A Genetic Basis for Bad Driving?

If a stop-and-start, congested commute by car is in the cards, it may help help quell your frustration to learn that the bad driving you’ll likely observe in others may be in their genes. Sure, some people out there may simply be callous or aggressive, but scientists have uncovered a genetic quirk associated with poor driving.

Interestingly enough, the research team had not intended to link genetics with driving at all at the outset of the study. As explained by Reuters, the University of California at Irvine researchers were performing an investigation of memory function, and selected a driver simulation test as the mechanism for their inquiry.

Once they had the opportunity to crunch the numbers, however, they discovered that those in the test population who possessed a particular gene variation performed significantly worse in the simulated test drive.

Practice did not seem to help, which helped lead to the unexpected finding. In fact, the gene variant possessors were apt to perform as badly or worse over successive test runs.

Stephen Cramer, lead researcher on the project, tells Reuters that the particular gene variant at the center of their investigation controls a brain-derived protein tied to memory.

Cramer mulled over the discovery in a statement quoted by Reuters:

"These people make more errors from the get-go, and they forget more of what they learned after time away," Cramer observed, adding that, "I'd be curious to know the genetics of people who get into car crashes. I wonder if the accident rate is higher for drivers with the variant."

And with that quizzical bit of introspection, Cramer and team may very well have set up their next research project: Apparently, the genetic variant is present in about 30 percent of the US population, which may go a long way to explain why all that dicey, frustrating driving we observe may not be a figment of imagination.

Photo courtesy of Oran Viriyincy, via Flickr