The answer has differed in the various studies that have been carried out; some say better, others worse. It is of course also a question how you measure "better" or "worse" For a Contract Hire Company like us, women drivers are better in that they are more cautious and therefore have fewer serious accidents and collect less parking and speeding fines than men.
Psychologists, who carried out a study into men and women's driving skills at Queen Mary University London, came down on the side of men drivers. They said that not only women but also gay men didn't do at all well when driving in a strange environment. They concluded that women's navigational skills were inferior to that of men. This in itself doesn't mean that they are worse drivers, because they probably drive slower when lost and speed seems to be a factor in most serious accidents.
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.
Many women claim that men are more dangerous on the road because they are more aggressive and have never grown up, something that most men will happily admit to, making them more prone to get involved in races and to react when challenged. Women in general, view driving differently from men; simply as a means to getting to where they are going. Some men appear to feel they are in some form of ancient chariot race when on the road. This inevitably involves some poor decisions made in the heat of the moment; many men find it difficult to back down when challenged by what they see as the aggressive driving of another motorist.
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.
Making a comparison between men and women drivers is not easy. Certainly there are insurers that prefer women drivers; saying that the majority of very serious accidents that result in serious injury or death involve male drivers, as do the majority of speeding and drink driving convictions.
Figures, when looked at in isolation can be misleading and the case put forward by insurance companies, that women are a better risk, is no exception. They may well be a better risk for insurance companies but figures produced by the Department of Transport provide an insight into why that might be the case; women only drive on average1/4 of the number of miles per annum however 1/3 of accidents where there is serous injury or death involve women drivers. Certainly it is evident that women do not drive as many miles as men; when driving on a motorway, one only has to look around to see how few drivers are women. To complicate matters women could then argue, that the reason is that they drive less on motorways and more on A and B roads, which are not as safe as motorways. In any event it does seem to make women more risky per mile driven but then as a Contract Hire company we have always tended to look at it as perhaps the insurance companies do; that women drivers write off less of our cars.
Many men are often frustrated by the way women drive; men feel that women "dither" when driving. Women do appear to drive in a more uncertain fashion, which they would probably describe as cautious and would say that men are impatient and always trying to get past them. According to the Department of Transport, women have more vehicles drive into the rear of their cars, than do men. What we would have really liked to have known, which wasn't revealed in the report, is how many of those who drove into the back of them were men. The report also said that women are more likely to have an accident during the day, perhaps because they drive more during the day and they are particularly at risk between the hours of 8 and 10 am.
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. - 16955
Psychologists, who carried out a study into men and women's driving skills at Queen Mary University London, came down on the side of men drivers. They said that not only women but also gay men didn't do at all well when driving in a strange environment. They concluded that women's navigational skills were inferior to that of men. This in itself doesn't mean that they are worse drivers, because they probably drive slower when lost and speed seems to be a factor in most serious accidents.
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.
Many women claim that men are more dangerous on the road because they are more aggressive and have never grown up, something that most men will happily admit to, making them more prone to get involved in races and to react when challenged. Women in general, view driving differently from men; simply as a means to getting to where they are going. Some men appear to feel they are in some form of ancient chariot race when on the road. This inevitably involves some poor decisions made in the heat of the moment; many men find it difficult to back down when challenged by what they see as the aggressive driving of another motorist.
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.
Making a comparison between men and women drivers is not easy. Certainly there are insurers that prefer women drivers; saying that the majority of very serious accidents that result in serious injury or death involve male drivers, as do the majority of speeding and drink driving convictions.
Figures, when looked at in isolation can be misleading and the case put forward by insurance companies, that women are a better risk, is no exception. They may well be a better risk for insurance companies but figures produced by the Department of Transport provide an insight into why that might be the case; women only drive on average1/4 of the number of miles per annum however 1/3 of accidents where there is serous injury or death involve women drivers. Certainly it is evident that women do not drive as many miles as men; when driving on a motorway, one only has to look around to see how few drivers are women. To complicate matters women could then argue, that the reason is that they drive less on motorways and more on A and B roads, which are not as safe as motorways. In any event it does seem to make women more risky per mile driven but then as a Contract Hire company we have always tended to look at it as perhaps the insurance companies do; that women drivers write off less of our cars.
Many men are often frustrated by the way women drive; men feel that women "dither" when driving. Women do appear to drive in a more uncertain fashion, which they would probably describe as cautious and would say that men are impatient and always trying to get past them. According to the Department of Transport, women have more vehicles drive into the rear of their cars, than do men. What we would have really liked to have known, which wasn't revealed in the report, is how many of those who drove into the back of them were men. The report also said that women are more likely to have an accident during the day, perhaps because they drive more during the day and they are particularly at risk between the hours of 8 and 10 am.
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. - 16955
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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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