Chad Driver
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About
Chad Driver refers to an image of a veiny, muscular arm holding a steering wheel. First becoming viral in June 2016, the image has since gained popularity as an exploitable, with users altering the windshield view, usually as if the driver intends to ran over various people or characters.
Origin
Prior to April 22nd, 2016, an unknown Instagram account uploaded a cabin view photograph of a GMC car driving on a road, with a veiny, muscular arm holding the steering wheel. It is unclear whether the arm is edited in. On April 22nd, 2016, Imgur[1] user EikoTheBard made the earliest found repost of the image (shown below).
Spread
In late April 2016, the image received viral spread online. On April 28th, 2016, the image was reposted to 9GAG,[2] where it received over 22,500 points in four years. On the same day, eBaum's World user kilgore9012 posted[3] the image as a part of a collection. On May 1st, the image was featured in a collection of user comments on The Chive.[4]
On June 2nd, 2016, Twitter[5] user @AloeYoro posted a joke based on the image, writing, "This nigga turn that wheel he Finna change the rotation of the damn planet." The tweet received over 14,100 retweets and 19,200 likes in four years, with a same-day repost in /r/BlackPeopleTwitter subreddit[6] gaining over 12,500 upvotes in the same period. More jokes based on the image were posted on Twitter[7][8] in the following year (examples shown below, center and right).
On February 12th, 2017, Amino[9] user Hoop Gawd posted the earliest found meme which used the image as an exploitable, replacing the windshield view with a photograph of the Jimmy Carter Peanut Statue (shown below, left). The meme gained further spread as an exploitable in 2018; for example, on March 22nd, 2018, an anonymous 4chan[10] user posted a 9/11 edit of the image on /fit/ board (shown below, center). On August 11th, 2018, Twitter[11] user @toon_jar posted a Doom edit which made it appear as if the driver was about to run over a Cacodemon. The post received over 140 retweets and 670 likes in two years (shown below, right).
In 2019 and 2020, the image maintained moderate popularity as an exploitable, with memes often depicting the driver about to run over various characters.
Various Examples
Templates
Search Interest
External References
[1] Imgur – It was in this moment I knew I masturbated too much
[2] 9GAG – One papercut and he's gone
[3] eBaum's World – Kilgore's Nocturnal Exposition
[4] The Chive – Top comments of the week
[5] Twitter – @AloeYoroi
[6] Reddit – that power steering tho
[7] Twitter – @jantonsoup_
[8] Twitter – @WORLDSTAR
[9] Amino – There is no afterlife
[10] 4chan – /fit/ Thread #45263908
