It's official Irish men are better drivers than women

R.O.R

Surprised this hasn't been posted here earlier!

Linky

CONVENTION says that women are not only safer, but better, drivers than their male counterparts.




When it comes to passing the driving test however, the truth – as so often is the case– is exactly the opposite, with men significantly more likely to succeed in getting their licence.




Of the thousands of male and female drivers that have taken their test since the beginning of the year, 52% of male applicants passed with flying colours.




However, during the same period, Irish women were successful only 46% of the time, a significant downward swing of 6%.




The figures provided by the Road Safety Authority (RSA) also show wild swings in success rates, not necessarily between men and women, but according to where the person is tested.




Females for instance could be well advised to avoid three separate centres, where their chances of passing are just one in three.




The centres with the worst records at least as far as women were concerned were Carlow (68% failure rate), Finglas in Dublin (66%) and Naas in Co Kildare (66%).




To try and guarantee success, they would be far better advised sitting a test at a centre where the tables were completely turned and they had an almost 70%chance of success.




The best place for women to try and get their licence appeared from the official RSA figures to be Skibbereen in Cork (70% success rate), Buncrana in Co Donegal (69%) and Tuam in Co Galway (67%).




Men were a virtual shoo-in for passing at certain testing centres where three in four drivers succeeded in the daunting exam.




The best centres for a high success rate were Ennis in Co Clare (73%), Clifden in Co Galway (75%) and Sligo (76%).




The three places where men were most likely to fail however were Carlow (59 % fail rate), Raheny in the capital (62%) and the Dublin suburb of Rathgar (63%).




The Road Safety Authority said it was very difficult to determine patterns from the success rates and that they can be highly changeable.




They said: "We do not have a specific comment on pass rates by gender. Some centres have very low numbers of applicants in 2010 hence it is difficult to make meaningful comparisons across centres."




A number of driving instructors said there could be several reasons for the figures, which appeared to show men were by and large better at the test.




One said: "There are a number of possible explanations. Young men tend to be more confident for a start and are less likely to get rattled during the test.




"The problems really start for young male drivers when they get out on the open road when there is nobody watching them. They do not tend to be as careful then."




Massive disparities have also been recorded in different counties in Ireland with success rates doubling in some testing centres.




According to recent figures, the worst place in Ireland to do your test – whether a man or a woman – is Rathgar in Dublin, where the pass rate is just 30.6%.




At the other end of the scale, drivers doing their test at the centre in Sligo have a 67.1% chance of succeeding.




The chief executive of the RSA Noel Brett said some variation is inevitable and that passing a test in rush hour in Dublin would always be more difficult than in other more rural locations.




"If you do your test in a very busy urban setting, it will expose your faults," he said. "If you do it in a quieter setting, you may not encounter the same obstacles."

June 27, 2010

Un-doubtable Scientific proof of what we all knew anyway

Danbo!

Of course women fail their driving test more. Have you ever tried doing a 3 point turn in a kitchen? It's much harder.

Cookie_Monster

The problems really start for young male drivers when they get out on the open road when there is nobody watching them. They do not tend to be as careful then.

wouldn't be a complete article without the obligatory dig against young males though, would it?

-The centres with the worst records at least as far as women were concerned were Carlow (68% failure rate)
-The three places where men were most likely to fail however were Carlow (59 % fail rate),
-the worst place in Ireland to do your test – whether a man or a woman – is Rathgar in Dublin, where the pass rate is just 30.6%.

I don't get it, if they quote the same centre for both why don't they just say rathgar

Cuddlesworth

Because that's what they do now days. Rephrase the same three lines of information several times.

unkel

Nothing new there. Women cause more crashes than men but the value of the damage is much less on average. That's why their insurance premium is lower. Young men relatively often cause crashes that are extremely expensive (deaths, even more expensive injuries with 6 or 7 figure pay outs) that's why their premium is very high.

Cookie_Monster

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

wouldn't be a complete article without the obligatory dig against young males though, would it?

Aren't you the dude who claimed to be doing power slides on his way to work during the winter ?

I did looney things in my teens and early 20s in a car that I would class as fairly silly now to put it mildly.

Cookie_Monster

RoverJames wrote: »

Aren't you the dude who claimed to be doing power slides on his way to work during the winter ?

I didn't crash though

biko

Men passing driving test easier than women does not mean men are better drivers in general as title suggests, I think this guy is spot on:
"There are a number of possible explanations. Young men tend to be more confident for a start and are less likely to get rattled during the test.

Out of a 100 men 48 didn't pass.
Out of a 100 women 54 didn't pass.
Amazing difference? Not really.

MagicSean

biko wrote: »

Men passing driving test easier than women does not mean men are better drivers in general as title suggests, I think this guy is spot on:
"There are a number of possible explanations. Young men tend to be more confident for a start and are less likely to get rattled during the test.

Out of a 100 men 48 didn't pass.
Out of a 100 women 54 didn't pass.
Amazing difference? Not really.

But thats the thing. On the road you will encounter unexpected things all the time and if a simple test causes you to drive badly maybe you shouldn't be driving because you may not be able to cope if things get hairy.

These are the only actual figures I've ever seen in relation to road safety between the sexes. I've never seen a set of published figures to support the extorionate premiums that are charged to men.

Cookie_Monster

A more interesting read on the whole topic would be the difference in pass rates between centres; is it due to

1) on average much better drivers in certain areas (unlikely IMO)
2) wildly differing standards of testers
3) other factors: road conditions, traffic levels, numbers of tests

x in the city

it amazes me how some women have managed to get a license of any sort at all.

biko

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

A more interesting read on the whole topic would be the difference in pass rates between centres

Yeah, what's up with Carlow?

I worked in a car park years ago where we on occasions parked customers cars (depending on how full the place was, we'd have them squashed in everywhere). Most ladies would often just drive in and hand you the keys, most men would drive in and park their car, quite often very badly but out of principle they would want to park it themselves. Men seem more non chalant than women when driving I reckon and most ladies seem to be concentrating more on the road.

Eric Cartman

x in the city wrote: »

it amazes me how someMOST women have managed to get a license of any sort at all.

fixed that for you ...

this does not surprise me ,

most of my male friends all passed first time
out of all my female friends the fastest one to pass was her third time , females are more nervous drivers and it doesnt bode well in the test.

Professey Chin

RoverJames wrote: »

I worked in a car park years ago where we on occasions parked customers cars (depending on how full the place was, we'd have them squashed in everywhere). Most ladies would often just drive in and hand you the keys, most men would drive in and park their car, quite often very badly but out of principle they would want to park it themselves. Men seem more non chalant than women when driving I reckon and most ladies seem to be concentrating more on the road.

Youd think a lot of them would realise theres actually other cars on the road then

Stark

unkel wrote: »

Nothing new there. Women cause more crashes than men but the value of the damage is much less on average. That's why their insurance premium is lower. Young men relatively often cause crashes that are extremely expensive (deaths, even more expensive injuries with 6 or 7 figure pay outs) that's why their premium is very high.

I'd say it's more due to women clocking up far less miles than men (I've typically seen stats of 25%) as opposed to the "women only have little dainty accidents" theory. I remember reading the publication that the RSA "he drives, she dies" campaign was based off and it said that women account for 25% of miles driven, but 33% of fatal accidents.

RoverJames wrote:

Aren't you the dude who claimed to be doing power slides on his way to work during the winter ?

I found a large empty car park last year and practised skidding on the ice before taking the car out for a trip on the roads. Got given out stink for being "irresponsible" and "wreckless" by a few people. Clearly, I should have waited until I had a skid on public roads in the middle of traffic before figuring out how to handle one.

The problems really start for young male drivers when they get out on the open road when there is nobody watching them. They do not tend to be as careful then.

Ah the quantum driving effect. "They drive badly when not being observed".

biko

unkel wrote: »

Nothing new there. Women cause more crashes than men but the value of the damage is much less on average. That's why their insurance premium is lower. Young men relatively often cause crashes that are extremely expensive (deaths, even more expensive injuries with 6 or 7 figure pay outs) that's why their premium is very high.

ottostreet

I passed my test in Carlow! Does that make me a better driver than everyone else?

boudy

have u ever seen a woman parallel park??? i haven't...

Stark

boudy wrote: »

have u ever seen a woman parallel park??? i haven't...

I have. It goes like this: "Bump. bump. bump. Drive away" :pac:

galwaytt

Stark wrote: »

Ah the quantum driving effect. "They drive badly when not being observed".

....aka the 'If a bear goes for **** in the woods......." defence......

no1beemerfan

My sister crashed and wrote off the mother's car. My other sister crashed and wrote off her car. My girlfriend crashed and wrote off her car (twice!). My brother's girlfriend crashed and wrote off her mother's car. My friend's sister crashed and wrote off her parent's car.

I could go on....and I only know one fella who crashed and wrote off his car. :eek:

muffy

no1beemerfan wrote: »

My sister crashed and wrote off the mother's car. My other sister crashed and wrote off her car. My girlfriend crashed and wrote off her car (twice!). My brother's girlfriend crashed and wrote off her mother's car. My friend's sister crashed and wrote off her parent's car.

I could go on....and I only know one fella who crashed and wrote off his car. :eek:

And I saw at least three males this weekend driving at ridiculously dangerous speeds. I don't know any girls who've written off a vehicle. Personal anecdotes do not statistics make.

L1011

boudy wrote: »

have u ever seen a woman parallel park??? i haven't...

I know one who's ridiculously, exceptionally good at it, she was the one who taught me to parellel park when I was learnng and all.

Other than her, though...

no1beemerfan

muffy wrote: »

And I saw at least three males this weekend driving at ridiculously dangerous speeds. I don't know any girls who've written off a vehicle. Personal anecdotes do not statistics make.

They make statistics for me!!

corktina

no1beemerfan wrote: »

My sister crashed and wrote off the mother's car. My other sister crashed and wrote off her car. My girlfriend crashed and wrote off her car (twice!). My brother's girlfriend crashed and wrote off her mother's car. My friend's sister crashed and wrote off her parent's car.

I could go on....and I only know one fella who crashed and wrote off his car. :eek:

you was it?

R.O.R

MYOB wrote: »

I know one who's ridiculously, exceptionally good at it, she was the one who taught me to parellel park when I was learnng and all.

Other than her, though...

Didn't know you knew my wife

Tea 1000

RoverJames wrote: »

I worked in a car park years ago where we on occasions parked customers cars (depending on how full the place was, we'd have them squashed in everywhere). Most ladies would often just drive in and hand you the keys, most men would drive in and park their car, quite often very badly but out of principle they would want to park it themselves. Men seem more non chalant than women when driving I reckon and most ladies seem to be concentrating more on the road.

To be honest, I rarely see evidence of women concentrating on the road or on their driving. More women than men I've encountered seem somewhat removed from the act of driving. I've no doubt based on everyone I know and everyone I've encountered incidents with that men are technically better drivers, but more aggressive.
However, that's a sweeping generalisation and there are many exceptions. Both sexes can demonstrate great pieces of driving, great pieces of "holy crap, I can't believe they just did that...", and a various mix of incompetent or inconsiderate behaviour.

Eric Cartman

R.O.R wrote: »

Didn't know you knew my wife

best not ask how well

JHMEG

unkel wrote: »

Nothing new there. Women cause more crashes than men but the value of the damage is much less on average.

While I've never heard that before it wouldn't surprise me. Do you have a link to back it up?

ottostreet

I just witnessed a woman in a 07 civic not see me in the car park at Fairgreen and kept driving.

luckily i saw her not see me, and stopped. Wouldn't mind only she was going the wrong way up a one-way system (which seems to be ignored by all).

Same woman then proceeded to not stop for three women crossing the pedestrian crossing just after the exit. They had to stop halfway across to let HER pass, despite having right of way.

stunning driving, i may set up a camera in the car.

muffy

WHY is this thread descending into a female driver bashing thread?

The OP is about male drivers passing their tests before female drivers

On Topic: IMO, this is down to confidence, males are generally more confident when starting out, i think.

Giving anecdotes such as "one time I seen this woman and she was mad terrible at driving and all" does not change the fact that statistically, males cause more damage/are more dangerous when driving.
That is just fact.
Giving anecdotes based on stereotypes such as "the bad woman driver" shows an inability to engage in a coherent discussion, imho.

L1011

muffy wrote: »

Giving anecdotes such as "one time I seen this woman and she was mad terrible at driving and all" does not change the fact that statistically, males cause more damage/are more dangerous when driving.

No, but the statistics provided do.

And unconfident driving is bad driving, by the way.

muffy

MYOB wrote: »

No, but the statistics provided do.

And unconfident driving is bad driving, by the way.

Yes, statistics, the fact that males pass their tests before females? If you choose to believe that this makes males better drivers than fair enough. Potatoe, potahtoe as they say. My point was using ridiculous anecdotes that are formed due to prejudice is not forwarding the argument that males are better drivers, just that males a prejudiced about female drivers.

By the way, over confident driving is bad driving.
Obviously unconfident drivers are bad drivers, might be why they fail their tests.

Cookie_Monster

muffy wrote: »

Giving anecdotes based on stereotypes such as "the bad woman driver" shows an inability to engage in a coherent discussion, imho.

that's what she said :pac::pac::pac:


see what I did there

unkel

Stark wrote: »

I'd say it's more due to women clocking up far less miles than men (I've typically seen stats of 25%) as opposed to the "women only have little dainty accidents" theory.

Women do indeed drive far less than men. But from what I remember, they cause less accidents per driven mile. Remember when you apply for insurance, they ask your annual mileage, so the premium is clearly based on the mileage you do and women pay less for the same policy as men doing the same mileage.

JHMEG wrote: »

While I've never heard that before it wouldn't surprise me. Do you have a link to back it up?

Sorry don't have any link handy. If I have a bit of time I might do a search

Stark wrote: »

I remember reading the publication that the RSA "he drives, she dies" campaign was based off and it said that women account for 25% of miles driven, but 33% of fatal accidents.

Those figures I find hard to swallow. So per driven mile women cause double the fatal accidents? I'd like to see some figures for that if anyone has a link?

L1011

unkel wrote: »

Women do indeed drive far less than men. But from what I remember, they cause less accidents per driven mile. Remember when you apply for insurance, they ask your annual mileage, so the premium is clearly based on the mileage you do and women pay less for the same policy as men doing the same mileage.

The categories generally fall short of what anyone who drives for work does. IIRC the highest mileage cat my insurer has is "40,000km+", I put down twice that for work and about 20,000km myself...

-Corkie-

I think a lot of men are as bad. I think older ones especially. The further west you go where i live the worse they get. Im sure corktina will vouch for me on this. If you dont believe me type kanturk into you sat nav some tuesday and let me know how you get on....;)

unkel

The RSA stats are useless in this discussion about fatalities. They don't state who caused an incident, only "Drivers of Cars Involved in Fatal and Injury Collisions Classified by Age and by Sex"

The latest figures for fatalities over 2008:

age male female
15-24 34 10
25-34 13 7
35-44 12 3
45-54 4 4
55-64 0 3
over 65 12 7

total 75 34

But these figures speak for themselves really. Drivers in the 25-34 and 35-44 age groups would do a lot more miles and have many more people in their age group of drivers (15 and 16 year old drivers can't have a license / many a 24 year old doesn't even have a car / students and lowre paid can't afford a car / etc.) than drivers in the 15-24 age group

teednab-el

Theres a woman at work with a brand new 10 Renault Fluence. Everytime she tries to parellel park she has to get out of the car to see where the two parking lines are and then makes about 50 attempts to park it. :eek: Unbelievable!