmond, Virginia
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida
• Salt Lake City, Utah
• Memphis, Tennessee

    The nine least aggressive cities are:

• Cincinnati, Ohio
• Seattle, Washington
• Las Vegas, Nevada
• Rochester, New York
• Providence, Rhode Island
• Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Cleveland, Ohio
• Columbus, Ohio
• Buffalo, New York

    Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, pointed out that aggressive driving leads to higher fuel costs.

    "In addition to the safety element, driving aggressively and rushing around bites into consumer wallets by reducing fuel efficiency," De Haan said in a statement. "As 2022 has brought some of the highest gas prices ever seen, taking a deep breath and slowing down while driving can improve drivers' gas mileage up to 25%, meaning safe drivers will have extra savings on hand to spend during the holiday season."