SANTA ANA, Calif. - We might never be able to feel sympathy for lousy drivers. But new research may at least help us understand them.

A new study at the University of California, Irvine, reveals that people with a gene variation that gives them less of a brain protein linked to memory retention performed more than 20 percent worse in a video-driving simulation than people who had higher levels of the protein.

So can lousy drivers blame their DNA? Since about 1 in 3 Americans appears to have the gene abnormality, not necessarily. But it could be a factor.

“Any behavior is the sum total of a number of different genes and factors, but this definitely suggests that this particular gene does affect short-term motor learning,” said Stephanie McHughen, lead author of the study, which appeared in the journal Cerebral Cortex.

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