This Facebook Group Documents Examples Of Bad Drivers, Here Are 50 Of Their Funniest Posts (New Pics)

The Bad Drivers Facebook group was created in January 2018 and has amassed over 633k members since. Clearly, there is no shortage of horrible drivers out there, or Facebook users ready to mock them at every chance they get. But the page does beg the question: how are there so many terrible drivers out there? It must be a miracle that anyone can get to their destinations without a maniac with a mattress on top of their car or a Prius going the wrong way crashing into them.

In fact, it might be a miracle we get anywhere safely. According to the Bureau of Transportation, approximately 13 car accidents occur in the United States every minute. This means that annually, about 6.75 million accidents happen in the US. There are plenty of factors that increase or decrease a person’s risk of being in an accident though, including their age, the time they are driving, how the weather is and where they live. Apparently, Fridays are the riskiest days to be on the road, and for any other day of the week, the hours of 3pm-6pm are the most dangerous. It makes sense, as most people are commuting from schools or work during that rush hour time, but it’s a reminder to never let your guard down when traveling home.

Holidays also tend to be the most dangerous times to be on the roads. Whether it's due to the massive amounts of people traveling, increased drinking and driving rates, or drivers being so relaxed that they stop paying attention, holidays are notorious for their increased car crash rates. During 2021, the holidays that saw the most fatal car accidents in the US were Memorial Day (the entire weekend), Labor Day (the entire weekend), the Fourth of July (the entire weekend), Father’s Day, Cinco de Mayo, Columbus Day, Mother’s Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Veteran’s Day.

Clearly there is a trend of three day weekends leading to devastating accidents. I would have expected New Year’s and Christmas to be on the list as well, but perhaps on Christmas, drivers tend to stay put the entire day. And I would hope that on New Year’s people are smart enough to use ride-sharing apps to minimize the amount of drunk drivers on the road. As funny as it is to mock bad drivers, it’s important to remember how dangerous driving poorly can be. One small mistake can ruin a holiday forever.

So how does someone become a bad driver? Are they doomed from the start or do bad habits creep up over time? We all needed to have a basic understanding of the rules of the road when we initially got our driver’s licenses, and someone had to sign off on our skills claiming that we were ready for the responsibility of the open road. Are people just great at concealing their reckless behavior, or are the employees handing out driver’s licenses just as bad at their jobs as some people are at driving? 

Well, according to one study, being a terrible driver might actually be genetic. The study involved testing how well 29 participants drove on “a simulator that required them to learn the nuances of a track with difficult curves and turns”. 7 of the participants were born with a certain gene that limits the availability of a protein called BDNF. BDNF is responsible for “[strengthening] a person's memory by supporting communication among brain cells and keeping them in peak shape”, and according to lead researcher Steven Cramer, a neurology professor at the University of California, Irvine, the participants with this gene “make more errors from the get-go, and they forget more of what they learned after time away.” So it might not be your fault if you can't stay in your lane on the road! But if you have this gene, let me know, so I can be sure to steer clear of you.