Science Proves Expensive Car Owners Are Not Very Nice

"I had noticed that the ones most likely to run a red light, not give way to pedestrians and generally drive recklessly and too fast were often the ones driving fast German cars," observed Jan-Erik Lonnqvist, professor of social psychology from the University of Helsinki. His assessments were proven following Finnish car owners' answers to questions regarding their wealth, cars, and consumption habits. Answers were then evaluated using the Five-Factor Model to assess key personality traits like neuroticism and agreeableness.

The results unambiguously found that men described as stubborn or unempathetic are far likelier to own a car with a high-status badge on the hood. Along with the Nevada study's findings that "feelings of entitlement and narcissism may lead to a lack of empathy for pedestrians," the outcomes - in two very different parts of the world, we might add - sound pretty conclusive.

While we haven't conducted our own study on the issue, there are plenty of memes in circulation pointing fingers at BMW drivers at their disregard for other road users. Perhaps with pedestrian detection technology making their way into more and more cars (especially pricier models), drivers will be more likely to stop for pedestrians.

Until then, we'll leave it up to you to decide whether these studies are an accurate reflection of reality of not, but next time you see aRolls-Royce Phantomaround town, it's probably safer to run in the other direction… just in case.