MONTREAL, Que. — Drivers with plates sporting the Fleur-de-Lis may have a reputation for being aggressive, but police officials insists the province has very few incidents of road rage.

Of 4,221 drivers who phoned in complaints to police during the last three months of 2001, only 10 incidents were identified as a criminal activity such as assault, armed assault or vandalism, Quebec provincial police Sgt. Luc Gadoury explains.

The most common complaints involved tailgating and drivers cutting others off by switching lanes or exiting a highway without using signal lights.

“That’s what makes us think that road rage as we used to use the word is really not present on the roadways here,” says Gadoury. “It’s kind of a minority.”

The survey revealed incidents of bad driving seem to increase towards the end of the week and in the late afternoon and early evening. Approximately 80 per cent of the province’s roadways were included in the report. Police are hoping the information will help identify problem areas and times.