The Rich Drive Differently, a Study Suggests.

[GCF]

Original article from New York Times:

The Rich Drive Differently, a Study Suggests.

Jokes about BMW drivers being, on average, somewhat less than courteous are fairly common. They often run along the lines of, “Despite its good brakes, a BMW will usually stop with a jerk.” Sometimes the language is more colorful.

Now scientific research supports the unwritten and broadly circulated theory that people in BMWs are lacking in road manners. Paul K. Piff, a researcher at the Institute of Personality and Social Research at the University of California, Berkeley, has conducted a study linking bad driving habits with wealth.

The traffic study, part of a larger body of research relating behavior and wealth, pitted pedestrians against passing motorists. It was published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesin 2012.

In California, where the study was conducted, state law requires motorists to stop at crosswalks when pedestrians are present, allowing them to cross the road. Mr. Piff said his team selected a specific crosswalk to observe, then had a pedestrian appear on the edge of the curb as a car approached. As the pedestrian stepped into the road, a researcher marked down the driver’s reaction to the pedestrian. This was done with 152 drivers.

The team also watched a four-way-stop intersection over a week, noting how likely drivers were to cut in front of others when it was not their turn to go. In their observation of 274 cars, the researchers found that the more expensive ones were more likely to jump their turns in the four-way rotation, Mr. Piff said.

In addition to describing drivers’ behavior in both locations, the researcher was to indicate the sex and age of each driver as well as the age and appearance of the cars, with a “1” signifying beat-up, low-value cars and a “5” given to top-of-the-line models from the likes of BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

Mr. Piff said about eight of every 10 cars “did the right thing.”

“But you see this huge boost in a driver’s likelihood to commit infractions in more expensive cars,” he said. “In our crosswalk study, none of the cars in the beater-car category drove through the crosswalk. They always stopped for pedestrians.”

The study also found that male drivers were less likely to stop for pedestrians than were women, and that drivers of both sexes were more likely to stop for a female pedestrian than a male one.

“One of the most significant trends was that fancy cars were less likely to stop,” said Mr. Piff, adding, “BMW drivers were the worst.”

In the San Francisco Bay Area, where the hybrid gas-and-electric-powered Toyota Prius is considered a status symbol among the environmentally conscious, the researchers classified it as a premium model.

“In our higher-status vehicle category, Prius drivers had a higher tendency to commit infractions than most,” Mr. Piff said.

Correction: August 14, 2013
An article in some copies on Tuesday about a study that linked bad driving manners with particular types of cars misstated the year the research was published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It was 2012, not 2010.

Read the article, it seems Prius drivers in SF took the title

wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/12/the-rich-drive-differently-a-study-suggests/?_r=4&

The Rich Drive Differently, a Study Suggests

A Berkeley study found most drivers did the right thing when confronted with a pedestrian or other drivers, but those in expensive cars made more infractions.

archive.nytimes.com

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Mod edit:

The member's original thread below (merged), posted partial paragraphs from the original article "out of context" to provoke incendiary responses instead. He also gave it his own title flare to further prove his flawed and myopic point.

Thread title has been changed to reflect the REAL article now, posts merged, and took ownership from original poster's offending thread.

 

[LaArtist]

BMW Drivers Are offically rated as A-Holes

Jokes about BMW drivers being, on average, somewhat less than courteous are fairly common. They often run along the lines of, “Despite its good brakes, a BMW will usually stop with a jerk.” Sometimes the language is more colorful.
Now scientific research supports the unwritten and broadly circulated theory that people in BMWs are lacking in road manners. Paul K. Piff, a researcher at the Institute of Personality and Social Research at the University of California, Berkeley, has conducted a study linking bad driving habits with wealth.



The Rich Drive Differently, a Study Suggests

PS
Finally Jesus!

 

[PC Valkyrie]

My theory: People with nicer cars generally have more money/success in the world. Some of them got their success by hard work, some got their success by being opportunistic, sometimes at the expense of others.....most successful people are competitive. By nature, certain traits of their personality become apparent with their driving.......not stopping for pedestrians, jumping their turn at 4 way stops, cutting ahead of people all lead to trying to get to their destination/goal faster......which may have played a part in why they made more money in the first place in our world to be able to buy a nice car. There may also be a sense of entitlement on the roads....."I'm a successful, skillful driver driving a high performance car; therefore, I should be passing and going faster than the common folk because of my (and my car's) superiority. I shouldn't have to wait like others."

 

[Star&Car]

Seems like this theory also applies to beemer drivers in China.

 

[Monster]

Well....here in Sydney, the vehicle of choice makes no difference, same with the gender, age, religion, race...etc...everyone drives like an A-hole.

 

[Human]

The title of this thread certainly gives new meaning to: "Freedom of speech." I am a BMW driver so fair criticism, satire and good jokes is what makes ones day or life even interesting.

BUT

Generalising me or the next person driving a brand by preference as a arsehole is tasteless, so f#ck You!

See what I mean? We can insult each other here on GCF, just because we can? Come on!!!???

Mods rethink if you please. @Monster @Giannis @admin

 

[Monster]

The title of this thread certainly gives new meaning to: "Freedom of speech." I am a BMW driver so fair criticism, satire and good jokes is what makes ones day or life even interesting.

BUT

Generalising me or the next person driving a brand by preference as a arsehole is tasteless, so **** You!

See what I mean? We can insult each other here on GCF, just because we can? Come on!!!???

Mods rethink if you please. @Monster @Giannis @admin

We will look into it, please be patient.

 

[Cashmere]

I can personally vouch from my experience in Southern Africa, BMW drivers can be complete pricks (regardless of race, colour or gender), especially ones that drive one with a ///M badge on it. Of course this can not be generalized - not all of them are ruthless, but there's definitely a substantial lot of them.

Edit: I would also like to make it clear that my opinion is not intended to slander any member here on GCF. It is purely based on personal experiences from a time when I worked for BMW as well as dozens of acquaintances that I know through my own circle of friends.

 

[chonkoa]

O dear- now I know what my neighbours think of me and my wife.
Time to start driving the truck- NOT

 

[martinbo]

I've always been an arse on the road - now I've got the BMW to go with it.

Oh and this survey was conducted in Sweden when Artist still had a Beemer.

 

[Zafiro]

I'll still be an asshole when I drive my Ford....

 

[bmwownage]

i was a frekin a hole vs some other a hole in a Camry.
u know if this is a worldwide study, i think the result would be "drivers are less courteous in cities where cars is not a necessity than in cities where cars is a necessity" because that's true... when cars is a luxury thing, even those mid-aged uncles in a Toyota Corolla think they are superior to everyone who's on their feet.

 

[MikeJ]

Makes perfect sense if you ask me. When I'm driving, I always expect people driving a specific type of car to act in a specific manner. For example, I expect someone in a Nissan Micra to drive slowly and in an overtly cautious manner. Similarly, I expect someone in a riced-out 3-series to be a complete idiot, and so on. Most of the time my assumptions are correct.

 

[EnI]

Driving a BMW makes you an A-hole? OK then. So ... Proud to be an A-hole!

 

[andrazpotocnik1]

In my country i could said that for TDI drives. Special those with red latters.

 

[martinbo]

BMWs - bought by arseholes who know their shit.

Ahem.

 

[Iamnotme]

In my country, I could say that about the majority of not only Audi, Bmw and Mercedes' drivers, but also any VW with a TDI engine and specially Smart Fortwo' drivers, who think themselves as the ultimate kings of the road, even though they're just driving a turd with wheels. Renault Megane Estate equipped with DCI engines are also driven by their owners around here like if they were driving an Audi RS Avant.

 

[LaArtist]

The title of this thread certainly gives new meaning to: "Freedom of speech." I am a BMW driver so fair criticism, satire and good jokes is what makes ones day or life even interesting.

BUT

Generalising me or the next person driving a brand by preference as a arsehole is tasteless, so **** You!

See what I mean? We can insult each other here on GCF, just because we can? Come on!!!???

Mods rethink if you please. @Monster @Giannis @admin

You are of a sensitive nature.

 

[Sunny]

Yea I been an asshole in my Beemer when younger. I was also an asshole in my VW, but no one gave a shit. I still try but my leg hurts. So you get a Porsche and be a prick by just siting in one. When I can't sit, I will be that old douche bag with a S class in the drive way.

 

[klier]

Mods rethink if you please. @Monster @Giannis @admin

Relax, buddy.

You don't even want to know what they think of MB drivers over here. "Trailer trash" comes to mind, though.

Makes perfect sense if you ask me. When I'm driving, I always expect people driving a specific type of car to act in a specific manner. For example, I expect someone in a Nissan Micra to drive slowly and in an overtly cautious manner. Similarly, I expect someone in a riced-out 3-series to be a complete idiot, and so on. Most of the time my assumptions are correct.

Better to have a riced 3er than a freaking Volvo. Any Volvo.