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Bad Driving May Have Genetic Basis

Posted by samzenpus on from the born-to-run-off-the-road dept.

Serenissima writes "Bad drivers may in part have their genes to blame, suggests a new study by UC Irvine neuroscientists. People with a particular gene variant performed more than 20 percent worse on a driving test than people without it — and a follow-up test a few days later yielded similar results. About 30 percent of Americans have the variant. 'These people make more errors from the get-go, and they forget more of what they learned after time away,' said Dr. Steven Cramer, neurology associate professor and senior author of the study published recently in the journal Cerebral Cortex."

13 of 449 comments (clear)

  1. My daughter is a lousy driver by YrWrstNtmr · · Score: 5, Funny

    She gets it from her mother.

    1. Re:My daughter is a lousy driver by Avalain · · Score: 4, Funny

      Have you really been saying "My daughter is a lousy driver. Why do we let these people procreate"?

    2. Re:My daughter is a lousy driver by YrWrstNtmr · · Score: 4, Funny

      Lighten up, Francis. It was a joke. She's actually a very good driver.
      (her mother, OTOH)

  2. Chromosomes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    "People with a particular gene variant performed more than 20 percent worse on a driving test" You mean the double-X chromosome?

    1. Re:Chromosomes? by cayenne8 · · Score: 4, Funny
      ""People with a particular gene variant performed more than 20 percent worse on a driving test" You mean the double-X chromosome?"

      Yep, and it is exacerbated by the adjacent gene that makes them yammer incessantly on a cell phone while driving the kids around in a huge SUV.

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    2. Re:Chromosomes? by b96miata · · Score: 1, Funny

      The fact that this isn't (Score: 5, Funny) is proof that not only are there women on /., they have mod points.

  3. Re: Bad Driving by domulys · · Score: 4, Funny

    Is the "particular gene" a second X chromosome?

    I kid, I kid!

  4. If you mean ... by m0s3m8n · · Score: 4, Funny

    If "genetic defect" means having a cell phone grown onto your ear at birth, then yes, I absolutely agree.

    --
    Conservative, mod down for violating /. political norms.
  5. Driving While Asian by Fear+the+Clam · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yeah, I went there.

  6. No surprise here by damn_registrars · · Score: 3, Funny

    I live in an area with an astonishing number of epically bad drivers. I figured the epically bad drivers were (unfortunately) surviving long enough to have children, who themselves grew up to be epically bad drivers. A genetic component to epically bad driving doesn't surprise me in the least.

    --
    Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
  7. Re:First... define worse... by smidget2k4 · · Score: 2, Funny

    I think that what we really need here is a car analogy so the /. crowd and understand.

    So it is like when a very poor driver is driving down the road...

  8. Re: Bad Driving by Hatta · · Score: 2, Funny

    I was in the car once with my girlfriend (driving) and we got stuck behind a slow driver, swerving all over the place. In our frustration we engaged in some stereotyping. "Probably old" I said. "And asian, she replied". When we were finally able to get around this person, I look over. "Sure enough, an old asian lady." My GF says "Yep, that's two strikes against her" At which point I say "No, that's three."

    I was glad she was driving and had only one hand to hit me with.

    --
    Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
  9. Re: Bad Driving by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Just here to offer the wood for you to touch.