According to a study carried out by DiscoverCars.com, traffic in Lisbon is so chaotic that we are already considered the second most stressful city in Europe to drive in, out of a total of nine European capitals, with a “Stress Rating” of 36.
Lisbon was second only to Oslo in Norway (who knew, right?), which registered a rating of 37.5, and ahead of Milan in Italy, which came third in this stress ranking.
What qualifies us to be in this position?
There are several factors that contribute to this high stress rating for driving:
- The narrow streets: the capital’s historic architecture, with narrow streets, makes driving in these areas a living hell and a huge challenge for all motorists;
- Heavy traffic: especially during rush hour, Lisbon is a real traffic chaos, which increases the stress levels of drivers, who either want to get to work or get home;
- The number of traffic circles and entrances and exits on expressways: these places are the source of greatest concern for drivers, who often “panic” in these situations;
- The weather: when it rains we all know what happens, it seems that everyone decides to take the car out of the garage to get to work, making it even more chaotic and the roads more dangerous.
What about nerves?
One recent study by Preply says that it is in the Lisbon district that the rudest people in traffic are to be found , with direct insults topping the list of discontent among Lisbon motorists.
This further proves the discoverCars.com study, which also measured the physical impact of stress on drivers, indicating that the heart rate of drivers in Lisbon can reach up to 134 beats per minute, revealing a high level of tension when faced with Lisbon traffic.
You’ll agree that there’s a lot to be done to substantially reduce this level of stress. While on the one hand we know that we should try to be more peaceful and patient, on the other hand there is a need to improve the existing traffic management infrastructure in our city.
For now, our suggestion is that you plan your routes well in advance, check the traffic before you leave the house and, of course, use public transport whenever possible.
Oh, that’s right, the calmest cities for “walking” in traffic are Barcelona and Krakow, with 16 and 9.5 ratings respectively.