Where Indiana ranks among states with the most confrontational drivers

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — This week, Indiana State Police reported an alarming 633% increase in the number of yearly shootings on highways in and around Indianapolis since 2018. Despite the increase, in a new report suggests it could be much worse.

Forbes Advisor recently came out with its list of states with the most confrontational drivers. The news outlet surveyed 10,000 drivers and compared all 50 states across nine different metrics.

In 2023, the state with the most confrontational drivers is Arizona.

In the Grand Canyon State, 81% of drivers said another driver had yelled at, insulted, cursed at, or threatened them. About 22.5% of Arizona drivers reported being forced off the road, and 31.5% said another driver had exited their vehicle to yell at or fight with them.

Rounding out the top five confrontational states were Rhode Island, West Virginia, Virginia, and Oklahoma. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Delaware was ranked as the state with the most police drivers.

Indiana ranks 42nd in the country, making it the eighth least-confrontational state in the country when it comes to road rage. About 7.5% of drivers reported they had experienced another driver exiting their vehicle to yell or fight with them, while 10.5% reported experiencing road rage frequently.

The most recent highway shooting in Indiana happened Sunday on a stretch of I-465. It’s being investigated as a road rage incident.

“It’s certainly an alarming trend. We’ve seen a significant increase over the last five years,” ISP Sgt. John Perrine said.

According to Everytown Research, violent road incidents are up nationwide, with 554 people either killed or wounded in road rage shootings in 2022. That’s more than double the amount in 2018 when the total was 246.

Indiana State Police have carried out 211 road rage shooting investigations in the last five years in Marion, Boone, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Johnson, and Shelby counties:

• 2018: 9
• 2019: 9
• 2020: 23
• 2021: 65
• 2022: 66
• 2023, through Aug. 27: 39.

“Early on when our number of shootings was low, we believe a vast majority of those were targeted shootings, parties that knew one another. But now, we’re seeing the trend of the vast majority of our shootings are the result of road rage encounters,” Perrine said.