Plan B Forum

BMW drivers really are jerks, studies find

Drivers of BMWs frequently come in for anecdotal criticism for habits on the road that are perceived as aggressive.

Now, a couple of studies, one in the U.S. and another from the U.K., appear to provide statistical evidence that BMW drivers are, to be polite about it, complete jerks.

In the older study, by researchers at the University of California, BMW drivers were far less likely to stop for a pedestrian who had just entered a crosswalk, the New York Times notes.

“In our crosswalk study, none of the cars in the beater-car category drove through the crosswalk. They always stopped for pedestrians," researcher Paul K. Piff told the paper. He added that not only were "fancy cars were less likely to stop," but also that "BMW drivers were the worst."

Drivers of BMWs and other high-status cars (including Prius hybrids) were also more likely to cheat at four-way-stop intersections, according to the research.

In the second study, in the U.K., motorists were asked to identify the make and color of the car from which they have most frequently suffered road-rage incidents, the Daily Mail reports.

The study of 2,837 motorists found men between the ages of 35 and 50 driving blue BMWs were most likely to be reported as having engaged in road-rage behaviors such as aggressive driving and swearing.

You have BMW saying that current supercars are too militaristic and that people want a softer, more caring car these days. What people? Not me, that's for sure. And not you either. And not the hoards of ______ ______ fans I met in Romania this month who, so far as I can tell, would sleep with a fat middle-aged man just for the chance to sit in an Aston Martin. One man, in a thin white nylon trouser suit, got within six feet of the DBS and, I'm not kidding, started to become erect. In the presence of a Prius, he'd have been Mr Floppy.

Then you have Rolls and Porsche, and Volvo and Saab and Toyota and Mahindra, and Kia and Hyundai and Peugeot and Fiat and Ford and GM and Honda all spending fortunes on the next generation of petrol hybrids and diesel hybrids and plug-in hybrids, all of which meet a fleeting need now, in the same way that cats met a fleeting need 30 years ago. But they aren't the answer.

Yes, hydrogen is difficult and expensive to produce. But it was difficult and expensive for Ellen MacArthur to sail round the world. It was difficult and expensive to go to the Moon. It'd also have been difficult and expensive to make lean-burn engines work. But if someone had done that, the oil we have left would last longer. And the eco-mentalists would be focusing on cows not cars.

The trouble is, of course, human beings never learn from their mistakes of the past. We're like insects, endlessly banging our heads on the window in the hope that this time, the glass will have gone. Remember that if you feel tempted to buy a Prius. What you're being, is a moth.

Jarlaxle wrote:If Rube weren't a hypocrite, he would get his wife to buy him a Volt, a Leaf, or a Tesla.

Crackpot wrote:Hydrogen takes more energy to produce so you're effectively using a lot of dirty energy to produce less clean energy