Bad female drivers? It's just a myth

[snopes]

That age-old stereotype about female drivers being unsafe is shattered in a major new traffic analysis: Male drivers have a 77 percent higher risk of dying in a car accident than women, based on miles driven.

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/01/19/Wo...ivers_It.shtml

[mags]

I haven't done any studies, obviously, but in my experience, women are more likely to have more slow-speed accidents due to decreased spacial skills (fender benders), which I assume created the whole bad female driver stereotype.

It doesn't surprise me to learn that men are more likely to die in accidents, though, with their higher speeds and more agressive driving style.

[RainyDaze]

Insurance companies have know this for years. Young women under 25 get much lower rates then young men under 25.

I suspect the stereotype is somewhat based on women drivers being more cautious, not less. The frustrated male driver stuck behind a women driver wonders "Why didn't she make that turn! She had inches to spare before that large truck sped through!"

[Friends of Alfred]

Myth huh? Tell that to the woman who almost crashed into me last night! 2 lanes merging into one, and I had to mount the kerb to prevent her driving into the side of my car. What's worse is, she had NO IDEA what had happend.

[Syllavus]

Originally Posted by Friends of Alfred

Myth huh? Tell that to the woman who almost crashed into me last night! 2 lanes merging into one, and I had to mount the kerb to prevent her driving into the side of my car. What's worse is, she had NO IDEA what had happend.

So you suspect it was her vagina that made her do it?

I'll do it myself.

[Friends of Alfred]

Originally Posted by Syllavus

So you suspect it was her vagina that made her do it?

I'll do it myself.

Nah - just thought i'd muddy the waters some - I'm in that kind of mood.....

[Embra]

Hahaha
Friends of Alfred, that story is almost as good a piece of "data" as the Grandpa Simpson Irish Meteor Survey in your sig

I haven't noticed much a difference in behaviour when I'm driving. I also don't know what there is to back up the "poor spatial skills = low speed fender bender" idea either. Are there stats about the number of minor bumper strikes that women are involved in?

My anecdote says that men have zero spatial ability in cars. This is based on the fact that Mr Embra can't fit our car into our driveway, nor is he entirely conversant with the concept of lane discipline, hates joining and leaving traffic from a slip road, and doesn't really "get" how mirrors work (well, unless he's aplying his lippy of course. Bless!). What? Prove me wrong!

[Jay Tea]

Whilst there will always be exceptions to the rule, it's my opinion that women are far safer drivers - I assumed this was common knowledge, certainly amongst insurance companies?

I don't drive, i've been involved in bloody and nightmarish rta's and as a result stick to the public transport or lifts - i'm also a bad passenger in a car too (I've had people pull over to let me out). I would 'much' rather be a passenger to a female driver than a male. Males show off, have much greater tendencies to lose their rag and their concentration, are often overconfident, flout the highway code and are statistically far more likely to drive whilst intoxicated or fatigued - i'm not saying women don't display any of these traits behind the wheel, just that men do so much more often (in my experience) making them worse drivers.

[Friends of Alfred]

Originally Posted by Embra

Hahaha
Friends of Alfred, that story is almost as good a piece of "data" as the Grandpa Simpson Irish Meteor Survey in your sig

I haven't noticed much a difference in behaviour when I'm driving. I also don't know what there is to back up the "poor spatial skills = low speed fender bender" idea either. Are there stats about the number of minor bumper strikes that women are involved in?

My anecdote says that men have zero spatial ability in cars. This is based on the fact that Mr Embra can't fit our car into our driveway, nor is he entirely conversant with the concept of lane discipline, hates joining and leaving traffic from a slip road, and doesn't really "get" how mirrors work (well, unless he's aplying his lippy of course. Bless!). What? Prove me wrong!

You do get that I was joking right?

[DemonWolf]

I really think the myth of the bad female driver it is a combination of two factors:

1. Most men that I know think that they are far better drivers than they actually are.

2. Although the number of bad drivers is likely to be split rather evenly, we tend to remember the incidents that prove our misconceptions and forget the ones that don't. So if a man cuts you off, you think he's a jerk and forget about it. But if a woman cuts you off, you take it as evidence that women can't drive. My father has a similar threoy about "Chinamen." The 10 or so white people who can't drive get a nasty word and a few curses, but an Asain person that shows poor driving skills is seen as evidence of his preconception.


Demon "And if it's an Asian woman... "Wolf

Originally Posted by RainyDaze

Insurance companies have know this for years. Young women under 25 get much lower rates then young men under 25.

Not anymore .

Note, I now have a young unmarried female driver under the age of 25 and my rates just tripled.

[Lainie]

Originally Posted by DemonWolf

I really think the myth of the bad female driver it is a combination of two factors:

[snip]

2. Although the number of bad drivers is likely to be split rather evenly, we tend to remember the incidents that prove our misconceptions and forget the ones that don't.

That's exactly what I observed my brothers doing on several occasions. "Did you see what that jerk did!" versus "Sheesh, dumb woman!"

Originally Posted by Doug4.7

Not anymore .

Note, I now have a young unmarried female driver under the age of 25 and my rates just tripled.

Did you actually compare the costs of insuring a male vs. insuring a female? Insuring any driver under 25 is going to cost a bundle. Do they still offer discounts for honor students?

[Ceiling Fan]

Maybe it's just that male and female drivers make different kinds of errors. Men drive more on the highways and have big, drastic, high-speed accidents. Women give their children lifts and go grocery shopping, thus driving more in parking lots and in city centers, having minor fenderbenders at low speeds. At least that's what I've been told by some insurance company folks.

[Lainie]

Originally Posted by Ceiling Fan

Maybe it's just that male and female drivers make different kinds of errors. Men drive more on the highways and have big, drastic, high-speed accidents. Women give their children lifts and go grocery shopping, thus driving more in parking lots and in city centers, having minor fenderbenders at low speeds. At least that's what I've been told by some insurance company folks.

I have to wonder what decade those insurance company folks were living in. I don't have statistics handy, but in the US, at least, it's not at all uncommon or unusual for women to commute on freeways. Quite the opposite.

[Friends of Alfred]

Originally Posted by Ceiling Fan

Maybe it's just that male and female drivers make different kinds of errors. Men drive more on the highways and have big, drastic, high-speed accidents. Women give their children lifts and go grocery shopping, thus driving more in parking lots and in city centers, having minor fenderbenders at low speeds. At least that's what I've been told by some insurance company folks.

I would pay good money to watch an insurance company representative make this argument to Ryda.

She'd kill em!

[Ryda Wong, EBfCo.]

I tend to be a very cautious driver. Knowing that, I stay off the road as much as possible. Thank the goddess that the Denver Metro area has kick-*ss public transit (and that one of my work benefits is a all-systems pass).

I do tend to get quite white-knuckled when SO is driving, though I always chalked that up to my general driving caution. IMHO, he just doesn't pay enough attention to other drivers, and, well, I can't count the times I've seen him get distracted watching something and nearly miss stopping, or swerve a bit. Makes me insane. I think that's more of a function of his personality.

He also screwed the hell out of our garage getting in and out. I, on the other hand, even with my crappy vision, never once hit the garage with the car.

I'd be willing to bet this has alot to do with socialized caution.

And, FWIW, I've noticed the poor driving being blamed on sex quite often. Even when the driver is male, I've often seen people say "That dumb b*tch." I love pointing out, "Dude? That's a guy," and seeing them squirm

[jw]

Clearly, the insurance companies still give major discounts to female drivers.
DW changed her car last year, and I took hers for various reasons. For the same car with the same drivers, but in my name as opposed to hers, the cost was approx 25% more.
We are both accident free, for the past five years. Discrimination, I tell ya.

That said, she is a very good safe driver, if perhaps a tad cautious for my liking.

[Ryda Wong, EBfCo.]

Originally Posted by Friends of Alfred

I would pay good money to watch an insurance company representative make this argument to Ryda.

She'd kill em!

I would not! I'd just reduce them to a quivering pile of jelly. Sheesh.

Although, I have to say, that was a rather strange statement.

[glass papaya]

Originally Posted by Doug4.7

Not anymore .

Note, I now have a young unmarried female driver under the age of 25 and my rates just tripled.

I have one 19YO female (who has had two speeding tickets and at one point lost her license), one 18YO male (one minor accident), and one 16YO male (no violations so far).

The boys' insurance is higher. Trust me. I pay more for liability insurance than I do for my mortgage.

[Friends of Alfred]

Originally Posted by Ryda Wong, EBfCo.

I would not! I'd just reduce them to a quivering pile of jelly. Sheesh.

Although, I have to say, that was a rather strange statement.

Whose? Mine or the the insurance bod?

(some coincidence for you to post right after I mentioned you by name btw!)