Perception on Ladies driving Big Cars / SUV

[Path_Finder]

Actually it does not matter – a driver is a driver and the gender does not matter.

But there was a time few years ago – when I have someone driving in front of me fooling around not letting you pass, but does not move on either and chugging along confused; I would immediately state to my wife/co-passenger that it must be a lady driving in the front – and believe me; it used to be true 90% of the time. To repeat that was some time ago. But today most modern cars, specifically the bigger ones are much easier to drive and handle and the ladies as such are also much more confident – so I would consider that this does not exist as an issue anymore. And today I know many ladies who actually prefer the bigger vehicles – they say it is easier to drive.

Having said that there are exceptions to all of these too.

[linuxtechie]

Originally Posted by girlieonwheels

Ok, I guess a woman should pitch in and put her view here:

Actually, being a lady I prefer to select my car that’s based on my need (period).

On my usual days, for commuting from office I prefer a sedan. My rest of the drives include: going shopping to malls, or going vegetable market so all those areas are crowed and I prefer a car over a suv. The basic reason is: parking problem in our country.

But when I know I am going to be late while coming back from office, or when I have to drive during late hours my definite pick would be my Safari – reason safety. I personally feel safer when I am in an SUV than in a car.

Ok, now the next point.

Drivers are just drivers, no women and no men. Similarly, good drivers and bad drivers are just drivers again no women and men.

Agreed, it doesn't depend upon the gender but the confidence of the person, IMHO its not speed that kills, its the under/over confidence that kills.

However, in case of ladies, they have been taught by men and hence are always conscious and never come out of that "being observed" feeling. IMHO, ladies, should come out of it, but they haven't so far. Guess that counts for the low confidence.

I just recollected one pissed mid age lady driver, had full acceleration (due to the loud engine whine), but non engage clutch, I was hell scared like anything to go near her.

Originally Posted by girlieonwheels

I have seen many women drivers on the road who are too conscious and nervous, and because they are too nervous they tend to drive badly. But yes there are also cases when people drive badly because they are insensitive towards the rest of the drivers. So there is always a reason behind bad driving.

And people who are insensitive towards other drivers will sooner or later get into trouble. So no sweat!

Yes, welcome to the gang. Prey, can you share with us your age group ? (5 year diff if possible.)

~LT

[shankar.balan]

not arguing really
just saying a driver is a driver is a driver regardless of gender
yes many prefer compact cars too
and if you saw my earlier post i mentioned that in india atleast the suv revolution amongst women hasnt yet taken place to that extent except amongst the affluent families who have more than one vehicle.
cheerio

Originally Posted by Mpower

Punjab and Coorg do not make up India. Secondly pretty much everyone in Coorg drives an SUV because of the terrain (sorry dont know what the story is in Punjab). I am not arguing that there are 100s of women that are driving SUV, but the data shows that there are millions that are prefering smaller compact cars and driving them, so I'm not sure what you are arguing about.

I think you are focusing too much on my statement about physical structure (while its true, it's is just one of the reasons). The main point is that women dont associate SUV with a macho image because I guess there is no such thing as macho for women.
Agreed that latest cars have power steering etc but still a short person will find it hard to manuver a large vehicle in Indian traffic. I have data to show you that in the US, many women cannot reach and operate the brake pedal effectively in full size SUV, and that is why Ford, GM etc are offering electrically adjustable pedals.

Stereotypes dont just pop out of the air. They are formed because there is ample evidence that supports it. There are always exceptions and that is what you are focusing upon.

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by Path_Finder

Actually it does not matter – a driver is a driver and the gender does not matter.

Can you explain why there is NO woman race car drivers? Nascar? F1? WRC? I know there's a woman in the Dakars. But thats actually not a precision race.

[greenhorn]

Forget modern soft-roaders and luxobarges. I've always wondered about how well some of them handle the older , and not so easy to drive cars , like the ye olde amby, or of late the V1 indica DLE's and other cars with non power assisted steering and non co-operative gearboxes.

[MuzzledMoose]

Well female reflexes are slow mostly. Alteast in chennai, i have seen most female driven cars having more dents. No pun intended here pls

[mmmjgm]

Not gender but common sense matters a lot while driving, the bigger the car driven by women, the more the chances of a tasshan with male chauvinistic drivers on the road.

By and large in Mumbai and Pune (god - Pune 2 wheeler women drivers !) female drivers are prone to weird driving skills, such as one day a women on a three lane signal cut across from the middle lane to take a U turn while the right lane was taking a right.

I would really like to know what goes on such drivers (the example given above) minds, it was a very risky move to take to cut across and entire lane of traffic to jump into a U turn. My take on this. Women need to know that just taking that turn or jumping the signal is a sign of the other drivers on the road's mercy, not that they are doing a smart thing.

This is just a single incident I remember of late, a very vivid memory of a woman driver driving a Gypsy at Dadar in Mumbai I yet remember, this woman was at the signal to my right in the first lane, I was in the second and a scooter with a pillion between us. The road got progressively narrower ahead, this lady was doing some serious speeds and knocked down the poor scooterist with his pillion by coming into the lane.

At the next signal we both were the first to stop next to each other. I looked at her and she nonchalantly said "kya hua" I told her you knocked down the scooter at the last signal, she was least bothered. I took her number and gave it to a cop at the signal.

So then once again, each to his own experiences.

Regards

M M

[rippergeo]

Originally Posted by clevermax

Can you explain why there is NO woman race car drivers?

Danica Patrick - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

have you also wondered why all the racing car drivers are white men?
except karthikeyan, lewis hamilton and some japanese drivers, they are all white. maybe its because only the white men can drive.

[aaggoswami]

I believe it is not about perception, but that is the truth. If any female driver is experienced then its fine if she managed to drive a big car. But from what I have seen on the road, lady drivers cant properly drive a Maruti 800, forget Safari, Landcruiser or Q7 or even Innova. With no offence meant to anyone, I have noticed that female drivers fail to give way to others and cant park properly. This causes disturbance to other road users and is very irritating. This is true with male drivers also, but they manage to control the driving better. So thats why the " Perception " has come.

Its not about a very few lady drivers driving big cars. My mother used to drive Ambassador and learnt driving on Desoto. So things dont end up on just the physical effort for steering. Its more than that.

Suppose a lady driving Safari gets a puncture in one wheel. Then its very difficult to be quick and the physical effort surely counts here. Yes we do have some electro hydraulic jacks available, but what about taking the puctured wheel out and taking off the spare ? Its not that easy.

PS: The above post is just my opinion and from my experience from driving.

[MuzzledMoose]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

PS: The above post is just my opinion and from my experience from driving.

Point to ponder. Physical effort explained well here .kudos agg

Mod's Note: Do not quote these huge posts when all you wish to write is a sentence. Quote only the relevant part of the post.

For this once, all the unnecessary part of the quote has been edited out.

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by rippergeo

Danica Patrick - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

have you also wondered why all the racing car drivers are white men?
except karthikeyan, lewis hamilton and some japanese drivers, they are all white. maybe its because only the white men can drive.

At least one woman race car driver. Cool... How many male race are drivers are there?

Yes.. Thats another fact. It takes some guts (than normal) to drive an F1 or a WRC car at breakneck speeds without losing it. And the whites are somehow designed to take more risks, and they show more courage in demanding situations than asians / blacks / mongolians. We can argue on this, but it is more or less a fact. World hostory itself can show you many examples.

But I am not saying that they are superior race or anything. We too have some plus points, that they don't have.

Again, women are inferior drivers than men, and that will remain. When you say expertise in driving a car, don't just think that gracefully driving a car at 40Kmph safely by holding the steering tightly with two hands which makes about 50 degrees angle to each other, looking only forward, is the benchmark of driving expertise.

[greenhorn]

@ clevermax, you managed to make a post which transcends gender and race in offending.

maybe there arent that many women race car drivers because they dont have the "mine is bigger/better than yours" complex. In nature , its usually the males who fight to prove their superiority. Or maybe they just dont want to bother. I'm sure there are a lot of fields women excel in and menfolk dont particularly dont bother making inroads into.

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

@ "mine is bigger/better than yours" complex. .

My point is, even if women had this complex, to excel one another in anything, they won't become better drivers than men. Having desire/passion to achieve something and having the talent/capabilities to achieve that is different.

I don't want to offend someone, or bring up a gender/race discussion. Just my opinions, but I can debate on that.

[amitk26]

So many posts on this thread , Seems I have stirred a hornets nest by starting this thread and that was my intention well every one has an openion but it was encouraging to see that a majority holds similar views as mine

Originally Posted by clevermax

Yes.. Thats another fact. It takes some guts (than normal) to drive an F1 or a WRC car at breakneck speeds without losing it. And the whites are somehow designed to take more risks, and they show more courage in demanding situations than asians / blacks / mongolians. We can argue on this, but it is more or less a fact. World hostory itself can show you many examples.

@Clevermax : Various inferences can be drawn by same observations for example most race car drivers are Whites or Japanese because they have money / resources to spend on such a persuit, Poor Mongolians from Mongolia and inner Mongolia in china are genetically very near to Japaneses and excel in horse riding and archery instead of race car driving because that is what they do for sports.
People of colored ancestry both male and female (that is Asians of various hues and African , African Americans , Latinos etc ) in United States of America and western Europe make excellent taxi drivers instead of race car drivers due to economical reasons.

[rippergeo]

Originally Posted by clevermax

Yes.. Thats another fact. It takes some guts (than normal) to drive an F1 or a WRC car at breakneck speeds without losing it. And the whites are somehow designed to take more risks, and they show more courage in demanding situations than asians / blacks / mongolians. We can argue on this, but it is more or less a fact. World hostory itself can show you many examples.

I didnt expect you to come back with that answer. what can I say? i'm floored.

Originally Posted by clevermax

But I am not saying that they are superior race or anything. We too have some plus points, that they don't have.

so what are you saying?
overall points scale, we score the same, but they score more points in guts and courage and honour and asians score better at information technology and blacks score better in athletics?

I think, it would help us all if we stopped classifying people based on colour caste,gender.