December 25, 2008
Are Women worse drivers than men?
Women are shown to be worse drivers than men in certain studies carried out, and better in others. To decide who the better driver is, first you have to define, “better”. For example as a Contract Hire Company we consider women to be better drivers because they cause us less problems; in our experience they write off fewer cars and we have less administration because they incur fewer speeding fines.
Women drivers were considered to be worse drivers in a study carried out by Psychologists at Queen Mary University London. In fact they concluded that both women and gay men did badly, in terms of navigational skills when driving in a strange environment. They said that men had a better sense of direction. It could be argued that motorists are less safe if driving when lost or confused, although in practice most women spend the majority of their time driving in an environment that is known to them.
In research carried out by Frank Mc Kenna of Reading University, he stated that the only area men proved to better than women was in terms of manoeuvring and parking a vehicle, as he quite rightly pointed out “few people die parking”. There seems to be little doubt that women have significantly more minor accidents than men. There is no way of being sure how many, because these minor accidents tend not to result in insurance claims; an insurance policy’s excess, normally make it more practical to have the vehicle repaired at the drivers on expense.
In general women feel that they are safer on the road and that men are far too aggressive in their driving. They feel this is partly to do with the fact that men never really grow up, something that few men dispute. It certainly appears to be the case that men are quick to react if they feel another motorist is challenging them, which can often develop into situations that become quite dangerous; men find it hard to allow what they see as a challenge from another driver, to pass without reacting.
According to Frank Mc Kenna, many young men are killed on the road, when misjudging their speed going into a bend. A number of Psychologists feel that although inexperience is a factor, it often happens because the young motorist has been provoked into racing another motorist, or is trying to prove a point to another road user. Unfortunately an accident can be as a result of the driver simply showing off to his mates, sometimes with terrible consequences. In these accidents that often prove to be serious, the occupants of the car are often all male, suggesting that they do not drive in the same manner when they have female passengers.
Making a comparison between men and women drivers is not easy. Certainly there are insurers that prefer women drivers; saying that the majority of very serious accidents that result in serious injury or death involve male drivers, as do the majority of speeding and drink driving convictions.
The Department of Transport however has thrown some light on this; they say that women make fewer and shorter journeys than men. They stated that women only drive 1/4 of the miles that men drive but are responsible for 1/3 of the accidents involving injury. This makes them more likely to be the driver of an injury crash per mile driven. Perhaps this is why they are considered a better insurance risk, even though they are perhaps more dangerous on the road. It means that the accidents where there is injury are inevitably going to involve more male drivers than women. As a Contract Hire company we still prefer our female clients who look after our cars and generally return the vehicles in better condition at the end of the contract hire, or personal contract hire term.
Many men are often frustrated by the way women drive; men feel that women “dither” when driving. Women do appear to drive in a more uncertain fashion, which they would probably describe as cautious and would say that men are impatient and always trying to get past them. According to the Department of Transport, women have more vehicles drive into the rear of their cars, than do men. What we would have really liked to have known, which wasn’t revealed in the report, is how many of those who drove into the back of them were men. The report also said that women are more likely to have an accident during the day, perhaps because they drive more during the day and they are particularly at risk between the hours of 8 and 10 am.
Insurance companies will probably continue to prefer their women drivers and Men will continue feel a little uncomfortable when being driven by a woman. Some say they find the journey even more tiring than if they were driving themselves; at a junction they concern themselves just as much, if not more, about approaching vehicles as if they were driving, without the ability to take action if the driver makes a mistake. This concern is not completely without foundation, as government figures show that women are more likely than men to have an accident at a junction. This could be the same lack of confidence that can be witnessed by men’s sharp intake of breath when it is announced on a flight that the pilot is a women, perhaps because in the air, there is no equivalent of driving into the gatepost.
Should you have any queries or questions with regard to Fleet Management, Licence checking, Contract Hire, Personal Contract Hire, Lease Purchase or vehicle Hire Purchase, please do not hesitate to contact us. Bowater Price plc 01494 536 536. www.bowaterprice.com.
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