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.
In a study that was carried out at Queen Mary University in London, psychologists said that women and interestingly gay men were very poor, when it came to a sense of direction in an environment that was unfamiliar to them. They said that men had much better navigational skills. This may account for what men refer to as "dithering" by women drivers. Being lost and confused may not be the ideal ingredients for safe driving.
Reading University's Frank Mc Kenna's conclusions were different; he said that women were generally better drivers except when it comes to parking and manoeuvring a car. But of course as he said "few people die parking" This is probably the reason why women have more accidents of a minor nature. Just how many, nobody really knows, because whereas a driver has little choice but to report a major accident to the insurance company, minor accidents often go unreported; in view of the policy excess it is often not worth making a claim.
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.
Misjudging their speed when entering a bend is an accident that kills many young men, said Frank Mc Kenna. There also seems to be another factor involved and that is that younger male drivers appear to be more easily drawn into racing another motorist. Sometimes they loose control of their vehicle simply because they want to show the motorist driving behind them, that they can enter the bend at a greater speed and leave them behind. Whilst this behaviour is easy to understand, the results are often tragic. It is also suspected that they are often being goaded by their male companions and as a result push further to the limit.
There are a number of insurers who aim their marketing at women drivers, claiming that they represent a lower risk. Their argument is that the majority of fatal accidents involve male drivers. Additionally they say men are much more likely to drink and drive and exceed the speed limit. Overall they are saying that women drivers are more responsible that men, a point that many men would find difficult to argue against. A typical male response would be "yes but we are still better drivers".
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.
Women appear to men not to have the same driving skills as men and that may well be the case; if they are driving less miles, they have less opportunity to develop those skills. They appear to be more uncertain on the road and more likely to stop without warning. The Department of Transport's study did indeed confirm that women's cars have other motorists drive into the back of their vehicle more than men do. What would have been interesting, which they didn't say, is what proportion of the drivers who drove into the back of them were men.
According to women, men don't make good passengers, according to men; they don't feel safe when sitting next to a women driver, particularly at junctions. This fear whilst perhaps exaggerated is not entirely without foundation, because figures produced by the government show that women have a far greater chance of having an accident at a junction. It is possible that contract hire and insurance companies have in the past only looked at women drivers from their own rather narrow viewpoint, rather than looking at the broader picture. The conclusion may be that men do have far better driving skills than women but tend to be far more impatient and take greater risks when driving, which cancels out some but perhaps not all of the benefit.
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.
In a study that was carried out at Queen Mary University in London, psychologists said that women and interestingly gay men were very poor, when it came to a sense of direction in an environment that was unfamiliar to them. They said that men had much better navigational skills. This may account for what men refer to as "dithering" by women drivers. Being lost and confused may not be the ideal ingredients for safe driving.
Reading University's Frank Mc Kenna's conclusions were different; he said that women were generally better drivers except when it comes to parking and manoeuvring a car. But of course as he said "few people die parking" This is probably the reason why women have more accidents of a minor nature. Just how many, nobody really knows, because whereas a driver has little choice but to report a major accident to the insurance company, minor accidents often go unreported; in view of the policy excess it is often not worth making a claim.
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.
Misjudging their speed when entering a bend is an accident that kills many young men, said Frank Mc Kenna. There also seems to be another factor involved and that is that younger male drivers appear to be more easily drawn into racing another motorist. Sometimes they loose control of their vehicle simply because they want to show the motorist driving behind them, that they can enter the bend at a greater speed and leave them behind. Whilst this behaviour is easy to understand, the results are often tragic. It is also suspected that they are often being goaded by their male companions and as a result push further to the limit.
There are a number of insurers who aim their marketing at women drivers, claiming that they represent a lower risk. Their argument is that the majority of fatal accidents involve male drivers. Additionally they say men are much more likely to drink and drive and exceed the speed limit. Overall they are saying that women drivers are more responsible that men, a point that many men would find difficult to argue against. A typical male response would be "yes but we are still better drivers".
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.
Women appear to men not to have the same driving skills as men and that may well be the case; if they are driving less miles, they have less opportunity to develop those skills. They appear to be more uncertain on the road and more likely to stop without warning. The Department of Transport's study did indeed confirm that women's cars have other motorists drive into the back of their vehicle more than men do. What would have been interesting, which they didn't say, is what proportion of the drivers who drove into the back of them were men.
According to women, men don't make good passengers, according to men; they don't feel safe when sitting next to a women driver, particularly at junctions. This fear whilst perhaps exaggerated is not entirely without foundation, because figures produced by the government show that women have a far greater chance of having an accident at a junction. It is possible that contract hire and insurance companies have in the past only looked at women drivers from their own rather narrow viewpoint, rather than looking at the broader picture. The conclusion may be that men do have far better driving skills than women but tend to be far more impatient and take greater risks when driving, which cancels out some but perhaps not all of the benefit.
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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For more information about contract hire, lease purchase, finance lease or vehicle hire purchase in the UK please contact Bowater Price plc 01494 536 536.
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