The Most Stressful Cities To Drive In Were Ranked & Montreal Did Surprisingly Well

Driving in Montreal means you've likely encountered construction detours, massive potholes, lengthy traffic jams and drivers who should have their licenses revoked. Nevertheless, Montreal remains one of the least stressful cities to drive in.

MoneySuperMarket, a British online website that compares prices on a range of products including car insurance, home insurance, travel insurance, and more, ranked the most and least stressful cities to drive in throughout the UK, Europe, and North America.

With driving playing a direct role in our stress and anxiety levels, the UK-based company monitored the heart rate and heart rate variability of 300 drivers in 30 prominent cities as they undertook their weekly commutes. The findings for each city were subsequently averaged for analysis and given an overall stress score out of 100.

So, how did Montreal do?

Turns out, Montreal ranked third overall as the least stressful city to drive in — receiving a stress score of 22 out of 100. In fact, Montreal drivers encountered only a 6% increase in their heart rate and a 9% reduction in HRV, suggesting a notably low level of stress during their commute.

While the methodology is sound, I can only wonder what route the Montreal participants took as I can safely say I have never been at ease while behind the wheel on any major road in Montreal. Not to mention the study was done from September to October 2023, so I can only imagine Montreal's score being higher if it was conducted in the middle of the winter.

Toronto also made the list, beating Montreal. Toronto managed to rank second with an overall stress score of 15 out of 100, tying with Berlin.

Stockholm, Sweden was ranked as the least stressful city to drive in — with a stress score of 12.

While Montreal did shockingly well, the same can't be said for other global destinations.

London (92), Los Angeles (84), Paris (81), San Francisco (78), and Cardiff (67) all made up the top five of the most stressful cities to drive in — with stress scores surpassing the 80-mark across the top three.

According to Sara Newell, Car Insurance Expert at MoneySuperMarket, morning and evening rush hour is among the most stressful times of day to commute.

According to the study participants, the biggest stress contributor was traffic with 54% saying it was their main point of frustration. General driving ability deterioration among other people (52%), road layouts/restrictions (26%), driver behaviour (9%), and road user behaviour (9%) were other sources of stress.

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.