Does Oklahoma deserve its No. 5 national ranking?

Oklahoma is fifth in the nation.

But for all the wrong reasons.

While Sooner Nation would gladly take a No. 5 ranking in the football poll, there are surely members of that big fraternity who have helped the state achieve that lofty recognition.

But Id just as soon have Delawares No. 50 ranking.

Or, for that matter, Idaho or South Dakota or Louisiana or Wyoming or New Hampshire, all states ranked in the bottom five.

Meanwhile, I have no interest in unseating top-ranked Arizona, or No. 2 Rhode Island.

Because in this ranking, you shouldn’t be proud of being at or near the top.

Lofty rankings are not what the state chamber of commerce wants. Sooner Nation shouldn’t want it. Decent people everywhere shouldn’t want it.

It’s the ranking of the most confrontational drivers in the nation. And Oklahoma ranks near the top. Ugh.

Mention road rage, and many immediately think of Los Angeles or New York City or some other big city. But that may be why Arizona tops the list, because of Phoenix, which is the fifth largest city in the nation.

And with Houston at No. 4, Dallas at No. 9, Austin at No. 10 and Fort Worth at No. 13, it’s probably no surprise that Texas checked in as No. 9 on the national list.

Apart from game-day traffic in the Norman area, I’ve been fortunate enough not to have seen much confrontational driving.

Now I’ll admit I’ve had plenty of heated conversations with myself while driving as I share the highways with others who don’t seem to appreciate posted speed limits, or who can plainly see that traffic is backed up and the roadway is narrowing, but they believe themselves entitled to ignore the “Merge Now” placard and force their way into the bottleneck ahead of the courtesy drivers. But I haven’t encountered any situation that would make me want to exit my vehicle to confront another driver or use my vehicle as a weapon. But, as they say, never say never.

The rankings, the result of a study that surveyed 10,000 licensed drivers in all 50 states, were achieved from various metrics related to road rage and aggressive driving. Oklahoma led the nation with 60% of drivers reporting that they frequently experience road rage from other Oklahomans. And Oklahoma and Arizona tied for third with 70.5% of survey respondents reporting instances of tailgating (the driving kind, not the pre-football game kind).

Of the Top 10 states on the list, I’ve lived in four of them — No. 4 Virginia, No. 5 Oklahoma, No. 9 Texas and No. 10 Ohio. Apart from Texas, I can’t recall encountering confrontational drivers, but maybe it’s because I try to avoid confrontation while behind the wheel. Indiana, my last out-of-state home before returning to Oklahoma, checked in at No. 42, a ranking of which the Hoosiers can be proud. Arkansas, by the way, was ranked No. 23.

But what, other than the current bully culture in which we live, would make for aggressive drivers?

Well, according to the American Psychological Association, high-anger drivers differ from low-anger drives in five key ways:

• They engage in hostile, aggressive thinking. They’re more likely to insult other drivers or express disbelief about the way others drive. Their thoughts also turn more often to revenge, which sometimes means physical harm.

• They take more risks on the road. High-anger drivers are more likely to go 10 to 20 mph over the speed limit, rapidly switch lanes, tailgate and enter an intersection when the light turns red.

• High-anger drivers get angry faster and behave more aggressively. They’re more likely to swear or name-call, to yell at other drivers, to honk in anger. And they’re more likely to be angry not just behind the wheel, but throughout the day.

• High-anger drivers had twice as many car accidents in driving simulations. They also report more near-accidents and get more tickets for speeding.

• Short-fused drivers experience more trait anger, anxiety and impulsiveness. Perhaps from work or home stress, high-anger drivers are more likely to get in the car angry; they also tend to express their anger outward and act impulsively.

While we’d like to believe Sequoyah County, or neighboring counties, don’t contribute to the overall state ranking, I-40 and U.S. 59 (and maybe other highways) aren’t used exclusively by us and our more gentile neighbors.

When we’re sharing the highways with our fellow Americans, surely it would be beneficial to heed Rodney King’s plea: “Can’t we all just get along?”

Lynn Adams is a writer for Your TIMES. He can be reached at 918-775-4433 ext. 142 or by email at lynna@cookson.news.