[BlackPearl]

I have a mixed feeling about women driving. I have seen quite a lot of women who drive exceptionally well and many who are a menace on the road. A few years back my wifey would have topped the second group of ladies but she has matured a lot in the last few years and drives quite well nowadays. My dad tried to teach my mom how to drive an ambassador 20 years back. I can still remember the day when my mom lost control and hit a wall. I was in the back seat and suddenly found myself on the non existent dashboard of the amby. All these incidents have made me look at women drivers with a certain amount of respect mixed with a strange fear deep down the heart

[manaa45]

Originally Posted by RADHIKADAS

i know how i managed that. i would beg & plead my dad to teach me how to drive and let me drive him somewhere next door occasionally. while i got the car only once i was 18!
cheers:

my story also would read on similar lines. i too started coaxing my dad to teach me driving right from the time i got 17. i told him that by the time i would have learnt i would turn 18 and then get the license on a month of my becoming adult.

i haven't gone to the driving school even, my dad was my teacher and he had given my atleast 10 books to read including one which had the road signse and laws too.

he was indeed better teacher then any one from the driving school and i also learnt in my dad's maruti 800. it was normal without he helping me with the controls which the driving school cars have.

as far as your topic of women and machines is concerned, it would be very individual taste of ladies. some might be interested or some might not be, it just depends on lot of factors, one of them i can think of, is circumstances, if you are born in an nuclear family with no son then there are many things you could learn about fixing appliances, wiring, or for that matter cars too.

just my two cents.

Mansi

[condor]

RADHIKADAS : .. whats important is that they are aware of their road responsibility before driving out. its not just their own lives but several others they are responsible for while driving.

I guess you're saying that "..they be aware of their road responsibilities before driving out".

IMHO, preconceived notions or not, people like you, KimRS, Mansi, and our own Bangalore TBHP-ian Wheeliej are few & far between. Women who even dare to venture near these machines.

I cant forget a girl in our neighborhood who was so comfortable on a RD. They also had another classic - possibly a Triumph. And a 50's Fiat. But most others I have come across - would give them a little space.

Driving should be second nature - it's not something where one deliberates his/her next action before doing it. That's where women are not able to score. Not that I blame them - but will appreciate any one who can do it well.

But then, your thread starter didnt say much on what you're trying to achieve. It's quite generic.

[sujaylahiri]

Look at female racing drivers like Danica Patrick (USA), Annabel Meade (UK) and my all time favourite Vicki Butler Henderson (who co-hosts Fifth Gear on Channel Five in UK).

In North America, I'd consider male and female drivers to be at par at least when it comes to everyday city and highway driving.

One of my female friends has a pretty good history of cars - Mitsubishi Eclipse, Ford Mustang, Chrysler Crossfire.

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by RADHIKADAS

hi,
i'm doing a research on ''women & machines''.
would like share views with lady members on how women connect with tech mech machinery engines bhps ccs cars
haven't come across any yet though.
thnx
radhika

Welcome. and i also have come across very few who connect with all of the above, inspite of them being amazing drivers.

Yes this include some who participate in Indian Rally Scene, i was shocked when i had a chance to interact with them. When it came to technical issue with the car, they were clueless as the village joe who was watching the event. I think very few want to try grease monkey stuff :(

In short driving is one thing, understanding and passion for all things cars is diff ball game. As you said maybe due to the gender bias in upbringing, and hope things are slowly but steadily changing.

[snaronikar]

BTW, Radhika, the car you are driving is your own or company provided...Just for my information. I have a couple of bad experiences with Lady drivers and I do overtake them whenever I see them driving on roads fearing they will smash my car as done before.

[RPMPKDMFF]

I have seen women who drive extremely well and I have also seen them at the other end of the line... but, I have also seen men in the same dilemma, not all men drive well in much the same way as not all women drive badly. As for interest in engines and workings of a car, one of my sisters spends nearly all day tinkering in the garage and as for interest in mechanical things, my better half is an engineer... like I said earlier, not all girls detest engines and mechanical sides of stuff.

All the best for your project Radhikacheers:

[redfire]

Yes, some are good drivers. I have a good example and great relief, my wifie. She is a way better driver than me and infact a very good driver in all respect. Many of my moto-enthu friends who know her have referred the same about her. She was taught driving at the age of 15-16 by her dad, who was a Police officer. Her dad was a car lover, owned a range of them from Studebaker to Hindustans, old gen FIATs, ambys etc. She was taught in Ambys, Hindustans and FIATs. Able to do some basic things like battery checking, plugs, radiator, fan belt and tyre change in a puncture. Even now, she loves to drive big and musle cars/SUVs than the puny hatches with power steering .

But in general 80% of lady drivers are found scary. No traffic sense, low speed driving through right lane with frequent unnecessary braking, put indicators and turn at next moment without looking at mirror etc are the faults found very common.
May your initiative will help to get us more good lady drivers with some tech knowledge too. Wish you all the best.

[autopsyche]

My wife always has difficulty keeping her car on the road on all four wheels... a pic of hers at the autocross

Cheers.

[1100D]

It is very interesting that we are having this discussion at this day and age.
In my opinion there is always a difference in the way an enthusiast will drive with respect to someone who is not (but is just driving to serve his/her basic need of transportation) irrespective of Gender.

By the term "enthusiast", I actually mean, people who actually love to drive and put a lot of thought behind that act. Not to be confused, as is usually done, with speed freaks and rash drivers. The fact that an enthusiast gets by quicker is just a byproduct of being one!

Its just a coincidence that the gender distribution of enthusiasts are actually skewed heavily towards the men. So even if the percentage of Female drivers is quite small with respect to the male drivers. The chances of finding the enthusiast driver amongst them is even remote.

So, its all about the numbers rather than the characteristics of a particular gender.

[vivekiny2k]

Originally Posted by n_aditya

Wonder what gets into some people when they see women behind the wheel.

wonder whyy you don't wonder about what gets into people's head when they see anybody behind the wheels. for some reason everybody thinks roads are war zone and the only objective is to win.

will somebody appreciate somebody (read woman) for driving sensibly and handling tough situations, rather than smoking some arrogant kid?

[Sacrosanct]

I think the percentage will be higher than 80%. Adding to the list.. using the rear view mirror to see how they are looking and not adjusting them later, only makes me think if they actually use them while driving.

I have this unique ability to hear an engine and guess if the driver is a woman without looking at the vehicle. Somehow the revving tells you all about a driver and then I stay away from that vehicle. But I do agree that most women drivers are more patient then male counterparts.

[RADHIKADAS]

who calls us the weaker community
I've been as proudly announced earlier driving since times immemorial. 3 days back i left home as usual for work. Would have driven hardly 2 kms. a guy on a bike with a girl sitting behind him stopped me waving at me very aggressively to very kindly inform me about my car's punctured tyre. So i stopped and thanked him. Appeared like he would have loved to stop and help but as they say there can not be two swords in one case so he had no choice but to move on than making his girl wait while he was fixing another girl's car tyre

Anyways wondering what to do it had not been even a minute when another gentleman passed me asking me to not to stop but drive on. Lost at that reaction i thought may be he is trying to tell me that it isn't a proper place to stop. so started driving slowly. he kept driving as slowly right in front of my car. must have gone hardly 200 mtrs. he suddenly went off the road to stop at a mechanic. Then i figured out that he was trying to help me. I stopped to get the puncture fixed. The mechanic must have taken 10 minutes and all that while i had men from all walks of life passing by some stopping to give me ample company for the day!
i'm sure with the men folk usually very helpful towards women, i would not have had any trouble even if there was no mechanic
Thank You!

[autopsyche]

Radhika, pretty well put. Infact reminds me of a time a couple of years back when me and my wife (friend then) were somewhere outside agra during a rally, when her gypsy had a punctured tire. Obviously according to the rally rules i could not help her change the puncture, she and her navi had to do it herself. Now this was in some remote village in the middle of nowhere. Guess what my duty was? Keeping the entire village crowd of a hundred onlookers at bay who had surrounded us. Tough job it is.

[Chevy_lover]

Radhika, I have been trying to teach my wife how to drive bigger vehicles since two years. She can drive an M800 pretty well. But she is so scared when she gets behind the wheels of my Tavera. I took her to a ground nearby, taught her the basics once again and made her practice for months. I even asked my driver to help in teaching her as I sensed that she was scared of me.

Still she can't brake well. She freezes the second she sees a vehicle stopping in front!

We had a lucky escape one day. One pedestrian came in front of our car and again she froze instantly! She took her foot off the accelerator and just kept on going. She did not utter a single word! Maybe she was too shocked to react! My driver, who was sitting in the front seat, sensed what was happening and suddenly pulled the handbrake to stop the car!!! One more feet and we would have had hit that girl!!

Same is the case with my sister. She has license but cannot drive. She once banged her hubby's Santro on a wall! After that incident, my brother-in-law hides his car keys!!!