Slashdot Mirror
Bad Driving May Have Genetic Basis
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."
Some of the best drivers I know are the ones who can't obey speed limits, make illegal turns, and ultimately are deemed as "bad" drivers. However these same folks maintain superior control of their vehicles and never get into accidents unless they are caused by another driver's lack of control.
So, perhaps this gene is more of a "disrespect for authority" gene?
Sometimes the best solution is to stop wasting time looking for an easy solution.
Wouldn't surprise me if this does turn out to be true and not just a statistical anomaly then insurance companies will probably ask for a genetic test if they can get away with it and raise the premium if you have this genetic marker.
I could see this as true, but not for the obvious reasons. Likely, people with this "particular gene" come from the same indirect family tree. This family can have learned behavior they pass on to their offspring of "not paying attention".
"When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
Obviously driving a car, truck, golf cart, etc. requires fine and gross motor skills. So if this gene is present does it affect only driving skills or other areas where fine and gross motor skills come into play? I'd like to see, for instance, if the 30% or so of people with this gene can't play video games on modern systems because they forget what the buttons do or just can't get the jumps, dives, runs, etc. down. It might also be interesting to see if neurosurgeons, sculptors, or sports players have this gene or not.
"This food is problematic."
Perhaps not surprising, but the news is not that they've discovered the fact that traits are inherited through genetic markers. Good ol' Chuck Darwin had that one figured a while back.
The news is that they've possibly identified one of the specific markers, and found a potential correlation between that and a specific subset of skills.
In addition to the "blue eyes" and "red hair" gene, we may have found the "hold my beer and watch this" gene.
"This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
The chances of this being anything more than a simple correlation are extremely unlikely, unless this gene has a role in vision or concentration that affects many other things, like ability to read, etc. In this case the gene responsible is supposedly BDNF, which has a role in memory. There are approximately 30,000 known coding genes in the human genome. If you keep running comparisons on a bunch of them, then you're going to find a correlation eventually. This is why you're supposed to do a "Bonferroni correction". For example, if they checked out 500 genes looking for a correlation with driving ability, then the P-value they're supposed to accept as "significant" should be 0.05/500 = 0.0001 (although there are other ways of doing the correction as well). The article doesn't say how many genes they actually tested or if they altered their level of significance accordingly. Bottom line - the genome is a big place, and you may well find the correlation you're looking for if you just keep testing enough genes.
Officer, it was not my bad driving, but my genes.
If you write me a ticket, I will sue under the Americans With Disabilities Act.
"People with a particular gene variant performed more than 20 percent worse on a driving test" You mean the double-X chromosome?
Although I'm a man, I'd have to admit I've seen some pretty bad driving from people with a Y chromosome too. In fact, very smart people can be very bad drivers (e.g. von Neumann's corner was named after a notoriously bad driver, John von Neumann who you might have heard about).
No kidding about the roundabouts. My quaint little town has put in a couple lately, and I used to work by one and live by another. I almost never went a day without someone endangering either life or vehicle at one of them by yielding or failing to yield appropriately, or by cutting through lanes in a panic as they try to figure out how to get where they're going. Pedestrians are bad, too -- the college kids tend to cut through the middle of the circle, derailing ALL of the traffic at once, rather than using the crosswalks.
The Quirkz Handbook of Self-Improvement for People Who Are Already Pretty Okay