RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Two new studies suggest that people driving expensive, flashy cars behave worse in traffic. One of the studies was conducted at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas.
According to a CNN report, researchers conducted a survey by filming and examining the behavior of drivers when volunteers crossed streets.
Among the findings is that for every US$1,000 extra a person spends on a car, their chance of stopping for a pedestrian to cross the street drops by three percent.
A Finnish study, published in the Journal of Transport and Health in January, found that men who own flashy cars are more likely to be “argumentative, unpleasant and unfriendly,” according to CNN.
The survey from the University of Helsinkiwas conducted with 1,892 drivers. “I noticed that those who are most likely to run a red light, who do not allow pedestrians to cross and who generally drive too recklessly and too fast, were those who drove fast German cars,” Jan-Erik Lönnqvist of the University of Helsinki said in a press release.
To carry out the study, he developed a personality test. “The answers were unequivocal: Self-centered men who are argumentative, stubborn, unpleasant and unfriendly have a much better chance of owning a high-end car like an Audi, a BMW or a Mercedes,” he said.
“These personality traits explain the desire to own high-end products, and the same traits also explain why these people violate traffic rules more often than others,” Lönnqvist adds.
The researcher mentioned other studies that suggested that drivers of expensive vehicles are more likely to violate traffic rules or to drive recklessly.
On the other hand, Lönnqvist found that people classified in the test as conscientious are also looking for expensive car models.
“People with this kind of personality are, as a rule, respectable, ambitious, reliable and well organized. They take care of themselves and their health and usually perform well at work”.