A question of sex

Men are much better drivers then women. Everyone knows that. After all, every time you find yourself in the supermarket carpark, watching a small car struggle to reverse into a very large parking space, the driver turns out to be a woman. And what about that Renault Clio plodding along in the outside lane, forcing everyone to undertake? Yep, that’s always a woman, too. Let’s face it, when it comes to driving, women are simply inferior.

Now, as an opening paragraph, this may have done its job in that it’s got you reading, but there’s just one teensy problem with it: it’s rubbish. Utter b******t, from start to finish. It’s simply an enduring, and pernicious, stereotypical male view, that’s all. And that’s not us, here at Desperateseller.co.uk, coming over all politically correct – it’s a demonstrable fact. Or, rather, series of facts. But we’ll come to what we mean by that a little later. First, let’s be clear on one point about male and female drivers - there are differences in their abilities, relating to physiological variances. But this doesn’t translate to one sex being better drivers than the other.

To illustrate the point, consider visual processing skills (which allow the brain to make sense of information such as distance and objects). Obviously, the more accurate they are, the better. Now, research has shown that a higher level of testosterone increases visual processing speed, and since men have about 20 times more of it (testosterone) than women, it’s reasonable to assume that men have the edge in this respect. Research has also shown that higher testosterone levels boosts spatial awareness, which is, of course, vital when driving. Again, men score more highly here.

But there’s a downside, too: testosterone is known to increase aggression, which can lead to a higher level of risk-taking – which can result in more accidents among men. And this isn’t the only way in which men are inferior drivers to women. Take, for example, another key driving skill - concentration. This is significantly boosted by the hormone, estrogen, and the fact that women’s bodies produce much more of it than men’s could explain why studies show that women are more likely to focus on the road ahead, rather than allow themselves to be distracted. Estrogen has also been shown to have a big effect on empathy, which plays a role in driving behaviour. Women, as a result, are more likely to follow road rules, yield to other drivers and avoid risk-taking behaviour.

In short, the effect of hormones is to make men stronger than women in some key driving skills and weaker in others. You get similar results when you examine the effects of other physiological differences between the sexes, but we don’t have the space to go into them here.

So, where does all this leave us on the question of who’s the better driver? Well, it depends on how you define ‘better’. It clearly means different things to different people, but however you define it, you have to judge against the facts. So, here are a few of the facts we promised earlier. They may dispel a few myths.

Driving behaviour. A major 2016 survey on driving behaviour, commissioned by the Daily Telegraph, showed 14% of men ‘cutting dangerously into traffic’, against only 1% of women, while 27% of men were found to be ‘driving too close to the vehicle in front’ against 4% of women. Overall, women scored 23.6 points out of 30 for ‘appropriate driving’, while men only managed 19.8/30.

Parking skills. An NCP study suggested women were more skilled at parking than men. The study analysed (using CCTV) 2,500 parking instances, and found that while men were quicker at parking, women were more likely to park accurately.
Obeying the law. Men were responsible for 72% of all penalty points issued in 2017 (10.6 million), although only 54% of Britain’s 40 million drivers are male. Men hold 82% of the penalty points handed out for inappropriate mobile phone use.
Concentration. According to a study by the National Sleep Foundation, there’s a 22% likelihood that men will fall asleep while driving, but there’s only a 12% chance that women will do so.

Use of correct procedure. A 2018 study by Norwegian scientists showed that women are more likely to take care when approaching potential hazards, use their mirrors correctly and stop at red lights.

So, who are the better drivers? You decide. But after reading the facts above, it may well be that you agree with the conclusion of Privilege Insurance. “After years of debate and banter,” said a spokesperson in 2018, commenting on the fact that, in general, women have lower premiums, “it is now official: women are actually better drivers than men.”.