Women drivers

Stheno

Madame Razz wrote: »

I drive a lot, much more than the average person, and can safely say that elderly men and women are the biggest hazards on the road today. Sunday is the most dangerous day on the road IMO:)

+1 I'd do at least 500 miles a week driving and have done for the past three or four years. I've had two minor accidents, one where I was rear ended while waiting for a car wash and the person who bumped me didn't see my car, and the second where I got rear ended by someone who skidded on an icy road and I went into the ditch.

I avoid going anywhere on Sunday if I can.

It differs depending on what I am driving I've found, if I'm driving a small car like a Fiat Punto then you can get men being illmannered, however I'd no such problems when I was driving about in the work van (big transit type thing)!

Now don't even start me on mechanics!

Wibbs

nouggatti wrote: »

Now don't even start me on mechanics!

That's a big issue for women I know. Some of whom are major petrolheads. They will try to bullshít a woman way more than a man. I have to say, generalisation though it may be, women get the short end of the stick in many garages. I've known a lot of mechanics and I can think of only three that were trustworthy when it came to women. One of whom many would describe as a bit of an unreconstructed chauvinist, including himself, but in actual practical terms is incredibly even handed. If someone comes into his garage male or female and he spots they're not clued into how a car works he will go through the reasons and theory behind it by way of explanation. He takes time to listen. That's bloody rare in my experience. He reckons it makes his job easier as no matter who you are you get used to a car and any weird noises etc you'll spot, so he listens, especially when it's a weird problem.

Hell I've had mechanics BS me and majorly pad out the bill, when I pretended to know bugger all. I know little enough but with having mates with petrol running through their veins and growing up with a father who was an engineer, it means I know the general gist and know the jargon. The utter BS I've heard over the years and indeed very recently from mechanics beggars belief. Makes my blood boil.

If you find a good mechanic, treat him or her* well. They're as rare as rocking horse droppings from what I can see, beyond the usual easy servicing stuff(which most can do themselves. Shít I do. 'Nuf said).





*one of the best mechanics I've known was a woman. This is not for the benefit of PC BS either.

Ronan|Raven

Lisa from Ice road truckers would put most men to shame

Oh Lisa why did you go and have to marry?, I was willing to wait!

Lady Athame

I completely agree with you guys. Women drivers aren't terrible, I only started driving about four months ago and I'm a nervous wreck because anything I go out for a spin to practice I have cars flying past me (mostly teenage boys), who are driving very dangerously and put me on edge in the car. I don't drive slow or anything, I stick to the speed limit and get beeped at by these maniacs behind me because I'm not doing 100mp/h down a 50mp/h road! No wonder I'm so nervous

watna

bluewolf wrote: »

I do have to note that it's always been male drivers in their terribly important cars tailing me and overtaking me all the time, just because I'm in a micra. I go at the speed limit, take off fast, don't drive remotely dangerously, so no, it's just idiots being big macho men. Because it's not cool being "stuck" behind a micra. :rolleyes:

Other than that I don't really notice a difference, maybe I will in time!

Man - I miss my micra. It's sitting in a garage in Dublin all lonely and un-used. We bought the cheapest car we could find when we got to NZ which is a mitsibushi people carrier thing that guzzles petrol and is a bitch to park. I made myself learn to parallel park it. I'm pretty short and can't see over the back of it but by god, I made myself learn to park it. It also looks like I'm about to start popping out babies soon just to fill up the seats!

I miss my micra that could turn on a sixpence, cost me €30 a month in petrol and took me all over the country Even though people drive at you like you're not all there because you have a micra - they are still awesome!

d'Oracle

My missus parallel parks better than I do.
Which blows that one out of the water.

Someone said something about Women behind the wheel of bug SUVs.
Its a big generalisation but I find some common ground.

I am scared to death of the well made up perfectly haired soccer mom types behind the wheel of SUV's. But not all of them. Only the ones (and there are quite a few) who drive around with a look of abject terror on their faces. (visible despite the 50%er shades, although strangely not when a phone is to their ear....) These ladies usually drive like death made machine, I have had some close calls.

That said though, Im not sure they are more scary than the besuited wanker type. The decklander in the Toureg or Hilux. Went Lifestyle cos Rangerovers are for people who live in cities, loike. They drive these badly engineered deathtraps like fiestas and cause potential fatalities to all responsible road users. Tailgate, ensuring that there is no hope of seeing any indicators or break lights. (and why would they, they dont use the feckers anyway)

I guess what Im getting at is that being a **** driver is a noble affliction. It sees no gender, just the opportunity presented by the woeful over saturation of cars and the ease of getting permission to use one.
It strikes all race, creed and gender. A bad driver is a bad driver regardless.

Novella

I really don't think there is a difference between men and women when it comes to driving. I don't believe in the "men are better at parking" thing either. Driving is like any other skill you learn in your lifetime, it just takes practice. You will meet a lot of idiotic drivers on the road and it is just as likely that it will be a man as a woman.

d'Oracle

Novella wrote: »

You will meet a lot of idiotic drivers on the road and it is just as likely that it will be a man as a woman.

I don't buy it.
Men and women are different and predictably they will drive badly in different ways.

coffee_cake

watna wrote: »

I miss my micra that could turn on a sixpence, cost me €30 a month in petrol and took me all over the country

Check, check, and check! It's awesome, and I can flip it around in the tightest corners when parking/getting out, much to the amusement of anyone in the car with me

Even though people drive at you like you're not all there because you have a micra - they are still awesome!

Yeah, I don't fancy upgrading mine to something else for a LOOOONG time

Dudess

Faith wrote: »

That being said, I think men are better than women in certain areas, especially parking. Men generally have better spatial awareness than women anyway, which gives them a huge advantage when parking. I'm a fairly rubbish parker, and my boyfriend blows me away with the skill he has when it comes to parking. It's flawless.

But you're only talking about one guy and one girl. I think I remember you saying your boyfriend is a few years older than you - thus, more practice. Parallel-parking isn't the easiest manoeuvre there is, but I have a good grasp of it - reason being, practice. The parking outside where I worked for four years was parallel. I found it hard at the start, but now it's no bother to me because I had no choice but to perfect it.
I've heard the spatial awareness thing in relation to men though - anyone have any links to good studies on that?

fonpokno

I'm with you watna. I love my little 97 micra. Both my older sisters have owned her at some point and now she's been passed onto me. Been into the family for about 6/7 years and given us trouble once.

With parking, my OH lives in Dublin City Centre so his road is on street parking. I tend to misjudge the size of parking spaces and think they're alot smaller than they actually are when I'm driving past at 50kph. No spatial awareness. I think everything is smaller than it actually is. Other than misjudging size, I've become an expert at parallel parking since he moved into town!


Everyone should own a micra, they fly along and they're just awesome.

valery

Just gone through the thread, great to read so many opinions re. that old chestnut. Men and their spacial awareness makes em better parkers and thats fair enough, but , the insurance companies always quote us cheaper rates ....they have no men/women axe to grind as they are in the business for the money only ......wake up and smell the coffee guys, they insure us girlies cheaper cos we are a SAFER bet. off to buy some makeup with the money i saved on my cheap insurrrrrrrrance. teehee.

yerayeah

Women are safer, men are "better" as in better awareness of where the car is on the road and parking etc. imo.

But in my experience whenever someone's doing something stupid on the road (other than driving like a boy racer which is nearly always boys), it is always a woman or an OAP...

Stheno

Novella wrote: »

I really don't think there is a difference between men and women when it comes to driving. I don't believe in the "men are better at parking" thing either. Driving is like any other skill you learn in your lifetime, it just takes practice. You will meet a lot of idiotic drivers on the road and it is just as likely that it will be a man as a woman.

d'Oracle wrote: »

I don't buy it.
Men and women are different and predictably they will drive badly in different ways.

Actually if you start off from the viewpoint that it's been proven that women and men naviagate entirely differently, then that has to affect how they drive, those who navigate based on landmarks e.g. are potentially more likely to have rear enders due to suddenly breaking to turn/navigate when the landmark appears (this is assuming a lack of sat nav )

Also if you take into account that there are still a fair few women who are full time homemakers, they probably drive often with kids in the car and are more likely to drive more carefully as a result.

Big generalisations I know, but still factors that probably lead to the actuaries in insurance companies rating risk as they do.

Not that many women are high milage drivers compared to men imo.

Were driving patterns identical between women and men the stats would be more interesting, I know my insurance is loaded due to my mileage each year, and the fact that I use my car for work.

The Sweeper

If you want a men/women driver generalisation here it is - when women drive unsafely, it's because they're not paying due attention. When men drive unsafely, it's because they're driving as though they're the only car with a right to be on the road.

Wibbs

valery wrote: »

Just gone through the thread, great to read so many opinions re. that old chestnut. Men and their spacial awareness makes em better parkers and thats fair enough, but , the insurance companies always quote us cheaper rates ....they have no men/women axe to grind as they are in the business for the money only ......wake up and smell the coffee guys, they insure us girlies cheaper cos we are a SAFER bet. off to buy some makeup with the money i saved on my cheap insurrrrrrrrance. teehee.

Not quite and regardless of gender difference if any in driving skill. As you say the insurance companies are only concerned with profit and draw up their rates accordingly, but that does not mean women are always safer than men. That's confusing safety/skill with whether you are likely to make a claim and/or how big that claim is.

Men drive many more miles on higher speed roads. Men tend to drive more expensive cars requiring more expensive repairs. More women stay on their families insurance than men while younger, so their mistakes don't show in the stats as much. I can think of three women who have written cars off, but were on their mother or fathers insurance at the time. Women tend to drive slower, which makes them safer as any accidents they have will be less serious. Women are more likely to carry children in the car which again makes them more aware in general(though some suggest kids can be a distraction). They do have more small claims than men, fender benders and the like and they're twice as likely to rearend someone and be rearended than men.

The insurance companies also load men simply because they can. It's not just obvious economics based on reality. Example; One married couple. The man puts his wife on the insurance and his premium stays the same or he gets a lower premium. The woman who puts her husband on her insurance will get her premium loaded, most of the time higher than in the first example. Same couple, same risk(indeed the risk should be lesser if he's the occasional named driver), different premium.

Another example; Ive been driving 20+ years and I have never made a claim. Never had a speeding ticket and the closest I ever came to an accident was at 17 I reversed into a tree(the tree was fine, still is and didn't claim for whiplash of the branches). I will put good money that my premiums are higher on the same car than a woman of 28 with only two years driving experience. Actually I know they would be, I checked this out 4 years ago. I had a proven risk spread over time. She didn't, yet she got a lower quote to the tune of 100's lower. In the 4 years since then, she's written a car off. I haven't. I'd put money if I repeated the same calls today looking for quotes she would still get lower or the same insurance.

I know of two situations that show the safety/insurance thing to be a bigger crock than is admitted. One woman I know put her boyfriend on her insurance. He had an accident and the next year her insurance was loaded. He got his own insurance and it wasn't. Ditto with a mate of mine whose wife rammed into another car writing both of them off. His insurance got loaded the next year. She went off and got her own policy and it was average for someone her age and driving experience. Both the man and the woman in those examples were bloody good drivers with no claims since they started driving. Both had to build up their no claims bonuses from scratch. Yes it's hard for the insurance companies in situations like that to track who did what, but they should. Stats aren't everything, especially when there are profits to be made.

Mr. Presentable

valery wrote: »

, the insurance companies always quote us cheaper rates ....they have no men/women axe to grind as they are in the business for the money only ......wake up and smell the coffee guys, they insure us girlies cheaper cos we are a SAFER bet. off to buy some makeup with the money i saved on my cheap insurrrrrrrrance. teehee.

Because women are involved in fewer serious accidents.

But wait. Women in the USA, for example (and I'd imagine similar worldwide), only account for 30% of miles driven, but contribute 37% of fatal accidents.

So, women are safer drivers, but only because they stay off the road. Per mile they are not safer. But insurance is per year, not per mile.

valery

Wibbs wrote: »

Not quite and regardless of gender difference if any in driving skill. As you say the insurance companies are only concerned with profit and draw up their rates accordingly, but that does not mean women are always safer than men. That's confusing safety/skill with whether you are likely to make a claim and/or how big that claim is.

Men drive many more miles on higher speed roads. Men tend to drive more expensive cars requiring more expensive repairs. More women stay on their families insurance than men while younger, so their mistakes don't show in the stats as much. I can think of three women who have written cars off, but were on their mother or fathers insurance at the time. Women tend to drive slower, which makes them safer as any accidents they have will be less serious. Women are more likely to carry children in the car which again makes them more aware in general(though some suggest kids can be a distraction). They do have more small claims than men, fender benders and the like and they're twice as likely to rearend someone and be rearended than men.

The insurance companies also load men simply because they can. It's not just obvious economics based on reality. Example; One married couple. The man puts his wife on the insurance and his premium stays the same or he gets a lower premium. The woman who puts her husband on her insurance will get her premium loaded, most of the time higher than in the first example. Same couple, same risk(indeed the risk should be lesser if he's the occasional named driver), different premium.

Another example; Ive been driving 20+ years and I have never made a claim. Never had a speeding ticket and the closest I ever came to an accident was at 17 I reversed into a tree(the tree was fine, still is and didn't claim for whiplash of the branches). I will put good money that my premiums are higher on the same car than a woman of 28 with only two years driving experience. Actually I know they would be, I checked this out 4 years ago. I had a proven risk spread over time. She didn't, yet she got a lower quote to the tune of 100's lower. In the 4 years since then, she's written a car off. I haven't. I'd put money if I repeated the same calls today looking for quotes she would still get lower or the same insurance.

I know of two situations that show the safety/insurance thing to be a bigger crock than is admitted. One woman I know put her boyfriend on her insurance. He had an accident and the next year her insurance was loaded. He got his own insurance and it wasn't. Ditto with a mate of mine whose wife rammed into another car writing both of them off. His insurance got loaded the next year. She went off and got her own policy and it was average for someone her age and driving experience. Both the man and the woman in those examples were bloody good drivers with no claims since they started driving. Both had to build up their no claims bonuses from scratch. Yes it's hard for the insurance companies in situations like that to track who did what, but they should. Stats aren't everything, especially when there are profits to be made.

Jeepers Wibbs, you do yer homework dontja???, thanks for the lesson.
eh, and do i stay well away from those big bad roads where all you guys have yer fun???sorry about that , just had to modman. Anyway my spacial awareness is out there somewhere looking for mr. spock but ive been ok so far /no accidents apart from the half dozen "tips" in the square car park
but thats what that place is for innit ???? safe driving to ya.

I'lllearnye

nipplenuts wrote: »

So, women are safer drivers, but only because they stay off the road.

Sorry but I have a mental picture of women sitting at home in pretend cars going 'beep, beep, I'm a real driver me!' :pac:

valery

I'lllearnye wrote: »

Sorry but I have a mental picture of women sitting at home in pretend cars going 'beep, beep, I'm a real driver me!' :pac:

lol.......:D

Mr. Presentable

I'lllearnye wrote: »

Sorry but I have a mental picture of women sitting at home in pretend cars going 'beep, beep, I'm a real driver me!' :pac:

Well if they have the phone, a latte, hairbrush, makeup and a bunch of soft toys with them in the Micra, maybe they are at home

valery

nipplenuts wrote: »

Well if they have the phone, a latte, hairbrush, makeup and a bunch of soft toys with them in the Micra, maybe they are at home

your makin all the right noises if your lookin for war me laddie buck :mad:

wheres me boxin gloves..........the pink uns.

cuckoo

valery wrote: »

your makin all the right noises if your lookin for war me laddie buck :mad:

wheres me boxin gloves..........the pink uns.

Micra owner Cuckoo reporting for battle!

I'll unhook the fluffy dice from my rear view mirror, handled with the right spatial awareness they can be a deadly weapon.

Mr. Presentable

valery wrote: »

wheres me boxin gloves..........the pink uns.

There! Hanging from your rear view mirror

The_Conductor

I was in Portugal in February, with my better half. We were in a town called Alcobaca- and waiting at a pedestrian crossing for traffic to allow us to cross (they have the same rules of the road as here- but an even more lax approach to the rules of the road- than even here). A guy in his 30s, with 3 kids, stopped his Volvo to allow us to cross (you'd be surprised at how long it took us to find a considerate motorist willing to stop at a pedestrian crossing!!). My wife started to cross, but I pulled her back- as I could see an Audi A8 coming up the street, not slowing down. I thought the A8 would undertake the Volvo without slowing down- something I've seen happen at pedestrian crossings both here and elsewhere- and am dying for a Garda to stop someone over).

Instead of doing anything of the sort- it ploughed into the back of the Volvo at high speed. I can still picture the children flying forwards in their seats, and the look of horror on the guys face, as the Audi impacted into the back. The Volvo was pushed almost 100m down the road by the force of the impact.

2 of the children required hospitalisation and we agreed to be police witnesses when the emergency units turned up on the scene. I've training in first aid- and felt slightly guilty as the Volvo had stopped to allow us to cross- but there was no way I could warn the driver in time- despite seeing it happen 2-3 seconds before the actual impact.

Both my wife and I expected to see a boy racer in the Audi A8- which was totalled- as was the Volvo- nope, it was a young girl of less than 20. Her Dad turned up in a 7 series BMW to collect her from the scene within 10 minutes.......

Boy racers are appalling- and despite the dangers of tarring a group with the same brush- unfortunately, it tends to be a relevant sticker. Also though- of late they are numbering a large number of girl racers in their ranks (as is evidenced in the motoring forum here on Boards), simply because of the comparative ease they have in getting insurance versus their male counterparts at that age.

In the past 18 years that I've been driving- I've been rear ended on the M50 (2k of damage), driven into while parked at UCD (write-off Volkswagon Golf), knocked off my bicycle in Ranelagh (broken arm), reversed into on 5 different occasions in numerous car parks (panel beating on all occasions and since I started driving a Volvo-replacement of Side Impact Protection bars), driven into headon on the Strawberry beds (4k of damage), broken windscreen from something that flew off an improperly tied down roof rack (EUR600 of damage)- shall I go on? All were women drivers. While driving as a paramedic/first aider I've been first responder on 2 occasions where there were fatalities- both caused by male drivers- 3 fatalities on one occasion.

I hold an advanced driving licence, have no penalty points (unlike my mother :eek:) and have been summonsed as both a prosecution and defense witness in several court cases- most recently on behalf of Dublin Bus.

Insurance companies will readily tell you that women are culpabale in almost 7 times more claims than men- but the claims men are involved in are far more serious, and far more likely to result in injuries requiring hospitalisation or even worse, fatalities.

Women can be appalling drivers- as can men. Its unfair to assume that the souped up Honda Civic with an oversized exhaust pipe belongs to a guy- though it probably does. Similarly- that 3 Series BMW tailgating you in the inner lane on the M50 may not necessarily be a woman checking her makeup- but it also may be.

People are fallible- they make mistakes, we're all human. Guys pay far more for insurance because they are more likely to cause serious injury. Women get much lower priced insurance- but with much higher excesses- because they are far more likely to be involved in minor accidents. Thats life.

valery

cuckoo wrote: »

Micra owner Cuckoo reporting for battle!

I'll unhook the fluffy dice from my rear view mirror, handled with the right spatial awareness they can be a deadly weapon.

hahaha, love it:D

valery

nipplenuts wrote: »

There! Hanging from your rear view mirror

classic comeback, be lol fir hours, ta.

Biro

Thread too long to read, but the only amazing thing about it is the amount of people claiming to be "good drivers"! That's the first sign of a bad driver if you ask me!
The real "good drivers" on this thread are likely to be the people who just stated their experience and passed no judgement on their own skills, not the acutal "I consider myself a good driver" claim.
Relatively speaking, not one person here is a good driver, unless Sebastien Loeb happens to have posted.

Jules

ok i think this thread has gotten a little off point and has run its course.