Poll: Spouses rank as worst backseat drivers

Spouses beat out mothers and children as the worst backseat drivers, according to 500 drivers recently polled by Insurance.com.

For men, 40 percent said their wives were worst, followed by friends at 17 percent and mothers at 15 percent. Thirty-four percent of the women ranked their husbands worst, 18 percent said their mothers and 15 percent said their friends.

Surprisingly, children were ranked as the least irritating group of passengers, with teenagers bottoming out the list.

So what habits make spouses the most offensive? The top wrongdoing to drivers was commenting on the speed (47 percent), giving directions (29 percent), talking too much (19 percent) and pushing an imaginary brake with the foot (15 percent).

Ahead of your summer road trip, it may be worthwhile to review some of Insurance.com's tips: agree on music before the trip, map out an itinerary ahead of time and use a GPS system instead of fighting over how to hold the map.

By Angie Fisher