If you drive a BMW you're probably a jerk.

[trof]

"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. ”Fancy cars were less likely to stop,” researcher Paul K. Piff told the paper, adding, “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 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.
http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2013/08/13/bmw-drivers-really-are-jerks-studies-find/

[NightWatcher]

1. And Porsche drivers have little wangs

[trof]

2. Where does that leave Corvette drivers?

[Bunnahabhain]

3. Too old to

get it up. Seems to me if you eliminated the 70+ crowd from buying 'Vettes exactly 92 would be sold in a year.

[Chan790]

23. My mom collects them.

She's 57. She collects and restores the vintage ones though...she likes 1974 in particular for some reason. It'll never makes sense to me, I'm not a car person. I don't even drive (on roads. I've done some track driving; I just can't drive 95, the speed is in the blood.)

She has never let me even ride in one of her babies though.

[tabbycat31]

4. That reminds me of the old internet joke

What's the difference between a porcupine and a BMW?


Porcupines have pricks on the outside.

[REP]

5. What do Porsches and hemorrhoids have in common?

Sooner or later, every asshole's going to get one.

[TheMightyFavog]

6. What about Mazda Miata drivers?

[TK421]

8. I'm not seeing too many of those around lately

Perhaps the whole Mazda craze died out with their Protoge model ( don't see many of those lately, either )

[mnhtnbb]

7. What about women over 60 driving red BMW's?

I do swear at idiot drivers--but I am not guilty of any of the other driving behaviors!

[hobbit709]

9. Especially the ones that drive a BMW SUV

[HipChick]

15. I resemble that remark..

I do get a lot of folks that wanna race for some reason.. but Audi drivers are the WORST drivers of a jerk

[TK421]

10. According to my sister, who works for an auto-body shop

that works on high-end cars ( BMW, Jag, Mercedes etc) it is nothing more than a status symbol and, according to her, many of these clients don't have the good sense to properly maintain these vehicles.

I don't know where you live, but around here we have quite a bit of "new money"

[marzipanni]

11. ”Fancy cars were less likely to stop”

This fits right in with a program I heard on NPR ...

"Even the smallest dose of power can change a person. You've probably seen it. Someone gets a promotion or a bit of fame and then, suddenly, they're a little less friendly to the people beneath them."

http://www.npr.org/2013/08/10/210686255/a-sense-of-power-can-do-a-number-on-your-brain

[Bunnahabhain]

12. Everyone please take note

The Prius is included in this list.

Are some DU'ers running stop signs?

[DinahMoeHum]

13. For years, I thought it was either just my imagination. . .

. . .or simply a biased observation that the BMW drivers were the most obnoxious MFers on the road - and that the ones with New Jersey license plates were the worst of the lot.

I relayed this to a colleague at work who laughed and told me she had a word for the drivers coming from Boston: Mass-holes.

Thanks for the story and the links! Seems I wasn't too far wrong, after all.

[olddots]

14. in La-La land the new yuppy mobile is the AUDI A & S models

these wankers make the bimmer & merc people look good .

[Tobin S.]

16. I've come to the conclusion that a majority of people are jerks no matter what they drive.

I guess maybe I'm getting more cynical as a I age, but it looks like the truth to me.

[B Calm]

17. After 40 years of driving 18 wheelers, I agree with you!

[In_The_Wind]

19. After years of being a pilot car

[Inkfreak]

26. My wife gets nervous driving next to a semi

I always tell her it's far safer than most of these people in cars. I drive all over my state for my job in my vehicle. And truckers are without a doubt, the safest in my mind. They don't come flying up on the right or left weaving in and out of traffic. Yapping on the phone.

[valerief]

28. Yep, more than half of all drivers are tail-gating, me-first jerks. nt

[mnhtnbb]

21. And you have the miles to prove it!

[Earth_First]

18. The Prius is a 'high-status' vehichle?

Who knew...

Although it does remind me of the SouthPark episode.

[Chan790]

24. Yes.

Considering the price and that there are parts of the US where there are still purchase waiting lists for Priuses.

Yeah, high-status vehicle. Without a doubt.

[jakeXT]

20. I prefer them to Sunday drivers in a Mercedes.

The summer is one of the busiest times for traveling by road so it comes as little surprise that 42% of drivers surveyed said that the thing that stresses them out the most is other drivers tailgating or generally not keeping their distance, followed by the uniquely European problem of drivers that 'hog' the center lane of a motorway (39%) regardless of the conditions or the speed at which they're travelling.

And while 37% live in fear of being cut off by other cars, over a third (37%) claim to be irritated by Sunday drivers, i.e. those cars tottering along at a speed akin to rolling without the assistance of an engine.

http://www.canoe.ca/Travel/TipsTrends/Tips/2013/08/02/21037521-relaxnews.html

[mysuzuki2]

22. What about people who would LIKE to drive a BMW?

[Chan790]

25. You probably can.

When I was in HS (admittedly I went to prep school), the parking lot was full of them. Not new ones and not ones that mommy and daddy had bought...it seems that if you maintain them well, they last 15-20 years easy and at that point, they're no longer status vehicles so the value/price plummets.

Point is, you can find and buy a pristine, no-accidents 10-15 year old BMW for under/around $5K.

http://www.edmunds.com/bmw/3-series/2001/

If you wanted a 7-series (the high-end model) you're looking closer to $6500-$7K.

[Populist_Prole]

27. It's been my observation too

It was REALLY bad from the mid 80's through the 1990's. Every smug, selfish, "me me me" twit on the road had to have one. It's like they deliberately drove in such a way to infuriate others. During that period Saab 900 owners were just as bad.

[DFW]

29. Well, then my wife and I are both jerks

There are a LOT of jerks in Germany, and they drive all kinds of vehicles. If my wife, a social worker, by the way, had NOT been driving a solidly built car like her BMW station wagon a couple of years ago, she would have been ground beef, as an uncaring, over-tired truck driver decided to turn right from the left lane, and didn't see her station wagon in the right lane next to him. Her car was a total loss, but she walked from it, if badly shaken.

The fact is, locally made cars where we are (Düsseldorf area) get better and faster service, and the BMW does handle beautifully when they are behaving. I am not a speed freak, and never drive over 120 KPH even when I'm rushed and on an empty Autobahn. Still, there are sturdy cars driven by arrogant Germans, unsteady trucks driven by sleepy Russians, and swerving vehicles driven by visitors from other countries who are watching the maps in their laps and not the road. Our BMWs are solid and good at quick maneuvers when other drivers put us in dangerous situations.

We may be jerks, but we're LIVE jerks. In the immortal words of an aging, but still very sharp friend of mine, "'nuff said."

[Initech]

30. Living in California I've noticed the craziest drivers are not BMW owners.

They may be according to that article but I'm calling bullshit. I've noticed the drivers of large trucks and white Mercedes tend to be the biggest jackasses on the road.

[Blue_Tires]

31. A jerk with excellent automotive taste, though

[serqet]

32. white, Ford x50 pickup trucks

are the ones who seem to have problems with the rules of the road in the Mid-Cities area.

note.... where 'x' = either a '1' or a '2'

[Kennah]

33. Biggest jerks I encounter are driving tiny dick compensation pickup trucks

Saw an asshole today parked at Costco. Must have had the truck parked 30 degrees from straight in the parking space.