Women drivers

[mgkdk]

I know this may be a dangerous topic, but I have been thinking about posting it for a while, and I think I'm the one to do this, so here it goes.

A lot of times when accidents or mishaps happend and the driver was female you often hear "women drivers" as if that was a bad thing.
I know some women are really shitty drivers, a have been driving with some of them, truely frightening, but surely not all women a that bad.
I, for one, am not. And before you say otherwise, it's not just because I say so, I have been told so by several guys.
But why then, are a lot of people convinced that women are that bad at driving? I think one of the things is that when a guy crashes, he was just being a normal guy, but when a woman crashes it was because she was a woman.

Why are some women then so bad at driving?
I don't know, but I have a theory.
A lot of guys are into cars from wery early on, and have a natural interest in anything mechanic, whereas girls are looked funny at if they play with cars instead of dolls (talking from experience here). Still today when I tell people that I were studying to be a mecanic for a year they look funny at me, but then when their car brakes down they suddenly like it.
When I talk to other girls about cars I am astonished by how little they know about what makes a car go. So I think a part of the reason some women are really bad drivers is that when they sit in a car, all they see is a steeringwheel, some pedals and a gearstick, and they have no idea what makes the car go, steer or stop.

Now I have rambled on for long enough. What do you guys think, am I completly wrong, or is there maybe some truth in all this?

 

[jensked]

Well, I guess it starts very early in life

When you play with cars as a kid, you get to know them. I mean, when you park your toy car, it's quite like parking a real car. Second, men have different brains than women: the part that's used for the interpretation of space is bigger with men. The part you use to communicate is bigger with women. So it's easier for men to interpret space.
It's the same for for example visual tests. Government recruitment requires a series of tests. Women get a lower score on visual tests than men.

 

[goneinsixtyseconds]

i'm sure there's a combined reason as to why women (in general) are worse drivers than men.

you can argue that biologically men are better suited for driving since it involves using spatial skills, it's been proven that men in general are better at spatial skills (judging relative distances) than women through the whole left/right brain hemiphere debate.

you could also mention how men and women are conditioned through norms and values to have interest in sexually streotyped specific things (the whole arguement where men play with gi joes and women playing with dolls) in this sense, driving and cars have been predominently a masculine activity and only recently have women broken through that stereotype.

and then you have ignorant people who just say that based on their experience (watching other drivers on the road) that women are just crappy drivers. although in canada it's quite the opposite statistically since women are involved in lower collisions and hence why their insurance rates are far cheaper than men.

so in the end what can we say about this topic? nothing, b'cuz it's so contentious that everyone has an opinion on both sides, but if you want a humourous look at this, watch that fifth gear episode with the "men vs. women" driving tests

 

[mgkdk]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking about. But on that part I'm the exception, I'm good at visual stuff, but rubbish at communication

 

[Buba]

Plus, and this is important if its true, I think:

I read an essay about the driving skills in West and East Germany: The Former DDR - Residents (Eastern Germany for those who are history challenged) are much worse drivers.
So scientists reckon its the difference that the Eastern folks have been driving an average of 3000 km a year, and most of them never had a car (because it took up to 7 years once you ordered a Trabbi) and the Western folks who had done an average of 15000 km a year, and almost everybody has a license and a car.
So their guess was, that the more you have driven, the more adapted you are, and its wuite possible that those abilities can be passed on to the next generation.

And how has it been for ages? The man drives, the woman is on the passenger side... You get my thought...

So, the first part is supposed to be a scientific reality, and the second part is only my conclusion, but I always believe firmly in my theories...

Buba

 

[swek]

There's a nice Fith Gear episode out on the subject. I believe it's called Men vs. Woman. The team puts them through a test of real life scenarios and compares the results to the stereotype.

 

[aqualung]

although in canada it's quite the opposite statistically since women are involved in lower collisions and hence why their insurance rates are far cheaper than men.

Can you find a source on that? I'd like to see what are the statistics based on.
As I don't know the exact statistical methods employed here, I'll have to guess that the rate of accidents is per unit of time, not mileage.

On average, men rack up a whole lot more miles behind the wheel than women.
A woman driver who crashes every 50 000 miles/once in 15 years is a worse driver than a man who crashes every 150 000 miles/once in 10 years (those are no real figures, just an example off the top of my head).

Men drive longer distances and more commonly during the night, while women tend to drive less at night than men, and also shorter distances (on average).

What I'm saying is that your gender doesn't determine your driving skills, practice does.
There are of course gender-specific varibles such as the brain resource allocation difference and the male's higher probability to DUI or drive aggressively.
But ultimately, I'd say it's the experience that counts.

 

[Leppy]

Re: Women drivers

...

A lot of times when accidents or mishaps happend and the driver was female you often hear "women drivers" as if that was a bad thing.
I know some women are really shitty drivers, a have been driving with some of them, truely frightening, but surely not all women a that bad.
I, for one, am not. And before you say otherwise, it's not just because I say so, I have been told so by several guys.

...

Nah all women are crap... those guys just wanted some... haha I'm joking.. but seriously women can't drive.

 

[TVR_Fan]

Most women crash because there to busy putting make up on or while driving there like "oh I broke a nai"l. Need to get my nails fixed lol :lol:.

 

[pdanev]

i think there might be another reason as well. men tend to drive faster than women, and driving faster has recently been proved to be safer because you are really paying attention to the road at say 200kpmh, as opposed to driving 120kmph, thinking you are safe, staring at the blue sky and talking on the phone.

I think that women dont pay that much attention while driving as has been said before. for most of them car is a shiny toy that will get you from a to b, and in between a and b you have time to fix your outfit, put some lipstick on and stuff like that. (latter argument pure thought, based on no science,facts or whatsoever )

It all depends of course on the person, expreience, and interest in cars. Hard to draw a general conclusion

 

[Chade]

I haven't read all the replies, so I don't know if this point of view has been stated, but if it has jsut ignore me...

I think it is very much like this:
Guys in general drive more actively and takes risks just to see where his own and the cars limits are, which can be handy in a dangerous situation. But while taking greater risks he also puts himself in dangerous situations more often, which results in more accidents (at least for young men, under 30).

Women (in general) on the other hand, don't care as much about driving as about just transporting herself from A to B. She generally drives safer than the general man, but when confronted with a dangerous situation she has more trouble handling it...

So in conclusion:
Women are "better" drivers since they drive safer and don't take any unnessecary risks.
Men are "better" drivers since they can handle the car better in a stressfull situation.

The perfect driver would drive safely AND be able to handle a dangerous situation (and I'm sure they exist as both women and men)!

 

[Leppy]

I haven't read all the replies, so I don't know if this point of view has been stated, but if it has jsut ignore me...

:lol: :lol: :lol: 9 replies mate.... 9 haha

 

[mgkdk]

Re: Women drivers

...

A lot of times when accidents or mishaps happend and the driver was female you often hear "women drivers" as if that was a bad thing.
I know some women are really shitty drivers, a have been driving with some of them, truely frightening, but surely not all women a that bad.
I, for one, am not. And before you say otherwise, it's not just because I say so, I have been told so by several guys.

...

Nah all women are crap... those guys just wanted some... haha I'm joking.. but seriously women can't drive.

For some strange reason I knew someone would say this, so you can get this

 

[Leppy]

Re: Women drivers

...

A lot of times when accidents or mishaps happend and the driver was female you often hear "women drivers" as if that was a bad thing.
I know some women are really shitty drivers, a have been driving with some of them, truely frightening, but surely not all women a that bad.
I, for one, am not. And before you say otherwise, it's not just because I say so, I have been told so by several guys.

...

Nah all women are crap... those guys just wanted some... haha I'm joking.. but seriously women can't drive.

For some strange reason I knew someone would say this, so you can get this

I'm glad I didn't let you down!

 

[Buba]

^^ If I would have to bet who's gonna say that... I would have put my money on the Australian anyway...

Buba

 

[jeffy777]

Re: Women drivers

...

A lot of times when accidents or mishaps happend and the driver was female you often hear "women drivers" as if that was a bad thing.
I know some women are really shitty drivers, a have been driving with some of them, truely frightening, but surely not all women a that bad.
I, for one, am not. And before you say otherwise, it's not just because I say so, I have been told so by several guys.

...

Nah all women are crap... those guys just wanted some... haha I'm joking.. but seriously women can't drive.

For some strange reason I knew someone would say this, so you can get this

I'm glad I didn't let you down!

it tooks some balls to say that...oops, no pun intended

 

[Leppy]

^^ If I would have to bet who's gonna say that... I would have put my money on the Australian anyway...

Buba

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[tloekke]

Of course you can't say all women drivers are bad. My mother is I guess good. She can drive with me as a passenger without me fearing for my life or getting annoyed with how slow and nervous she drives. But she's the worst backseat driver ever. "The light changed to red" and "the car in front is braking". YES, I KNOW, GODDAMNIT!! And I've got a (girl)friend which isn't too bad behind the wheel.
However, a friend of mine's ex was a nightmare behind the wheel. I don't think I've ever been as nervous in a car, with episodes like she couldn't find her way out of a roundabout in first gear with 15000 revs because she was more busy finding the exit than changing gear. And I think her problem is what many women have, they stress too much when driving. I think men are generally more confident when it comes to driving. Of course, some of them will crash, but I think the majority will become better drivers if the have some confidence in themselves.

 

[logo]

women suck in a car, period.
(give head, and they can't drive)

 

[thEam]

Like jensked said, woman's brains are not really suited for driving a car As for my personal experience, I know quite a lot of woman who scare the sh*t out of me when I have to drive with them. All of which don't do a lot of driving, but so do I, and I don't recall *ever* forgetting what "one-way-street" means... The worst thing I ever experienced concerning women and cars though was when I drove my precious Scirocco rather quickly (but surely not irresponbily fast) round a corner when the woman in the backseat actually startet hitting me in the neck, because she thought I was a retard imitating Michael Schumacher. I was so shocked in that very moment that I almost lost the car there. So much for the dangerous driving...