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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."

9 of 449 comments (clear)

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

    She gets it from her mother.

  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?

  3. First... define worse... by jhfry · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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.
    1. Re:First... define worse... by blueg3 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Wow, defining the problem! I wonder if the researchers thought of such a novel concept?

      If only there was some sort of written description of the research, longer than a summary, that might shed light on if they independently came to the same conclusion that problem-definition might be worthwhile and, if so, what they defined as "better" and "worse"...

    2. Re:First... define worse... by Shadow+Wrought · · Score: 5, Insightful

      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.

      If you cannot maintain your speed at the posted limit, and have no respect for when a U-Turn is allowed or appropriate, than you are not maintaining "superior control" of your vehicle. You're just trying to justify your asshattery. (Yes, we all got that you're talking about youself.)

      --
      If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
    3. Re:First... define worse... by pclminion · · Score: 5, Insightful

      A good driver avoids most accidents even if they are caused by another driver's lack of control. I can't tell you how many times I've anticipated a dumbass move by some driver, pedestrian, or cyclist and preempted a collision.

      You talk about "superior control" over the vehicle as if that's the hard part. That hard part is all the other people on the road. A good driver doesn't collide with things, period.

  4. Sample size issue? by Serician · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Did any one catch the sample size?

    "The driving test was taken by 29 people - 22 without the gene variant and seven with it."

    Ummm... Sounds like interesting research, but until your sample size increases a bit, you don't got nothing.

  5. Insurance companies must be salivating by Jordan+ez · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Man, and I thought the main cause for concern with the upcoming revolution in genetic testing was losing my health insurance.

  6. predictable behavior in cooperative hazards by dAzED1 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    roads aren't a career. They aren't a place where some should excel at the expense of others. Since you are sharing the road with others, if your behavior isn't predictable then it is bad behavior. Say for example a champion race-car driver decided that, to prove how great a driver he was, he would drive on the wrong side of a freeway. Would that not be "bad driving?" I don't care how good your skill at steering and breaking might be, driving is a social contract to act within an established set of norms. A surgeon can have extreme skill at controlling how deeply they cut, and otherwise have perfect hand-eye coordination, but if that perfection is applied to cutting out part of your liver when you're supposed to be having a brain tumor removed, then completely independent of any amount of hand-eye coordination and grace - that person is a bad surgeon.

    Same as a driver. If you aren't driving in a way that is predictable, and aren't driving the way you should be, then you are a bad driver. I don't care if you can do a controlled 360 on the road in front of your house - if you actually do it, then you are a bad driver. period.