Americans overall are not as aggressive on the road as they have been in the past as driver safety and rudeness continue to improve, says the fourth annual Nerves of Steel survey.

The survey, conducted by TheSteelAlliance, determined that Seattle is the safest and most polite city in the U.S. when it comes to driving. On the other end of the spectrum, Boston is still home to the most aggressive drivers, even though the city was the most improved in terms of safety from last year's survey. Miami's drivers earned the title of rudest drivers in the nation.
Across all cities surveyed in 2002, safe driving is on the rise. Five cities, including Boston, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Chicago and Miami, significantly improved their safety grades over the past year.
The 2002 Nerves of Steel survey revealed that the city with the most aggressive and unsafe drivers among the 10 surveyed was Boston, which earned a C for safety. In the month prior to the survey, 44 percent of Boston's drivers had committed at least four or more aggressive acts on the road, including tailgating, speeding and waiting until the last second to merge. Although Boston is considered the most aggressive and unsafe city of the survey, the city earned the title of most improved for safe driving in 2002 after scoring a failing grade in the 2001 survey.
According to drivers in Seattle, the West Coast is home to the safest roads in America. Seattle's drivers earned an A in safety, with only 23 percent of its drivers committing excessive acts of aggression on the road. Other cities with safe drivers included Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago and Los Angeles.
Fifty-seven percent of drivers in Miami, the highest percentage of all 10 cities surveyed, believe that the drivers in their city are ruder than drivers in other cities. Miami received an F, earning the champion title for rudest drivers of the 2002 survey. And when it comes to rudeness, Miami's female drivers outranked their male counterparts in nine of 13 driving categories. Aside from Miami's F, rudeness grades continue to improve in 2002. Three cities raised their grades and five retained their grades from the 2001 survey. Seattle, this year's safest city, also is the 2002 winner for the most polite city. Only 11 percent of drivers in Seattle feel that they are ruder than drivers in other cities. Other polite cities include Cleveland, Denver, Detroit and Dallas. Los Angeles drivers were the most improved in the rudeness ranking, raising their grade from a D to a B.
Despite this general trend towards more tolerance on the road, Capital Beltway drivers may soon be on their way to earning the title of the rudest drivers in the country. Drivers in Washington, D.C. were the only drivers to lower their rudeness grade over the past year.