Libras are the worst drivers

January 22, 2007 12:08 PM

The Zodiac made me do it.
posted by dov3 (48 comments total)

I'm sure insurance companies have already modeled birthdate to determine if it is a factor in pricing their product. It would be fun to see if other insurance companies could corroborate the results of this survey.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:13 PM on January 22, 2007

Leos (July 23-Aug. 22) and then Geminis (May 21-June 20) were found to be the best overall.

Ooooo I should really consider getting my drivers license finally....
posted by gomichild at 12:14 PM on January 22, 2007

Correlation =/= Causation
posted by amro at 12:17 PM on January 22, 2007

What about the Chinese zodiac?
posted by figment of my conation at 12:17 PM on January 22, 2007

I wonder what the standard deviation and p values are.

For me, I place more trust in fung shui/geomancy (which can be argued to be a root of sociology) than in astrology.
posted by porpoise at 12:20 PM on January 22, 2007

If there was a story here, there would be some data. There is not data because there is no story. What there is, is advertising.
posted by Arcaz Ino at 12:26 PM on January 22, 2007

amro: it's my understanding that insurance companies don't need to worry about causation. Once the link has been established, it's good enough for them.
posted by boo_radley at 12:26 PM on January 22, 2007

dov3, did you spend much effort checking this out? This article is obviously recycled PR for someone's website said someone having written a book called 'Car Carma', which by the way is only available on that website's cafe press page. Yeah, it's not, uh, published as we know it. Oh and did I forget to say she's got a cable show in Canada? Starring her? About insurance?
Let's move on.
posted by nj_subgenius at 12:28 PM on January 22, 2007 [1 favorite]

thanks for the cliche, amro, but causation is pretty much irrelevant here.
posted by rxrfrx at 12:34 PM on January 22, 2007

No wonder I'm such a good driver (Leo)
posted by i_am_a_Jedi at 12:37 PM on January 22, 2007

Everyone thinks they are a good driver.

People going faster than you are maniacs, and people going slower than you are morons. (Thanks George Carlin).
posted by Ynoxas at 12:45 PM on January 22, 2007

I'm a Libra, and take issue with this.

Was it my bad driving when the gas tank fell off my Oldsmobile on the freeway at 2:00 am and I had to strap it back with rope?

Or a few years later when the tired old 350 burst into flames on that same stretch of road?

Or when the 455 in the Buick blew a main bearing and groaned into bubbling steaming oblivion, again on the same stretch of road?

Maybe it's a a bad energy zone? Or maybe Libras just like cruising around in kicked-in $500 cars.
posted by CynicalKnight at 12:47 PM on January 22, 2007

Everyone thinks they are a good driver.
Not me... I suck.
That's why I now take public transit. Safer for me and the rest of the world.
posted by Kellydamnit at 12:48 PM on January 22, 2007

it's obviously car carma.
posted by nj_subgenius at 12:49 PM on January 22, 2007

Or maybe Libras just like cruising around in kicked-in $500 cars

I can vouch for that.

- Card-carrying Libra since 1966
posted by drinkcoffee at 12:52 PM on January 22, 2007

Kar Karma would have been an infinitely better title.
posted by Ynoxas at 12:53 PM on January 22, 2007

At least this "study" was not funded by tax dollars.
posted by caddis at 12:56 PM on January 22, 2007

As a Gemini, I can say that I'm pretty surprised that Gemini's get good ratings. Aren't we supposed to be all scattered and overly effusive? Then again, as mentioned above, it doesn't need to make sense if it's a PR ploy.
posted by LMGM at 12:58 PM on January 22, 2007

I have a little experiment for the mischievous puckish Mefites out there.

Next time you go to a cocktail party ask everyone you meet what sign they are? Try to get in one on one conversations. Tell that person you share the same sign. Now, without being boorish, kiss that persons ass - "sign-wise." Then begin stereotyping other signs. Slowly make it outlandish.

Like: "You know most serial killers and rapists are Scorpios?"

Inevitably you will see an utter willingness to generalize based upon the random position of stellar object on their date of birth and nobody will scold you or question you for it. It's awesome. Something most people will never do in any other context.
posted by tkchrist at 1:00 PM on January 22, 2007 [4 favorites]

I swear to God I just called the Insurance Hotline to get a quote and MISS CLEO ANSWERED.
posted by The Straightener at 1:09 PM on January 22, 2007 [1 favorite]

CynicalKnight: You had a deuce and a quarter?
posted by figment of my conation at 1:24 PM on January 22, 2007

Five years ago it was Gemini that were the worst drivers. Note the press release was issued at almost the same time of year - quiet time in news world.
posted by meech at 1:42 PM on January 22, 2007

I saw the title of the link and the first thought that came to mind was, "Wow, that serial killer with that ridiculous square mask has a crazed fan."
posted by Asherah at 1:55 PM on January 22, 2007

It is the nature of statistics that some group is going to be "top" and some group is going to be "bottom". The fact that the study doesn't reveal the actual numbers, proportions or difference between Leos and Libras should indicate to even the most hardened credulist that the whole thing is a PR exercise to get the words "Insurancehotline.com" into the papers.
posted by Hogshead at 2:05 PM on January 22, 2007 [1 favorite]

Well I am a Leo and born the Year of the Dragon, so that makes me extra badass.
posted by vronsky at 2:05 PM on January 22, 2007

I hang a lucky rabbits foot, a Playboy air freshener, and two fuzzy dice from the rearview just above a dashboard Jesus. Approach me head-on and I won't see you.

Oh... cancer... and my name is Larry...
posted by hal9k at 2:46 PM on January 22, 2007 [1 favorite]

thanks for the cliche, amro, but causation is pretty much irrelevant here.
posted by rxrfrx at 12:34 PM PST on January 22

Lazy thinking. Lets say I'm a Leo and thus dangerous on the road. But, I was also born on Chinese year of the Sheep which makes me cautious on the road. Also, the second letter of my last name is 'A' which again makes me even safer (compared to those crazy V's!!) And so on and on.

Without a statistically significant factor, its all noise and thus there is no correlation at all.
posted by vacapinta at 2:55 PM on January 22, 2007

My horoscopes said I'd run into some trouble today, but damn.
posted by Kudos at 3:03 PM on January 22, 2007

You had a deuce and a quarter?

'74 Lesabre convertible. Rebuilt it again (at astronomical cost compared to a 350). Not spectacular acceleration, but tremendous torque - push the pedal down at 120 mph and it would surge ahead with unrelenting resolve.
posted by CynicalKnight at 3:17 PM on January 22, 2007

"You know most serial killers and rapists are Scorpios?"

Some of us take a strange sense of pride in this.

The serial killer part, at least.
posted by erskelyne at 3:27 PM on January 22, 2007

Here's a possible logical reason - you notice that both the safest signs are summer signs? That could rationally be because the people born under those signs have birthdays in the summer, and thus turn 16 in the summer, and thus learn to drive in the summer. They get several months of experience in before the winter (with its dangerous driving conditions) starts up. People born under winter signs have to learn to drive on the snow and ice, increasing the risk of an accident.

Check out the 3 worst signs; they're during the beginning of fall, the middle of the winter, and the beginning of spring. Those are all especially bad times for weather and road conditions.
posted by Mitrovarr at 3:28 PM on January 22, 2007 [1 favorite]

Without a statistically significant factor, its all noise and thus there is no correlation at all.
posted by vacapinta at 5:55 PM EST on January 22

Pretty assured words coming from the mark of the discount beast.
posted by hal9k at 3:30 PM on January 22, 2007

We Arians are notoriously sceptical about this kind of horseshit.
posted by imperium at 4:21 PM on January 22, 2007

Virgos don't drive, we just like to roll around in the back seat.
posted by arcticwoman at 5:06 PM on January 22, 2007

I love that they talk about how it makes a big difference then give no statistics at all. That's rad.
posted by The God Complex at 6:31 PM on January 22, 2007

Miltovarrr:

logic! I love it.

BTW, I am a Libra who has driven for almost forty years without being in a single accident. (A little anectodal evidence for y'all)
posted by kozad at 6:42 PM on January 22, 2007

Romanov originally wanted to have some fun by examining astrological signs as a possible cause for the variance between insurance companies quoting high and low rates but didn't expect to find anything interesting.

Romanov also wrote the book "Car Carma," which touches on the correlation between astrological signs and driving ability while doing the study.

There's the problem. Driving ability while doing the study was terrible.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 6:59 PM on January 22, 2007

Mitrovarr: how dare you insert sense and sensibility into a discussion of astrology? But that was my first thought too — especially in Canada, not exactly a tropical climate. A kid turns 16 and wants to hit the road immediately, even if there's a blizzard outside. Not exactly the best driving conditions....
posted by LeLiLo at 7:23 PM on January 22, 2007

I like the whole summer/winter theory which sits along nicely with another conversation I have along the lines of - "way back in human history what star sign people were born under had a huge impact on their diet during the first few months of neural development, which in turn may well of impacted personality."
posted by Samuel Farrow at 7:27 PM on January 22, 2007

I should also point out that it is Mitrovarr's summer/winter theory - go on my son!
posted by Samuel Farrow at 7:27 PM on January 22, 2007

Damn.... I'm a Libra
posted by Doohickie at 8:04 PM on January 22, 2007

Aries here with Libra rising. In 40 years of driving (I started when very young!) I've had 3 speeding tickets, 1 parking ticket and 6 accidents, all fender-benders. Hmm.
posted by Lynsey at 8:10 PM on January 22, 2007

Next time you go to a cocktail party ask everyone you meet what sign they are?

what sign was i born under? "yellow cab"
posted by pyramid termite at 8:17 PM on January 22, 2007

I must be a Taurus because astrology is bullshit.
posted by Tube at 8:31 PM on January 22, 2007

As a Libran, What crap.

No matter what sign you are, if you drive to the smoke shop, then there's a great probability you'll never get into an accident.

Can we discuss mileage¿


For sale, car, low mileage, driven to church by a near elder, a Libra.

what next¿
posted by alicesshoe at 8:31 PM on January 22, 2007

Check out the 3 worst signs; they're during the beginning of fall, the middle of the winter, and the beginning of spring. Those are all especially bad times for weather and road conditions.

Provided the opposite were true in, say, Australia and New Zealand, I'd say you were on to something.
posted by dreamsign at 8:40 PM on January 22, 2007

Anyone who believes in astrology has a head full of mush.
posted by Afroblanco at 9:05 PM on January 22, 2007

Check out the 3 worst signs; they're during the beginning of fall, the middle of the winter, and the beginning of spring. Those are all especially bad times for weather and road conditions.

Provided the opposite were true in, say, Australia and New Zealand, I'd say you were on to something.

You'd also expect that after a certain age, the differences in driving records would start to fade.
posted by mach at 10:11 PM on January 22, 2007