If you want a peaceful and stress-free day, you had best not be behind the wheel at 5.30pm. 

That rush hour moment has been named the "most stressful" time to drive on Irish roads, with one in five saying that they feel most anxious behind the wheel at this time.  A majority of 55 per cent of Irish people admitted to feeling stressed up to four times per week while driving.

When asked what was getting them riled, respondents listed: other motorists pulling out and switching lanes without looking (72 per cent), other road users cutting them off (44 per cent) and rudeness from other motorists including offensive hand signals or verbal insults (37 per cent). Finally, cyclists not observing the rules of the road (36 per cent) and pedestrians not observing the rules of the road (24 per cent) were major irritants for Irish drivers.

Almost one third of Irish people have experienced road rage once or twice in their lifetimes which broadly equalled the number of people claiming they had been victims of other drivers’ road rage (34 per cent).

When asked if they had ever lost their temper towards their follow road users, 42 per cent admitted to having driven deliberately slowly in front of another car, while 32 per cent owned up to having gesticulated rudely to another road user.  Others’ bad behaviour of choice was tailgating (18 per cent), with a relatively low 5 per cent of Irish people admitting to have deliberately cut in front of another driver.

The research, which was carried out on behalf of car manufacturers Toyota, also showed that drivers reported feeling less frustrated, less stressed, happier and calmer when driving a hybrid.