According to a latest poll which shows that Swedes drivers are the calmest, on the other hand British drivers are the angriest.
British drivers are among the most stressed and angry in Europe, while Swedish motorists are able to maintain a Scandinavian coolness under pressure when behind the wheel.
These conclusions are drawn from new research commissioned from Ikano Bank.
It found that almost four in 10 UK motorists (38%) confessed that they regularly felt angry when driving, while six in 10 (62%) admitted that they were impatient. A half of us Brits also felt stressed when driving, with women particularly susceptible (55%, compared to 47% of men).
This is in marked contrast to the state of the nation's driving in Sweden, where less than a third (30%) said that they got angry and less than a half of motorists (48%) said that they sometimes felt impatient.
Swedish drivers were also less stressed, with 50% of women and 37% of men suffering from the effects.
These figures are surprising when you consider that Swedish drivers spend more time stuck in traffic than those of any other nation. Almost half (46%) of Swedish drivers said they spent more than four hours in traffic jams each week and one in ten (11%) said they spend more than 10 hours.
This compares with just 13% and 1%, respectively, in the UK. Motorists in Germany and the Netherlands also expressed lower levels of anger, impatience and stress, with the laid-back Dutch showing particularly low levels of stress (35%).
That said, German drivers admitted that they were a little more impatient than Swedes with over half (56%) admitting to getting frustrated behind the wheel.
Living up to a national stereotype, Italy's passionate, gesticulating drivers admitted to being the angriest (45%), most impatient (67%) and most stressed (60%) with fellow southern Europeans Spain coming a close second place in all categories other than impatience, where French drivers (particular fans of tailgating, in our experience) are second with 61%.
In response to the figures, Ikano Bank has launched a 'Drive Like a Swede' competition and is giving away advanced driver courses with IAM Roadsmart to 100 motorists, with the aim of improving their experience on the road. Details can be found at www.ikano.co.uk/like-a-swede.
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