Phillip Milano, author of the syndicated “Dare to Ask” column, fields “diversity” questions of all sorts — and usually they’re the kinds of questions which may be perceived as “politically incorrect” or “insensitive” to ask outloud. He runs a site called Y?, which is “the first and only site of its kind, gives you a way to ask people from other ethnic or cultural backgrounds the questions you’ve always been too embarrassed or uncomfortable to ask them.” Basically, you can ask your question and then others on the forum chime in with answers + you get an “expert response” from Phillip.
So what happens when someone asks a question like: Are Asians the worst drivers – ever?
Q: Why do most bad drivers seem to be Asian? – D.M., 26, white male, Vancouver, Canada
- It is a myth. What’s more, if you check with someone who works in the auto insurance industry, you will find that Asians have the lowest rate of auto accidents. – Pinny, 19, Asian female, Stockton, Calif.
- I cannot drive here in North America. It will take me at least another year to get comfortable with everything on the “wrong” side of the road. Asia drives entirely on the left. Try driving on the left after spending a lifetime doing the exact opposite. – Niti, Pittsburgh
- While Asian is an all-encompassing term, I have noticed that in general there is a truth in the question. There seems to be an inability to understand what is going on around them. – S., black male, California
- I am Asian and am a horrible driver. I don’t know if it is that I can’t see all the traffic signs and cars because of my squinty eyes, or because there are usually seven people trying to fit in my Toyota, and it’s hard to compensate for the weight. Just joking about all that … except that I am Asian and don’t have a single point on my license. – Daniel, 22, Asian male, Indianapolis
Expert Says:
Or that we should quote these NHTSA findings: “In 2002, only about 2 percent of all Asian deaths were attributable to traffic crashes, about in line with blacks and whites and lower than American Indians and Hispanics.”
[full article, with complete expert reply]
How would you respond to the question?
(Hat tip: Tim; Photo credit: I wish I knew who to give credit to this for. I received it in a random email forward.)
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12 Comments to “White Canadian Male Asks: “Why do most bad drivers seem to be Asian?””
Invasian wrote:
Define “bad driving.” Is it getting into accidents or just being slow and annoying on the road? I have noticed some older Asian drivers going well under the speed limit if that counts for anything. Most of the time I see Asian drivers, well, driving like everyone else.
I think I am a fairly good driver, so I don’t fit into this white Canadian male’s misconception.
Posted on 11-Apr-09 at 7:16 am | Permalink
Dan Sayuran wrote:
Aren’t we Asians supposedly known for our drifting scenes and excessive tuning culture with cars? Of all the stereotypes out there this is probably the most baseless one I know.
Posted on 11-Apr-09 at 9:03 am | Permalink
YvesPaul wrote:
I can’t drive and refuse to learn. I think I have a phobia of killing people with my car. My interpretation of the problem is that Asians are culturally thinkers and we need to take time to assess every traffic situations and are less likely to be assertive during traffic. But then I can be dead wrong.
Posted on 11-Apr-09 at 11:36 am | Permalink
Confuse-us wrote:
I deliberately drive badly just because it pisses off white Canadians, and I’ve persuaded many of my Asian friends to do the same.
Posted on 11-Apr-09 at 12:46 pm | Permalink
THE_BANANA_REPUBLIC wrote:
http://www.goodasiandrivers.com/
Posted on 11-Apr-09 at 3:39 pm | Permalink
Phil wrote:
I’m from L.A., and most people just say people from L.A. can’t drive. If you go to other states where Californians have continued their habits such as Oregon, there’s a lot of people who talk smack about people from CA (especially from LA) because of the way they drive.
Actually all this talk about Asian shooters and Asian bad drivers, it’s not really news to people since it’s more of a common thing in LA and isn’t exclusive to one race. I guess it just comes with the territory. Diversity at its best I guess.
Posted on 11-Apr-09 at 8:12 pm | Permalink
D wrote:
I wish they would be a little more descriptive in their stereotype “Fobby Asians are bad drivers”
Posted on 11-Apr-09 at 10:18 pm | Permalink
Harry McMackin wrote:
This might not work for city people, but lots of rural Caucasin teenagers use crusing around as a form of entertainment. The sheer amount of driving could cause them to “fit in” better with whatever local standards exist. With the gasoline prices as they are, I would think lots of young people are deprived of crusing, and ultimately their skill level will suffer.
Posted on 13-Apr-09 at 6:13 pm | Permalink
David Wan wrote:
You know what , i dont have a single parking or speeding ticket, never an accident, but one day I might have one, and I’ll probably end up on tv or these magazines as an example of Asians are bad drivers
Posted on 19-Apr-09 at 7:17 pm | Permalink
8Asians.com » Popular Posts in the Past 15 Days wrote:
[...] White Canadian Male Asks: “Why do most bad drivers seem to be Asian?” – “I deliberately drive badly just because it pisses off white Canadians, and I’ve persuaded many of my Asian friends to do the same.” – Confuse-us, from the comments [...]
Posted on 02-May-09 at 6:42 am | Permalink
Candy wrote:
I really wonder if caucasians ever notice a white person driving badly too. I mean…if I’m counting by race, I can average seeing 7 bad white drivers to maybe 1 black driver and 1 asian driver, in one day. Do we single out bad drivers when we notice they’re of a different race?
Posted on 13-May-09 at 4:33 pm | Permalink
Evan wrote:
Ok, I have been driving since I was 16 and I have never had an accident. I live in Los Angeles and I can file “BAD DRIVERS” into two categories, Senior Citizens and Asians. Every single time I encounter a bad driver the person is either ASIAN or just OLD. I’m not racist at all, but I really do think that when it comes to driving Asians just have no clue what’s going on. Yesterday I was driving to work and an Asian lady turned on her signal indicating that she was going to switch lanes, it took her 5 minutes to go from one lane to the next. By the time she made a succesfull lane change she was looking around like she had just taken 10 hits of acid. She eventually starting drifting into my lane forcing me to slam on my brakes. I pulled up next to her and just gave her a look and she looked back at me with this smirk on her face. It almost seemed like a human body was driving the car, but her brain was still at home drinking Soy Sauce. FYI…DRIVING IS NOT HARD, JUST PAY ATTENTION AND FOLLOW THE SIGNS AND REMEMBER…DON’T HIT PEOPLE. How is it possible for someone to get into CALTECH and have trouble changing lanes? This question still remains unanswered.
Posted on 10-Nov-09 at 11:24 am | Permalink
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