For the second consecutive year, rude Miami drivers have earned the city the title of worst road rage in a survey released Tuesday.

Miami motorists said they saw other drivers slam on their brakes, run red lights and talk on cell phones, according to AutoVantage, a Connecticut-based automobile membership club offering travel services and roadside assistance.

Other cities near the top of the rude drivers list were New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.

1. Miami
2. New York
3. Boston
4. Los Angeles
5. Washington, D.C.
6. Phoenix
7. Chicago
8. Sacramento, Calif.
9. Philadelphia
10. San Francisco
11. Houston
12. Atlanta
13. Detroit
14. Minneapolis-St. Paul
15. Baltimore
16. Tampa, Fla.
17. San Diego
18. Cincinnati
19. Cleveland
20. Denver
21. Dallas-Ft. Worth
22. St. Louis
23. Seattle-Tacoma
24. Pittsburgh
25. Portland, Ore.

But climb it does - just short of a lung-sapping five kilometres (three miles) above sea level, where even the internal combustion engine is forced to toil and splutter.

Then it pauses for a while on the snow-flecked crest of the Andes before pitching - like a giant white knuckle ride - into the abyss.

The road from Bolivia's main city, La Paz, to a region known as the Yungas was built by Paraguayan prisoners of war back in the 1930s.

Many of them perished in the effort. Now it is mainly Bolivians who die on the road - in their thousands.

The system, expected to debut in as-yet-undisclosed cars in 2008, includes an onboard camera that reads speed limit signs. After it spots a sign, the system uses the car's navigation system to check whether the number it detected is plausible: Should the speed limit really be 55 in this urban zone?

Once the limit is established, the system can alert drivers in a display beamed onto the windshield that they're going too fast. Motorists also can let the system tap into the car's cruise control and automatically reduce the speed to the posted limit.

The system won't, however, automatically raise a car's speed to match a suddenly higher limit.

Nearly two-thirds of men admit they've run out of gas while driving their automobiles, while 52 percent of women say they've never done this.

Half of men also said they've been criticized for being "reluctant to stop the car and ask for directions" compared to only 13 percent of women who said they've received this criticism.

1. July 4
2. July 3
3. December 23
4. August 3
5. January 1
6. August 6
7. August 4
8. August 12
9. July 2
10. September 2

1. Saturday
2. Sunday
3. Friday
4. Thursday
5. Monday
6. Wednesday
7. Tuesday

1. 3:00 - 6:00 pm
2. 6:00 - 9:00 pm
3. 9:00 - Midnight
4. Noon - 3:00 pm
5. Midnight - 3:00 am

"People think it's bad behavior and that you just need an attitude adjustment, but what they don't know ... is that there's a biology and cognitive science to this," said Dr. Emil Coccaro, chairman of psychiatry at the University of Chicago's medical school.

Road rage, temper outbursts that involve throwing or breaking objects and even spousal abuse can sometimes be attributed to the disorder, though not everyone who does those things is afflicted.

By definition, intermittent explosive disorder involves multiple outbursts that are way out of proportion to the situation. These angry outbursts often include threats or aggressive actions and property damage. The disorder typically first appears in adolescence; in the study, the average age of onset was 14.

The startling results come one year after GMAC Insurance first set out to gauge the knowledge of the American driving public, when licensed drivers were administered 20 questions found on a typical DMV written drivers test. The 2006 findings indicate drivers still do not have adequate knowledge of basic rules of the road, and they exhibit bad habits behind the wheel. For the second year in a row, Oregon drivers ranked highest on the test, with an average score of 91 percent (70 percent or higher is required to pass a standard drivers test), and Rhode Island ranked lowest, with an average score of 75 percent.

"The rules of the road should not be something you learn once when you are 16 years old," said Gary Kusumi, CEO and president, GMAC Insurance - Personal Lines. "We want to remind everyone that they need to work on their driving skills every day. If we're all diligent, we can avoid many accidents and stay safe."

Research released this week said one in five male drivers said their eyes were diverted from the road by posters of scantily clad women -- such as model Eva Herzigova's famous adverts for Wonderbra which bore the tagline "Hello Boys."

However only one in 10 women were put off by the sight of a semi-dressed male model.

He said novel advertising could cause a significant risk of distracting drivers at crucial times, such as going round a difficult roundabout.

"In fact, this risk is probably underestimated and we need to do more research on the possibility of excluding non-essential information when the driver is already busy dealing with the road," he said.

The study, by Privilege Insurance, said a 5-second distraction at 60 mph equated to driving at least the length of a soccer pitch without fully concentrating.

Not checking the blind spot before manoeuvring

Trying to change a CD or find a radio station while driving

Tailgating another vehicle -- it takes nearly 100m to stop when braking suddenly at 70mph.

Using a mobile phone while driving

Eating and drinking at the wheel

"It's really the mental, the cognitive distraction from thinking about something else other than the driving task," says Ann McCartt with the institute.

In a lot of cars today, that's all too easy. As car makers cram more technology into vehicles - from DVD players and navigation systems to MP3 players - the question is: How do you keep your eyes on the road ahead when you're constantly looking at the dashboard?

While much has been made of cell phone use in cars, researchers have yet to determine how much other devices impact driving.

"Drivers are engaged in distracting behaviors of one kind or another a lot of the time," says McCartt. "The key is: Are those distracting behaviors going to lead to a crash?"

For now, industry researchers and car makers agree that multitasking drivers multiply their risk every time they hit the road.

In Texas, the limit went up to 80mph on rural interstates, in Iowa it rises to 70mph, again on rural roads, while in May, the limit in Indiana went from 65mph to 70mph in areas with less than 50,000 population -- one supposes you aren't supposed to count them first. Lorries go faster too -- their limit went up to 65mph.

The number one worst drivers were Geminis, "typically described as restless, easily bored and frustrated by things moving slowly," explained Warren Duke, Suncorp's national manager of personal insurance. "They had more car accidents than any other sign."

1. Geminis (worst drivers)
2. Taurus
3. Pisces
4. Virgo
5. Cancer
6. Aquarius
7. Aries
8. Leo
9. Libra
10. Sagittarius
11. Scorpio
12. Capricorn (best drivers)

• Americans and the Chinese talk to their vehicles the most (69 percent and 57 percent respectively). In contrast, Italians are the least likely to hold a conversation with their cars at 29 percent.
• Americans take this a step further, with 52 percent giving their cars names.
• Most countries, however, will attribute a gender to their cars. For example, most American cars (49 percent) are considered female by their owners while in contrast, some German and Chinese respondents believe their vehicles are male (22 percent male vs. 7 percent female Germany; 44 percent male vs. 16 percent female China).
• Americans (62 percent) love to flirt with other drivers while they are behind the wheel. Next to Americans, Germans are most inclined to flirt while driving at 41 percent. Italian respondents are the least flirtatious behind the wheel at 18 percent.
• Silver is the most popular color in three of the countries and makes it into the top four color choices across all countries surveyed. Blue was the next most popular color and was the top choice in Germany, while Americans picked black as their top choice. -- France (24 percent), Spain (22 percent) and Italy (26 percent) listed silver as the top color option. -- The UK (22 percent) and Germany (22 percent) picked blue for their first choice. Vehicle Social Status and
• The majority (52 percent) of Americans tend to judge someone's success based on the car they drive. -- Only 12 percent of Italian respondents and 15 percent of Germans base people's success on vehicle types. -- China (46 percent) and the UK (39 percent) were closer to American drivers in viewing a car as a measure of success. Similarly, cars are one of the top items by which Americans base a person's social status, with almost one third (32 percent) of Americans using cars to rate a person's status. -- The UK responses (18 percent) came the closest to the American perception of vehicles as status symbols compared to other regions. -- Only 4 percent of Italian respondents and 6 percent of French respondents relate status to vehicles.
• Out of all the countries surveyed, Chinese respondents (74 percent) tend to find the opposite sex more attractive if they drive a nice car. -- Americans come to a close second with 62 percent. -- Germany (21 percent) is the least inclined to base a person's attractiveness on vehicle choice.