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I'd like to know the historic start of such a stereotype and how it expanded, if it is really something that comes from before and it's not just some internet phenomenon (which may be).

I'm linking these 2 web pages that speak about this myth:

Myth-busting the ‘Bad Asian Driver’ myth: Car insurance rates don’t lie

Dueling Stereotypes: Bad Asian Drivers, Good At Everything

I've also checked that at least the first five pages of results with the term "bad Asian drivers" in google seems to mostly show web pages that seem to comment about this myth, so it looks like it is expanded.

The phenomenon seems to be localized mostly in North America, mostly in the USA.

As time frame we can consider since the first Asians went to North America in a noticeable amount and cars where easily available for people (I guess around late 60's after the 1965 Immigration act) to nowadays.

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  • Try googling for videos about "crazy traffic [random asian country]". On a less humorous note, it simply takes time for regulation to change poor driving habits. I've seen a 2 way street in the Philippines turn into a 4 lane road. A driver decided to overtake a car ahead; the car behind that driver decided to overtake both cars at the same time; and the whole thing turned very close to an accident because of a car coming from the other direction. I've never seen that type of behavior in Europe or the US; but it was like that in the past. It still is in Asia. Just give it time. – Denis de Bernardy Feb 14 '19 at 19:21
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    The links provided indeed do a good job of establishing the existence of the stereotype (the first one IMHO does a horrible job of attempting to debunk it, but that's not your fault). – T.E.D.♦ Feb 14 '19 at 19:25
  • The stereotype was already old when I was in high school in Southern California in the 80s. I always presumed it had to do with a rapid influx of asian immigrants in the decades before, a reflection of normal anti-immigrant feelings. – Gort the Robot Feb 14 '19 at 19:54
  • @StevenBurnap - I'm kind of curious if its a West Coast thing then. There are a lot more Asians living in that area, which would make it more worth the effort to develop stereotypes. – T.E.D.♦ Feb 14 '19 at 20:38
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    You might consider that the bad driver stereotype was due to immigrants coming from countries where private car ownership was/is rare. It was never that asians had some genetic disposition to being poor drivers, but that many asian countries lacked a culture of private vehicle ownership leading to poor driving skills in the new country. My own experience is that the ones who moved here have poor skills and they tend to be taught by people in their own community which passes on poor habits. – Daniel Feb 14 '19 at 22:03

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