Myths about Female Drivers and the Truth behind Them

By Guest Blogger Diana S.

Myths about Female Drivers and the Truth behind Them

 

 

It seems like not one day can pass without hearing a blatantly sexist joke. Women are teased on a wide range of topics, from their obsession with shoes to having to be “in the kitchen”, but all of them have one thing in common – women as the punch line. One of the most frequent jokes is about women being bad drivers, with endless videos of women struggling to park cars or driving slowly (like there is anything bad about not rushing). And I think we all know it, but let’s set the record straight once and for all: women being bad drivers is a myth. And here’s some proof:

Traffic accidents

People like to say that women cause more traffic accidents than men because they’re easily distracted, put on makeup while behind the wheel or simply are bad at driving. But if we look at the numbers: 71 percent of all fatalities on the road are caused by men. And you might say that it is because there are more male drivers overall, but actually, women have surpassed men in that department and there are more female drivers than ever. Sorry, guys, you will have to find a better excuse than just saying that an accident was caused because there was a woman behind the wheel.

Careless driving

Women have been blamed for being reckless drivers not because of any natural hand-eye health problems, but mostly due to typical female stereotypes. It’s said that women put their makeup on while driving, look at their phones more often, talk to other people and even stare at their own reflection rather than the road around them. These are all absolute lies. Men are commonly caught for drunk driving, ignoring the traffic rules, speeding and running a red light – all resulting in crashes nearly twice as often as in women. So, I think the “careless” argument could use some reconsidering.

Women drive less

This one is actually true. Male drivers make up for a little over 60% of miles driven, but that number is gradually getting even as well, since women have started being economically independent, having their own cars and simply driving more. So even when we factor in all of those things, and take into consideration the hours driven, statistically, men are still worse drivers than women. Luckily, the overall number of traffic accidents involving both male and female drivers has gone down, but perhaps we’ll see it drop even more as women start taking over the roads.

Bad reputation and bad manners

It seems like every time a female celebrity has been caught violating traffic rules, the media uses her as an example of women being bad drivers. In fact, when any woman is driving badly, she is considered a proof of the myth, but when it happens to a man, he is simply an exception. Stereotypes aside, I think we can all agree that everyone who wants to drive can find an amazing, affordable driving school and learn all they need to know in order to be a good driver. Furthermore, we are terrible towards each other on the road, so next time you see someone crawling down a highway lane, instead of laying on the horn and making them feel bad, simply overtake them and continue straight on.

It seems that we have started to move on from juvenile jokes that put down an entire gender over an absolute myth, and I look forward to the day when we can all respect each other as drivers, without guessing the other’s capabilities simply based on one’s gender. So, what can you do? If you were never the one to tell jokes like these, then call out people who do, and teach them the real truth. If we all had more confidence in each other, we would all be a lot safer while on the road.

 Tia, and TipsfromTia.com  is trying to keep you looking good and
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