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Are You a Bad Driver? It Could Be Genetic
November 2, 2009 at 8:00 AM by Cafe Kim - Comments (4)
When I think about bad driving, my sister comes to mind. (Sorry, Kristin, but it's true!) Once, on a road trip together, I insisting on driving all 10 hours myself, just so I wouldn't have to be in the car with her in the driver's seat. She really is that bad of a driver.
I should be careful with my accusations, however, because new research suggests that bad driving is genetic. So, if my sister is genetically programed to be a bad driver, then I might be one, too!
A new study suggests that individuals born with a certain variant of a gene might be worse drivers than their counterparts.Thirty percent of Americans have this particular gene; therefore, if it is, in fact, the case that this gene variant causes bad driving, then 30 percent of Americans would be categorized as "bad drivers."
Isn't it scary to think that there are so many bad drivers on the road?
In the study, participants were asked to drive 15 laps on a simulator that required them to learn the nuances of a track with difficult curves and turns.Those with the particular gene variant performed 20 percent worse on the simulation test compared with those without the gene variant.
The problem with the study? It only tested 29 people, which is too small of a sampling to draw any decisive conclusions. In other words, more tests need to be done.
And in the meantime, there's good news. The gene variant in question doesn't only cause bad driving. Rather, it is thought that people with this gene variant maintain their usual mental sharpness longer than those without it when neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's, Huntington's and multiple sclerosis are present.
Are you a bad driver? Do you blame genetics?
Related Posts:
Teen Drivers. Mom Worriers.
Texting While Driving
Do You DWB? (Drive While Breastfeeding)
FILED UNDER: general health, in the news, safety
Comments:
Sounds like BS to me. My mother is a bad driver, my sister is a bad driver, I'm a good driver. My mother taught my sister how to drive, but I learned from a family friend. It has nothing to do with genetics and everything to do with the ability of the person teaching the new driver. If the teacher is a bad driver, the student inevitably will also become a bad driver because they are emulating what they were taught.
HA! could be... everyone in my family is a good driver though.. no tickets, we're speeders but we never get caught.. no accidents.. EXCEPT my brother who gets at least 2 tickets and 2 accidents per year.. so I dont know.. brother from a different mother maybe?! lol. Hes the ONLY person in our 20+ person extended family who is a bad driver. My grandpa was a racecar driver.. I must get my genes from him.
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I'm not a bad driver (if I can say so myself, lol), my mom's not a bad driver, and my dad isn't either - but both of my sister's are horrible drivers!! One is on the phone, balancing her checkbook, reading her mail, and screaming at her kids the ENTIRE time she's driving (seriously, I have been in her vehicle when she's done all of those at the same time!). The other one doesn't know the speed limit, especially on the highway, and will sit in the left lane on the interstate doing 60 mph and then yell at people when they sit on her bum waiting for her to move! My younger brother (actual blood related) isn't too bad of a driver - if he would just stop listening to his mom about his side mirror placement and listen to me, he wouldn't have a blind spot in his truck!
DreaKevAiyana Nov. 2, 2009 at 11:42 AM