The region's drivers could stand to ease off the gas pedal and be a little more considerate of others on the road, according to a pair of recently released studies.

Both reports were based on information from smartphone apps that tracked driver behavior over the course of millions of vehicle miles traveled across the nation. A study by the gas price resource GasBuddy said Connecticut had the second most aggressive drivers in the United States, while a separate report by the insurance company Everquote ranked Connecticut and Rhode Island dead last when it comes to safe driving habits.

Aggressive driving

The GasBuddy Aggressive Driving Study was based on information from the company's Trips smartphone app, which allows drivers to assess their driving habits and offers tips to improve fuel efficiency. The report analyzed data from tens of millions of different trips between December 2017 and March 2018.

California was named as the state with the most aggressive drivers, with an average of 6.6 minutes between aggressive driving events. These events included speeding, aggressive acceleration, and hard braking.

Connecticut had the second most frequent instances of aggressive driving, with an average of 8.2 minutes between events. The state was tied with Georgia, and Texas was close behind with an average of 8.3 minutes between events.

"Our findings indicate that states with densely populated cities and high levels of congestion are where motorists are more inclined to drive aggressively," said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. "And with gas prices expected to continue to rise well into the summer months, simply being aware of how you drive can dramatically lower fuel costs, prevent damages to your vehicle, and make the roads safer for everyone."

Aggressive driving was least common in Alaska, with an average of 29.6 minutes between aggressive driving behavior. Montana drivers were the second least aggressive, averaging 23.4 minutes between events.

The report noted how states typically had fewer instances of aggressive driving if they experienced less traffic congestion and higher average speeds. Wyoming, where drivers traveled at the fastest average speed—55 miles per hour—was ranked the fifth least aggressive state. North Dakota was the third least aggressive and fifth fastest, with an average speed of 51 miles per hour, while South Dakota was the third fastest at 52 miles per hour and the fourth least aggressive.

Hard braking accounted for more than two-thirds of the aggressive events in the study, representing 67 percent of all aggressive behavior. Twenty-five percent of aggressive events involved exceeding the speed limit, and 8 percent involved aggressive acceleration.

Safe driving

Everquote released its EverDrive Safe Driving Report, which analyzed 781 million miles of travel in 2017. Like the GasBuddy study, the data was derived from the company's EverDrive smartphone app, which tracks driving habits and makes recommendations for how a driver can improve their behavior on the road.

Each state was assigned a driving score between zero and 100. The score was determined based on drivers' frequency of speeding, phone use while driving, hard braking and acceleration, and hard turning.

Connecticut had the worst score in the nation at 71.6. Rhode Island had the next lowest score at 71.7.

Overall, speeding and phone use were the most serious issues in the nation, with drivers exhibiting these behaviors in more than one in every three trips. Speeding occurred on 38 percent of trips, while drivers used a phone while behind the wheel on 37 percent of trips.

Hard braking occurred in 23 percent of all trips. Aggressive acceleration took place in 14 percent of trips, and hard turning in 11 percent.

Connecticut and Rhode Island drivers were the most likely to exceed the speed limit. The report found that drivers in these states were speeding on 56 percent of trips, the highest share in the United States.

Connecticut had one of the highest shares of hard braking at 30 percent. Drivers used a phone in 34 percent of trips in the state, accelerated aggressively in 17 percent, and made a hard turn in 12 percent of trips.

In Rhode Island, drivers used a phone while behind the wheel during 39 percent of their trips. Twenty-four percent of trips in the state involved hard braking, while aggressive acceleration was recorded in 13 percent of trips and hard turning in 10 percent.

Montana and Wyoming tied for the best driving score at 89.4. South Dakota had the next highest score at 88.2.

The Everquote study found that there was not a significant difference between men and women in the frequency of unsafe driving behaviors. Drivers under the age of 17 were typically the most cautious.