Here’s a shocker: Men don’t like the way the women in their lives drive. In other news, a federal agency announced a study that determined that water is wet and fire is hot.
As many as one in three men are so “frightened” by the driving of their distaff partner they don’t feel safe, finds a study conducted by OnePoll.com, a British-based online market research firm. But a survey official suggests that “women’s driving can’t be as bad as men believe.”
And hard data suggests there may be a significant gap between perception and reality.
The survey was based on the response of 3,000 British men, but while OnePoll doesn’t provide the sort of statistical qualifications that validate the scientific accuracy of the study, it clearly suggests modern males continue to hold the same sort of antagonistic views of women drivers that helped keep ‘50s TV shows like “I Love Lucy” stocked with jokes.
Some findings from the survey:
• 20 percent of men say they can never relax when their significant other is driving;
• The top complaint was that women lack concentration when driving. Men said that women are too distracted by children, scenery or other motorists;
• One in 10 men feels it necessary to ask their wife to pull over so they can drive.
Other complaints include riding in the middle lane, braking too hard, going too fast and failing to use turn signals.
Battles of the sexes over driving is not a new phenomenon. An interesting companion study would be to see if women have similar feelings about their men, who typically do most of the driving when couples are together anyway.
Men also nitpicked female drivers for “flicking the accelerator,” resulting in an uneven ride, rolling from side to side in their lane and an inability to avoid rumble strips.
So what’s one to do when riding with one’s significant other, the person who they supposedly love? Well, there’s always gripping the edges of the seat. Or you could try stomping the imaginary brake pedal in the passenger-side footwell. A better choice might be to try to take a nap, so you’re asleep when your partner’s inattentive driving leads to an accident.
Is there really as big a gap in the way men and women drive? A spokesman for OnePoll told the British newspaper, The Telegraph, “I am sure women’s driving can’t be as bad as men think,” adding, “It is probably a case that men just think they are safer drivers.”
Meanwhile, here on the American side of the Atlantic, a 2009 study by Insurance.com would suggest the driving gap is more one of perception than reality. If anything, women may have the advantage.
Industry and government data show that 68% of women have no traffic violations, versus 6% of men. Of those who have gotten tickets, 30% of women have between one and three violations, and 2% have four or more. Among men, the figures are 33% with no more than three violations, while 3% have more.
Carnegie Mellon’s 2007 study of driver risks, dubbed TrafficSTATS, found men have a 77% higher risk of dying in an auto accident compared to women. Just 6.53 women will die for every 100 million trips compared to 14.61 men.
The gap is even more pronounced among younger drivers.
“All the evidence points to young males having riskier driving habits than young females. Men between the ages of 16 and 25 are much more likely to be involved in accidents, or be cited for traffic violations,” noted Insurance.com vice president, Sam Belden. “Insurance companies bear this kind of behavior in mind when quoting rates.”
Top Ten Complaints About Women’s Driving, According to OnePoll:
- Lack of concentration
- Braking too late
- Flicking the accelerator
- Not avoiding rumble strips
- Getting too close to other cars
- Braking too hard
- Fiddling with the stereo
- Failure to indicate
- Going too fast
- Sticking in the middle lane
TheDetroitBureau.com’s Paul A. Eisenstein contributed to this report.
What a bunch of cranky cry babies . . . this is more about guys who can’t feel comfortable unless they are in total control than driving prowess.
I’ve long maintained a car has no clue of the driver’s gender and only responds to input. Every complaint listed can be applied to men as well.
Case in point:Richard Noble, OBE might have set a world land speed record at 633MPH, but anyone who has driven with him on English roads count themselves lucky to be around to tell the tale. Add a driving rain storm whilst motoring with Mr. OBE and atheists will swear on their knees that is a God at the conclusion of the trip.
Of course, that 62% spread between gender based traffic violators (and those are only the ones who got caught!) only bolsters my position of cry babies . . .
Agree, Louise – Z
In a book called “Why Men Don’t Listen and Women Can’t Read Maps”, the married authors (Drs. Pease) consolidated the early flat MRI studies which proved out a few curious facts.
Testosterone plays a key part in depth perception.
Estrogen plays a huge part in multi-tasking.
In GENERAL, women don’t have nearly the 3d rendering and perception/reaction that non-Asian men do…and if a man says he can multi-task, he is probably deluded.
Both are very necessary for driving with others in the car, which would exactly explain the stress the men admit in the survey…non-scientific bias as show by Landspeed and others notwithstanding! (heh, I’m TEASING, so go easy!)
Of course a car cannot tell gender. But the genders can do different things in various circumstances behind the wheel…and when a man sees a women doing things HE knows he cannot, of course his stress will peak. But there is NEVER an excuse for cruising in the passing lane, ever.
As for women, I remember my LA girlfriend SCREAMING at me on a rush to LAX one morning that I was trying to kill her, passing those passive-aggressive meanderers on Sepulveda with 2-3 car lengths of distance easily. (At maybe 10 mph faster than them!) That never made sense until I read this study.
A corollary to the study on tickets issued is my guess that 50% of women get off without a citation while 90% of men get what they deserve!
Cheers
Oh yeah, I’m sure Danica would admit that she is one amazing exception to the rule, but I’m WAY happy that other women will be emboldened to challenge the testosterone fest in the pits more now!
I would say that this has more to do with perception than reality, obviously.
But one thing I will say, is that it’s possible girls aren’t being held to the same standards when their fathers teach them to drive – perhaps their fathers (who grew up in “I Love Lucy” era) don’t expect their daughters to drive well, so they let them get away with the bare minimum, whereas perhaps they start teaching their sons younger, and hold them to higher standards.
Just a thought.
Though I think the statistics showing that women have fewer accidents and traffic violations prove that they aren’t any worse drivers than men.