Study: Bad driving might be hereditary

If your significant other has ever accused you of being a bad driver, you might have a good excuse. A new UK-based study from Scrap Car Comparison found that lousy driving could be hereditary and that observing the poor driving habits exhibited by our parents is a good way to end up on the wrong side of the law ourselves.

The outlet surveyed 1,000 drivers, half of whom had committed traffic offenses. All drivers who were included in the survey said they were fully aware of their parents’ driving records. The study showed that 66 percent of drivers who’d run afoul of traffic laws in the past 10 years had parents who had also run into problems. Drivers with bad-driving parents had at least one point on their licenses, while people with parents who drove responsibly had clean licenses. Ultimately, almost half of the drivers with poor driving parents had received a ticket in the past 10 years, compared to just 14 percent of those with parents who drove responsibly. It stands to reason. Our parents model all kinds of behavior for us, as we do for our children.

Speeding and road rage were the two most common traits passed from parent to child, with 55 and 49 percent of respondents saying they’d learned the habits from their parents, respectively. Other drivers said they’d learned poor spatial awareness, careless parking, and aggressive/dangerous driving from their parents. On the flip side, 10 percent of drivers in the study said they’d learned to be too careful from their parents, such as driving well below the speed limit.

While it might sound like some drivers should resign to being pulled over every few years, more than half of the respondents said they thought they had become better drivers than their parents. Additionally, “my dad did it” is not a valid defense in traffic court, so it’s unlikely to work in your favor, despite this study. The drivers saying they’d learned to be better than their parents have it right, as there’s only one person in control of a car at a time.