Sometimes a study falls in your inbox that is just too fun to ignore.
Today is one of those days.
From Insurify, recent data from over 2 million insurance claims suggests Ohio drivers are far angrier than the national average. Roughly one out of every 25 Ohioans is cited for "rude driving behavior," a category that includes:
- failure to yield violations
- failure to stop violations
- improper backing
- passing where prohibited
- tailgating
- street racing
- hit and runs.
On that last bullet, Ohioans are particularly guilty. Insurify's data found that "hit-and-run violations occur 2.14 times more frequently in Ohio than average." Tailgating and failure-to-yield violations are more common in the Buckeye State as well, with the former occurring 68.3 percent more often than the national average and the latter occurring 58.7 percent more frequently.
Now, the subject line to this email was, I kid you not:
Study: Fueling the rivalry between Steelers fans and Bengals fans
Amazing, right?
Framed within the context of sports, Ohio drivers certainly have plenty to be mad about. The Bengals haven't made the playoffs since 2015, when they lost in the Wild Card round, 18-16, to the Steelers. And while they've made the playoffs seven times since 1990, they've gone 0-7 in those opportunities, marking a near-30-year drought since they've sniffed postseason success.
The Browns actually won a playoff game more recently, in 1994, but they were soon bounced from the postseason by the Steelers that year. They made another cameo in 2002, losing again, 36-33, to the Steelers in the Wild Card game. Since 2002, the Browns have enjoyed one winning season, a playoffs-less 10-6 campaign in 2007.
We can stretch the misery further, too.
The Reds haven't won a playoff series since the 1995 NLDS. They most recently appeared in the postseason to lose to the Pirates at PNC Park in 2013. You probably remember the Reds' pitcher in that one.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are as good as Lebron James. Since he left (again) the Cavaliers went 19-63 in 2018-19, and they're currently in last place in the NBA's Eastern Conference at 16-41. They need to win out, all 25 games, just to hit the .500 mark. Not good.
The Indians, admittedly, are the exception here, as they've been to the postseason three times in the past four years, reaching the World Series in 2016, where they lost to the Cubs in seven games.
But the Blue Jackets crush any of that optimism. They won their first playoff series in the franchise's 19-year history last year, shocking the Lightning by sweeping them ... only to fall a round later to the Bruins in six. The Blue Jackets have made the playoffs four other times, losing each, two to the Penguins.
So, yeah.
Ohioans might not yield on the freeway, but they certainly yield to competition across any of the major pro sports.
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