There have been many times in my life when driving that I get cut off by someone and the first thing that pops in my mind is that a woman is driving that other car. It’s something that I’ve grown up thinking and even joking about. Whenever I see any type of driving mishap it’s become second nature to think that it was a woman driving the car, and that a guy couldn’t possibly have messed up driving that bad.
Looking further into it however, studies have shown that guys tend to take bigger driving risks and make more mistakes than do women. More accidents are created by men than women, and they tend to violate traffic laws much more frequently than do women. There was a higher violation percentage of men breaking the following laws than there were women: reckless driving, DUI, seatbelt violations, speeding, failure to yield, stop sign violation, etc..
So, while women tend to take more flak for being terrible drivers than men, it looks like they drive safer and break less laws. It’ll be tough for me to kick the habit, but I’ll try to be less judgmental of gender the next time someone pulls out in front of me on the street.
There's a lot of stuff in the media about this, too. I remember an episode from "The Office" where Dwight made a comment about women being bad drivers (of course, there were a lot of stereotypical stuff in that episode). Anyways, I wish people could understand that driving as nothing to do with gender. There are so many other factors that contribute immensely that seem to be overlooked. I agree with you. Great post!
ReplyDeleteIt's kind of sad that this is always talked about. Women are always seen as horrible drives that can't park or go without wrecking a car. I feel like it actually has an effect on young female drives sometimes. They feel like they can just fall into that category, because they think that is what everyone expects from them.
ReplyDeleteAhhh this drives me crazy! I agree, I have a lot of female friends (and yes my family would probably include me in the mix) that are seriously such bad drivers. BUT I also know so many men that are just as bad! Yet no one ever labels them as such. I wonder why this is? Maybe the men just put up a bigger stink about it or something..
ReplyDeleteI have always hated when I offer to drive somewhere and the guy always gives me that look that just screams "No. You're a girl driver and I don't trust you to drive." I haven't ever gotten a ticket or in an accident and I know a lot of guys who have.
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome!! I am guilty of stereotyping women this way. I am going to try to get out of the habit of this completely untrue stereotype. But what is funny to me is that when a guy does something on the road that I think makes him a "bad driver," I just assume he is a tool.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this post because even though I'm a woman, I have to admit guilt to this. I like to guess the gender of the driver who makes a bad move on the road...and unfortunately, my guess is mostly female. I'll be more mindful of this bad habit!
ReplyDeleteI wanted to post a picture here with my comment but I have no idea how to do that. Anyways the picture was from the office and Dwight and Pam have note cards with different ethnicities posted on their heads and they have to guess whose theirs is. Pam is trying to describe Dwight's card to him and his card is "Asian." Pam says, "If I have to do this, based on stereotypes that are totally untrue, that I do not agree with, you would maybe not be a very good driver." And Dwight says, "Oh, man, am I a woman?" It's mostly funny because women are not an ethnicity group. Also, because it is coming from Dwight. But I get made fun of all the time for being a bad driver because I am a woman. Honestly though I am a much better driver than all the guys I know, especially when it comes to winter time and I can drive my little old bug through a blizzard and all these guys are freaking out in the parking lot when a few snowflakes start to fall. Girls do not take risks like guys do when driving. Most the time I feel safer if a girl is driving. Guys always try to show off their driving skills and a lot of the time it doesn't work out so well for them...
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, I cannot recall a single instance where I've felt nervous getting into a car with a female driver. I did, however, always feel quite unsafe getting into the car with one of male friends, because he is simply a terrible driver.
ReplyDeleteThis post is great! So many guys automatically assume my driving sucks just because I'm a girl, (and I'll admit, I'm not a big fan of speed limits, so they may be justified in being scared of my driving) but let me tell you, I've had to endure being stuck in the car with some pretty awful drivers...both male and female...it's a wonder I'm still alive today.I basically never feel safe unless it is myself behind the wheel.
ReplyDeleteThis is so odd to me as to why this stereotype still exists. Media, particularly advertisements, show that women/married women are much smarter and more responsible than men. So I don't know why there is a stigma of women being bad drivers.
ReplyDeleteIt's boggling to me that there's a stigma that women are terrible drivers. While I may admit that my own mother does hit the occasional curb, I think the males in my family take more risks while driving. There's a reason why insurance companies will discount women's rates for good grades and no tickets! Women are just as good as drivers and I think the facts show that men get pulled over more frequently for speeding or reckless driving than women.
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