Do you agree or disagree?
Some drivers seem to treat road rules less as rules and more as suggestions, whether that means double-parking “for five minutes,” using the shoulder to skip traffic, blocking a bike lane, cutting across a turn-only lane, making an illegal U-turn, or stopping wherever their hazard lights happen to be flashing.
New Jersey-based criminal defense firm Brett Rosen Law surveyed 3,056 motorists across major U.S. cities to identify America’s Most Entitled Drivers, revealing where drivers are most willing to bend or ignore everyday traffic laws when those laws become inconvenient.
The top 5 in New Jersey were as follows:
#1. Jersey City
In Jersey City, the “quick stop” is one of the most common ways drivers bend the rules. The city’s dense neighborhoods and shopping streets sit beside major routes to the Holland Tunnel and the Hudson waterfront, creating a constant mix of local traffic, commuters and vehicles heading into Manhattan. Double-parking or blocking a bike lane may seem harmless if the driver expects to be gone in a minute. For the people behind them, it means braking, waiting or changing course. The rule is clear. The driver just decided it could wait.
#2. Newark
Where an airport, major highways and a busy city center share one road network, Newark drivers have plenty of chances to break the rules, and some take them. The city connects to I-78 and the New Jersey Turnpike (I-95), and local streets also carry traffic to Newark Liberty International Airport and downtown. A late lane change or a cut into line can quickly set off a chain of braking. On surface streets, it’s double-parking or stopping in a live lane with the flashers on. Whatever the road, the driver assumes the traffic around them will work around it.
#3. Trenton
New Jersey’s capital is an important crossroads, and some of its drivers treat the rules there as optional. U.S. 1 and Route 29 carry traffic through and around Trenton, while local streets handle commuters, government workers and neighborhood trips. An illegal U-turn or a quick stop in a travel lane can seem like a minor shortcut when the legal alternative takes longer. But the time one driver saves usually comes out of someone else’s. It’s routine rule-bending, and it adds up.
#4. Paterson
Busy main roads, dense neighborhoods and highway access make rule-bending easy to spot in Paterson. I-80 runs through the city, while Route 19 and other local roads carry traffic between neighborhoods and nearby towns. A driver who squeezes into a line at the last moment, or makes an illegal maneuver rather than going on to the next legal option, may see it as practical. But it only works if other road users slow down or make room. Handing the inconvenience to someone else is what turns impatience into entitlement.
#5. Elizabeth
Traffic around Elizabeth is about much more than local trips, and the pressure brings out drivers who ignore the rules. The New Jersey Turnpike (I-95) runs through the eastern part of the city, while roads serving Newark Liberty International Airport, Port Newark and surrounding industrial areas add cars, trucks and through-traffic. In that mix, some drivers force into a line or cut across lanes to recover a missed turn. It feels like a small adjustment to the driver, but it’s still breaking the law, and the trucks and cars around them have to deal with it.
Infographic: America’s Most Entitled Drivers
When annoyance gets a response
The survey asked motorists how they had reacted when another driver annoyed or angered them. Repeated honking was the most common answer (22%), followed by an angry gesture and shouting from the vehicle (17% each).
