New study ranks Romania as most stressful country to drive in

Car insurance comparison experts at Compare the Market AU analyzed various factors, including electric charger availability, average congestion, and accident rates, to reveal the most stressful countries for drivers, and Romania took the top spot. At the other end of the ranking, the Netherlands took the stress-free crown.

Romania ranks as the most stressful country for drivers, with a score of 50.96. It had the worst congestion rate (55%) among all those analyzed - 25% higher than Australia (29.9%) and more than double that of the United States (22.7%). According to the study, the country's lack of highways contributes to this congestion.

Additionally, Romania scored the lowest for road quality in the top 10, scoring just 3 out of 7.

Australia ranks second, partly due to its high parking costs. It also places 10th for "stressful driving" searches, with 2,810 searches annually. The country's 130km/h maximum speed limit, which matches that of Romania, also likely contributes to driver stress.

The United States, known for its extensive road networks, is third. Despite its reputation for road trips, the US has the second-highest road fatality rate per 100,000 (14.2), surpassed only by South Africa (24.5). Moreover, it ranks 3rd worst for car thefts (291.3 per 100,000), the study found.

New Zealand takes fourth place with a score of 48.14, followed by Italy, Bulgaria, Greece, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, and Czechia.

At the other end, the Netherlands tops the list as the least stressful country for drivers, offering the second-highest road quality and the most extensive electric charger network. Spain, Croatia, and Germany also rank highly, with European countries claiming 8 of the top 10 spots for the least stressful driving conditions.

Commenting on the study, Adrian Taylor, Executive General Manager of General Insurance at Compare the Market AU, said: "Driving can be a stressful experience, with so many things to consider for a safe and stress-free driving experience – however, it doesn't help that many of these factors rely on the behavior of other drivers, and the road infrastructure."

The dataset ranks 35 countries based on how stressful they are to drive in. Eight different factors were used to do this. Once the data for the factors was collected, the factors were then normalized to provide each factor with a score between 0 and 1. If data was not available, a score of 0 was given.

The normalized 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 eight factors used are average congestion, road quality, fatality rate, motor thefts, 2hr average parking cost, electric car chargers, "stressful driving" search volume, and max speed limit.