Little Rock — A new study released today by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) shows that driving in the rain drops a person’s IQ by an average of 50 points.
The study tested drivers over the course of two years and found that the rhythmic beating of raindrops on a car’s exterior lowered overall brain function.
“We found that this produces very dangerous situations when driving,” UAMS neurological specialist Dr. B.J. Thomas says. “For a person with above average intellect, say 150 IQ, the situation is not so bad. Where it becomes scary is people with below 100 IQ, we found many drivers began talking gibberish and yelling like small children.”
Researchers have found temporary reductions in the IQ drop by listening to classical music and other IQ boosting activities. The study showed that reading books while driving in the rain showed the largest counter balance to the effect, but decreased overall driving skills by 500%.
The study showed no noticeable difference in the effect between male and female drivers, dispelling the belief that female drivers are worse in the rain. It did however show a difference in behavior where males would begin throwing the equivalent of a childhood tantrum while female drivers would close their eyes and pretend the rain was not happening.
Additional insights from the study showed the effect to be worse in southern states. People were also shown more likely to believe fake stories that they read while driving a car in the rain.
2 Comments
I was in the bank some time ago and a young fellow dropped his smartphone. He picked it up, expressing relief that it still worked. I told him he didn’t know, it might’ve lost up to 40 points of IQ.
I’m pretty sure this also happens when driving on ice and snow. And No turning on your emergency flashers does not counter balance the IQ loss. It does however alert other drivers of a server impairment.