FINALLY- an easy way to spot bad Baton Rouge drivers

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Many of you have been driving around Baton Rouge losing your minds because of the bad drivers out there. I’ve been right there with you. But instead of just getting frustrated I started using it to test a theory that came to me while teaching a teenager how to drive.

I was telling them to keep an eye out for bad drivers to help avoid accidents. That’s when I had an idea: what if there was a way to easily spot bad drivers in advance? I wanted to give this young driver a way to spot which cars to steer clear of. So I started paying closer attention to what they had in common.

First, I began identifying the kinds of bad driving I was seeing—things like not using turn signals, sitting through green lights, or driving like the rules didn’t apply to them. It didn’t take long before I noticed something many of these drivers had in common: something hanging from their rearview mirror. It didn’t matter what it was- air fresheners, Mardi Gras beads, parking tags, handicap pass, you name it.

For example- If I saw someone swerving into my lane, ran the light, driving far under the speed limit, or making rolling stops, I’d check their mirror then more often than not, they had a handicap placard hanging.

Student parking passes usually indicate a young, inexperienced driver. I’d see these using their phone while driving, swerving between lanes, or sitting through the first five seconds of a green light.

Then there were the air freshener cars—often older beaters without plates, or neglected sedans. These drivers seemed to have a “nothing to lose” attitude, making illegal U-turns, stopping randomly in traffic, tailgating, or weaving in and out of lanes.

To test the theory further, I flipped the process: instead of looking for mirror clutter first, I started spotting bad driving and then checked for items hanging from the mirror. This reverse test proved to be surprisingly accurate. Over 90% of the time I saw the bad driver had something dangling from the rearview mirror.

Beads and other dangly decorations also seemed to be consistent indicators of bad driving. Speeding and tailgating? Lots of beads. Reckless driving that looked like they were drunk? Definitely Mardi Gras beads. Crystals and dreamcatchers are a category all their own. Don’t even get me started on high school graduation tassels—they seem to be in season right now, and if you spot one of those, give that car a wide berth. It probably belongs to a very young inexperienced 18 year old.

TL;DR — My theory is that you can spot and avoid most bad drivers in BR just by checking if they have something hanging from their rearview mirror. Check for yourself today!

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Years ago there was a study that indicated that drivers who personalize their vehicles in any way are more aggressive drivers. They tend to believe their vehicle is an extension of their home, and tend to assert themselves more on the road.

Whether the vehicles had a bumper sticker or a custom paint job/wheels didn't matter as much as the fact that the vehicle was personalized in any way.

Vehicles that appear straight from the factory (regardless of age) tended to have less assertive drivers than those with any personalization.

It was a very interesting study.

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