A woman who got into a car crash didn’t get into the crash because she wasn’t driving carefully, but because she is a woman– a very old stereotype that has prevailed in our society for far too long. But it is time we state what is what and debunk this absolutely baseless myth!
The U.S. Department of Transportation annual accident report proves year after year that men have more property-damaging and fatal accidents than women at every age reported (16 < 74 years). In her recently published study on the Impact of gender, organized athletics and video gaming on driving skills in novice drivers, Dr. Nancy L. Wayne says she found no difference in the skill levels of the two genders. While it is true that female novice drivers displayed lack of confidence as opposed to male men, this did not translate into lack of skill. She further states that her experiment also shows no correlation between time spent on video gaming and skills rate (also an old myth); but what did appear to have a significant impact was the involvement in organized athletics- a correlation seen in both males and females.
Research on the gender gap in 100 drivers shows that in the UK, 79% of around 600,000 motoring offences were committed by men- which is almost four times as many as women! To further validate the point, more statistics can be found on male drivers beating women driver in the frequency of road offences. For every woman, there are 3 men speeding their way on the road and 5 for every woman caught driving drunk. Taking the lion’s share again, 65% of all car insurances claimed in 2017 were from men and only a 35% coming from women.
Male drivers can jump onto the fact that women take longer to learn how to drive and perfect their skill but once on the road, women drivers demonstrate more responsible behavior than men. In 2017, male drivers made almost twice as many theft claims and at-fault claims. Adding to this, the average pay-out by men in 2017 was also more than that by women. So it might be true that females are less likely to pass their driving test than men, data indicates that they are still more responsible and better drivers.
Evidence can also be found on more men demonstrating irresponsible behavior while in the driving seat than women. For instance, about 31% of men are more likely to smoke while driving and 77% are more likely to tailgate another car.
Researcher Ole Johansson at the Institute of Transport Economics says, 12% of car accidents in most countries occur due to distracted driving. Furthermore, in a 2015 UK study, women not only showed better performance but comfortably beat their male opponents in a series of driving tests; which included driving around Hyde Park Corner in London- one of Britain’s busiest junctions.
MYTH BUSTED!
After years of banter and groundless stereotyping, we now have data driven statistics to debunk this old and much dragged myth about women being bad drivers. Perhaps women do take longer to get used to controlling the wheel and perhaps they do fail in their driving tests at first; but in no way are they any worse than men when it comes to controlling the wheel on the road. When learning to drive, both men and women need to choose their school wisely- and a good place to start would be the Jacob’s Driving and traffic school at Phoenix, Arizona.
Check out the lessons offered at Jacob’s and enroll now to perfect your driving skills.
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