Perception on Ladies driving Big Cars / SUV

[clevermax]

Ok Ok.. I stop. No race discussion anymore from me. Now going back to the topic of the thread.

Some points related to the current topic:

1) It was shown by reasearch that women have low spatial awareness than hetrosexual men.

2) Men are good at using distal, or geometrical cues, to decide if they’re going north or south.

3) Men take car as an extension of their body while driving, while women take it as controlling a machine with a set of controls provided.

4) Men display more natural ability to drive. (Statistics from a driving school, out of 1.5 Million candidates : Women needed approximately 14 hours more tuition on an average than men to pass the driving test)

A small example from my side.. My younger brother, sister and my wife started learning driving almost at the same time, guess what, after a week's time, my brother started driving pretty good. It took another month or so, for the rest to catch up. Everyone had equal amount of time and willingness to learn driving though.

My brother automatically learned some good driving techniques, like engine braking, downshift quickly and accelerate, ability to make use of power the band nicely in any gear, swift overtaking without giving much tension to passengers inside etc. etc. The rest of the team still just drives according to whatever they are tought. My wife is catching up though.

Like someone said earlier, women have some specific fields to excel, and men too. I think driving is a field for the latter.

[greenhorn]

I think the elephant in the room is that most of the other drivers are men. most of the existing road manners and convnetons were made by guys , for guys. So it makes sense to us. Possibly not for women.
If we lived in a world where women were the majority of drivers , then men would suddenly be called rash and unreasonable, and the few menfolk who actually drove would find it an exercise in frustration
BBC NEWS | Health | Hormones make women safer drivers
studies can go either way mate.

Personally, I too find the road manners of the majority of women drivers( and very old men, to be fair) annoying , but i want to give them the benefit of the doubt!

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

I think the elephant in the room is that most of the other drivers are men. most of the existing road manners and convnetons were made by guys , for guys. So it makes sense to us. Possibly not for women.
BBC NEWS | Health | Hormones make women safer drivers

Now that's a very good point. Women are safer drivers than men because they always drive at reasonable speeds, they don't do rash driving, they are very vigilant and careful while driving. So obviously, their accident rates are way lower than men. I agree completely with that. They don't try out new techniques themselves, take no risks and execute driving like a robot which is taught to do so.

But to me still it does not sound like better drivers. May be it is the differences in the way we perceive what is meant by the term "better driver".

Does it mean something like this,

* Ability to move around about 1 ton of metal safely without any accident

OR this..

* Ability to tame the horses under the hood, unleash their power whenever needed, ability to precisely control the machine even at the edge of losing it, and ability to cruise around with very little CPU time (brain) devoted to driving.

I think the debate will go on because the term "better driver" itself is perceived differently by different people. A better driver may not be the one who follows all the rules and drive slowly. I can give you an article on how Senna drove a street car through the streets with one of his friends inside. His friend wrote it. ( Its a nice read, but I've to search and find it out :( )

[greenhorn]

Michael Schumacher in road accident. | F1 News | Crash.Net

A good Race car driver does not automatically translate into a better driver on the road

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

Michael Schumacher in road accident. | F1 News | Crash.Net
A good Race car driver does not automatically translate into a better driver on the road

That's exactly right. Nothing new as we have already discussed the point that men have more accident rate than women. Be it a race driver or a cabbie. Probably an accident would not have occured there if it was a just another man instead of the F1 king.

[Prowler]

I agree with the woman poster that there is no real gender difference when it comes to driving. Women are adapt in everything technical just as much as men. If Sunitha Williams can stay in the space controlling a space station what is the big deal about driving a car ?

With that said, I have read in plenty that women prefer SUV to a smaller car mostly because the tall stance in the SUV and the Sheer size gives them extra sense of safety. Most tourist cab drivers and other unsavory elements often show their prowess to a woman driving a small car. They won't dare doing that to a SUV - no matter who drives it.

[Ice]

Originally Posted by sridhga

I believe that your gender has nothing to do with your driving or the size of the car you drive, but I would like to point out in the US car insurance companies quote higher for female drivers. Just an observation.

That is absolute balderdash. Insurance companies in the US quote lower for women drivers. All studies indicate that women drivers are safer. They dont get pulled into pangas that easily, and dont have to prove their macho-ness to other road users.

US Auto Insurance:
Fact: Male drivers (esp.below 25) attract heavier premiums
Fact: Male drivers' premiums increase astronomically with every ticket, whereas the increase in premiums is not so rapid for a woman driver
Fact: Drunken driving arrests: Males outweigh females 4:1 (atleast in the state of Georgia)

[dushmish]

Long ago, I remember reading a research article which was on driving styles of men and women. The outcome were:

1. men drive with a sense of timing. You would often find them uttering, "it doesn't take so long...", "the turn was not this far".
2. Women drive with points of reference. You will often fidn them saying, "its near that transformer", "Turn at the neem tree".

And this is the reason it gave that you don't find many women flying, driving trains. No offence meant. Sailing, flying, driving a train, etc need sense of time. There are no landmarks to look for.

While driving also women tend to look at landmarks.

Thanks Hare Horn Ji, for guiding me to the right thread.

[loving_alaap]

I'll say, dont ever give a car (especially with bigger engine having faster acceleration) to ladies.

They have a universal habit of closing the eyes at the time of close encounters! which is the reason, why they have more accidents.

And above all, even if its their clear cut fault, the so called "brothers" at the site of accident will always scold us.

Due to such experiences, if i saw a lady driving a car near to my car, i almost ever time slowed down & let her go ahead.

Believe me, it the safest option you have to avoid such encounters.

[thedreamcatcher]

Well my wife certainly is an excellent driver. Though I do not have the perception that they are insafe, but I cannot help disagree when I see them driving in the wrong lane, taking an eternity to park at times, suddenly cutting across. But again these are just percptions. In Gurgaon/Delhi, the way people drive, even men, i feel like driving a truck with a huge battering ram or with an Uzi out my window.

[shuvadips]

Originally Posted by clevermax

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.

I think women folks are not rash drivers but yes they do break a lot of traffic signal as compared to men. This is not done intentionally but due to factors like tension to drive to not knowing correct traffic rules. Overall women fold are ok drivers and almost at par with men.

Most of the major accident that happen have male driver but the cuts the dents and the scratches generally happen due to the female drivers. I am talking in percentge terms not the number of accidents. But still I think it is better to let the ladies drive the lesser powered vehicles.

But if we come to 2-wheelers, women are dangerous. I generally stop or slow down my car when I see a women riding a 2-wheeler and passing me or coming towards me.

[maven]

Originally Posted by thedreamcatcher

... In Gurgaon/Delhi, the way people drive, even men, i feel like driving a truck with a huge battering ram or with an Uzi out my window.

exactly my view. i think a bazooka would give better results. i also feel like throwing molotov cocktails at three wheelers. they are simply exasperating, refuse to give side and keep chugging along at their own pace holding up the entire traffic especially on flyovers which delhi has no dearth of.

[ac 427]

I believe that driving does not come naturally to women, it is an 'activity' for them.

Though there are exceptions, but i do sincerely believe that women drivers compared to men are bad at driving.

And this observation is not a overnight observation, i have been driving for more than 8 years now. Mind you I have come across some girls who can literally take the pants off male drivers but overall they are better without driving.

Cheers,
AC

[manaa45]

I am back again on this thread, as now that I have driven an Innova from Bharuch to Surat. I was apprehensive initially but once on the wheel, it was absolute fun to drive. I agree that it was highway driving but still I dint feel any difference except that I could not see all the way till the bumper it wasnt difficult to gauge the distance.

So I would say that a confident lady driver can drive any car, big or small.

Mansi

[rockyb]

Hi all

This thread is very interesting and also sad to see we have so many MCPs among us with so many presumptions about women. I guess it will take a few generations to change. OK - here are my 2 paisas

As you all know I had a Bolero (GLX) and now have a Bolero (VLX). My wife drives it daily - home >> work and she is very comfortable with it and here are the reasons.

1. Except M800 - she finds all the modern small cars / sedans difficult to judge from driver seat. All she can see is the top of the meter console and the road far - far away. This result in her perching on the steering wheel, neck extended (in a uncomfortable angle) and always tense (as mentioned earlier on this thread)
2. Comfort - purely ergonomic region - she can reach everything - seating position, steering, pedals.
3. great 360 view - she can drive in any roads, reverse and parks its easily too
4. And let me assure you - there is no macho image attached to her driving the Bolero - but yes - her colleagues / friends think otherwise - can't change the society - can we?

And few of my observations

1. She is a normal driver both is city and highway. Not like "women drivers" as most on this thread suggest. She does not drive slow and stall other traffic. She does not cut lanes, takes time to park --- etc etc...
2. I totally agree - some women are careful or slow drivers because they can't see and are not comfortable with the whole process of driving. If car designers keep Indian women average build/height in mind - we will have many more comfortable women drivers in the road. I feel most of our "modern" cars are designed by men for men.
3. Talking about breaking traffic rules - I can bet we males are way ahead of women in this - so lets not generalise - lets talk statistics
4. Also agree - most women are not attached to their cars - and they drive like "robots" - but from my personal experince - if you give them few tips on clutch, gear ratio, right gear for right speed, when to upshift/downshit etc.. they turn out to be much better drivers - better then most "males on adrenaline rush"
5. Don't you think most of us (brother/husbands/fathers) decide which car a lady should buy. I understand there are contraints like "one family - one car" but if the lady is the primary user - than she should test drive and buy the car she is comfy in. For example - among new small cars - Santro offers a good view because of tall boy design.
6. An last but not least - changing spare wheel of Safari. OK - admit it - there are few things which males can do more easily because of physical diffference and upbringing. But its not impossible for a lady to do it and frankly how many males among us have changed their car's flat tyre - forget Safari - even on our small car. Don't we frantically call break down service or nearest "punchur" walla? Come on - stop posting comments like a typical MCP