Los Angeles Is America’s Most Stressful City to Drive in, but It’s 5,000 Miles Away from the World’s Most Traumatic
A 2024 study recently revealed the most stressful cities to navigate in your car. The results showed that LA was the most anxiety-inducing city to drive in the U.S. However, the most stressful city to drive in the world is quite far away.
The Stressful Commuter Cities study tracked the heart rate and heart rate variance of 300 drivers in 30 major cities around the globe. Rather than only measuring heart rate while driving against resting heart rate, heart rate variance also indicated situational stress levels.
According to the study, the more stressed you are in a given circumstance, the higher your heart rate and lower your heartbeat variance becomes. The more relaxed you are, your heart rate lowers and variance increases. Observers followed these health metrics for five days during typical driver commutes, and the results were averaged and then ranked.
As such, MoneySuperMarket researchers determined the cities where driver metrics reflected the most stress. London, England, had the highest score.
Here are the top 10 most stressful cities worldwide to drive a car:
- London, England
- Los Angeles, USA
- Paris, France
- San Francisco, USA
- Cardiff, Wales
- New York, USA
- Rome, Italy
- Glasgow, Scotland
- Istanbul, Turkey
- Bristol, England
I’ve been to London before but never drove for the few weeks I stayed – and I’m glad I didn’t. In 2023, the BBN Times shared a United Kingdom-specific study. In it, UK drivers cited London’s city center as the most confusing area and that it most often induced their road rage.
Interestingly, Cardiff, Wales, ranked most stressful per population. Researchers found that commuters there expressed higher stress than in larger cities with more people and cars.
Lastly, is anyone surprised that Stockholm, Sweden, took the prize for the least stressful city in the world to drive a car?
