Americans are decidedly more upset over issues related to bicycles, while Canadians are more irritated by smokers.
Vancouver, BC [February 6, 2025] – While most Canadians and Americans believe the residents of their municipalities and cities follow existing laws and by-laws, specific actions are bound to infuriate them, a new two-country Research Co. poll has found.
In the online survey of representative national samples, more than seven-in-ten Canadians say five behaviours make them “very upset” or “moderately upset”: not picking up dog waste (84%), using a hand-held cell phone when driving (81%), littering (79%), throwing cigarette butts on the ground (78%), parking in a handicapped spot without a decal (74%) and speeding on a municipal road or street (71%).
About two thirds of Canadians are irritated when they see people not wearing a seatbelt when driving a car or riding in a car (69%) or when they see an individual smoking in a patio, or near doorways, open windows, or air intakes (65%).
Fewer than two in five Canadians become upset by five other behaviours: people riding bicycles without a helmet (39%), riding bicycles on the sidewalk (37%), watering the lawn outside permitted hours (37%), downloading or streaming copyrighted material for free (33%) and jaywalking (31%).
In the United States, more than seven in ten Americans become irritated when they witness four behaviours: littering (79%), not picking up dog waste (77%), parking in a handicapped spot without a decal (73%) and using a hand-held cell phone when driving (71%).
Majorities of Americans also become upset when they see a driver speeding on a municipal road or street (66%), a person throwing cigarette butts on the ground (65%) or someone not wearing a seatbelt when driving a car or riding in a car (57%).
Fewer than half of Americans are irritated after witnessing people smoking in a patio, or near doorways, open windows, or air intakes (48%), riding bicycles without a helmet (29%), riding bicycles on the sidewalk (27%), watering the lawn outside permitted hours (25%), downloading or streaming copyrighted material for free (34%) and jaywalking (27%).
“Americans are not as upset as Canadians when witnessing smokers lighting up too close to non-smokers or discarding their cigarettes anywhere they please,” says Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “Conversely, Canadians are significantly angrier than Americans when cyclists ride without proper head protection.”
More than seven-in-ten Canadians (73%) and Americans (76%) believe most of their city’s residents law-abiding.
More than four-in-five British Columbians (83%) say most residents of their municipality follow the law. The proportions are lower in Saskatchewan and Manitoba (76%), Ontario (75%), Atlantic Canada (also 75%), Alberta (67%) and Quebec (65%).
In the United States, almost four-in-five residents of the West (79%) think most residents of their city are law-abiding. The proportions drop the Midwest (75%), the South (73%) and the Northeast (71%).
Methodology: Results are based on an online study conducted from January 22 to January 24, 2025, among 1,000 adults in Canada and 1,001 adults in the United States. The data has been statistically weighted according to census figures for age, gender and region in each country. The margin of error—which measures sample variability—is +/- 3.1 percentage points, nineteen times out of twenty, in each country.
Find our data tables for Canada here, data tables for the United States here and download the press release here.
For more information on this poll, please contact:
Mario Canseco, President, Research Co.
778.929.0490
[e] mario.canseco@researchco.ca