Who Are Better Drivers—Men or Women?
And then there’s the one about the woman who tells her husband there’s a problem with the car: “Honey, there’s water in the carburetor!”
The husband says, “No way, you don’t even know what a carburetor is!”
“Yes, there is,” the wife insists.
“Tell me where you left the car,” says the husband.
The woman says, “I drove it into the pool!”
Well, there are lots of videos out there showing just how bad women can be at driving. You don’t have to browse the internet very long to find vast amounts of footage of women doing horrible—and hilarious—things to their vehicles.
A lot of researchers have spent serious time to determine whether women or men drive better. In some studies, drivers are asked to look at photos depicting situations and decide if the picture suggests risk. Then they answer a series of questions to determine whether they take risks themselves.
The results show that men and women are pretty equal in identifying risks taken by others. But men fail to identify their own risks because they are overconfident about their driving skills, and women take fewer risks because they view their abilities modestly.
Statistics consistently show that of all driver fatalities, more of them are men than women. This data comes from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, an organization funded by insurance corporations that analyzes all aspects of car and highway safety.
Admittedly the percentage of women drivers who die at the wheel has increased in recent years. More women drive now than thirty years ago; and they drive longer distances and more night hours than they used to. Even so, approximately one-fourth of driver deaths are women, and a staggering three-fourths are men.
Besides risk taking, men demonstrate these other behaviors more often than women:
- Driving without a seatbelt
- Ignoring traffic signs to slow down or stop
- Driving while intoxicated
- Driving recklessly
- Failure to yield
- Speeding
It’s true that in accidents that injure the car and not the driver, women are more often the perpetrators. But with all things considered, it seems fair that women have the advantage when it comes to insurance rates. Unfortunately, they continue as the butt of driving-accident jokes.
Ladies, if you really want to get back at some of those male chauvinists in your life, you can always visit YouTube and search for videos of bad men drivers. You don’t have to live under the thumb of that stigma any more, and you’ll have a riot.
Men and women pay the same rate for an extended car warranty! Get a free quote today, and save money on car repairs down the road.
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