DailyDirt: Who Drives Best -- Men, Women... Or Robots?

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Thu, Feb 23rd 2012 5:00pm — Joyce Hung

If you believe in gender stereotypes, then you probably think that men are better drivers than women. However, auto insurance companies are inclined to believe that women are actually safer drivers. It's a hotly debated topic, but it's safe to say that there are lots of bad drivers -- both men and women -- on the road. That's why we need robot cars. Here are a few links to some driving-related studies.

A New York City traffic study found that male drivers were responsible for 80% of car accidents in which pedestrians were severely injured or killed. Blame it on testosterone, which increases aggression and risk-taking. [url]
A University of Michigan analysis of 6.5 million car accidents in the U.S. between 1998-2007 found that female drivers were responsible for 68.1% of all crashes. Apparently, women have trouble navigating intersections, as they were most often hit on the driver's or passenger side while trying to turn left or right. [url]
A more recent UK study showed that women are actually better at parking than men, dispelling the myth that men have better spatial awareness than women. According to the professional driving instructor who created the study, men learn and perform better during driving lessons, but it's possible that women retain what they learn better than men. [url]
Let the car park itself. Many automakers, including Ford, Toyota, and BMW, are offering self-parking systems in their vehicles now. While they can guide cars into parking spaces with minimal driver involvement, they aren't always reliable. [url]
To discover more interesting car-related content, check out what's driving around StumbleUpon. [url]

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

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Filed Under: accidents, autonomous vehicles, cars, drivers, gender stereotypes, parking, robots
Companies: bmw, ford, toyota

15 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 23 Feb 2012 @ 5:29pm

At least the robots won't spend so much time on retouching their make-up. Unless its one of those 'special' robots from Japan.
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Mike42 (profile), 23 Feb 2012 @ 5:29pm

Having spoken to people who did the studies, it turns out that more men drive than women, especially 30+ years ago. The companies who did the studies were told that their study would show that women drive better than men, so that the insurance companies could get more money.
They also use speeding tickets as a metric, which as we know is bogus. Speeding tickets have nothing to do with safety and everything to do with lining the city coffers. Also, how many men have cried their way out of a ticket?
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:Lobo Santo (profile), 23 Feb 2012 @ 5:34pm

Re: Crying games
Never tried crying my way out of a ticket... just didn't occur to me at the time.
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fb39ca4, 23 Feb 2012 @ 6:57pm

dat sexism...
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Pixelation, 23 Feb 2012 @ 7:34pm

Ummm,
"Blame it on testosterone, which increases aggression and risk-taking. "

Blame it on dumb-asses crossing without paying attention.
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Pixelation, 23 Feb 2012 @ 7:37pm

"According to the professional driving instructor who created the study, men learn and perform better during driving lessons, but it's possible that women retain what they learn better than men."

He was overheard saying to one of his female drivers..."Have sex with me and I'll forget how poorly you park".
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Suja (profile), 23 Feb 2012 @ 7:44pm

both suck, get off my road, kthx
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Anonymous Coward, 23 Feb 2012 @ 10:26pm

Re:
That makes sense, and it's incredibly depressing that such dishonesty is accepted as true at worst, and just a fact of life at best.

It makes me want to say "screw it" to trying to live right and just starting my own racket instead.
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Anonymous Coward, 24 Feb 2012 @ 3:36am

Zombies!
Sorry, old memes die hard. ;)
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Old Fool (profile), 24 Feb 2012 @ 4:34am

Men are better drivers
Your confusing 'safe driving' with 'best driving'

Driving very slowly and waiting till the roads are empty at junctions may be safe, but it's not 'better'.

How many women are in car racing? Very few, and don't say it's because it a 'man's world' - the fastest driver will win whatever sex they are.
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Chuck Norris' Enemy (deceased) (profile), 24 Feb 2012 @ 6:35am

Re: Men are better drivers
How many car crashes has Danica Patrick caused or been in? Now all the other crashes were caused by men. Looks like men are the bad drivers. (Note: this data does not include demolition derbies, I saw a woman win one of those once)
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timmaguire42 (profile), 24 Feb 2012 @ 8:30am

Re:
My old driving instructor said that women cause many more accidents then men but the typical male accident is a 3-car pile up while drag racing and the typical female accident is a fender bender from hitting a light pole while applying makeup.

Even toned down, that easily answers the superficially oxymoronic question of why insurance companies treat women as better drivers even though men cause fewer accidents.

But then, with an equally straight face, he compared Loverboy favorably to the Beatles.
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Renz Virane, Jr., 26 Feb 2012 @ 6:43am

with an equally straight face, he compared Loverboy favorably to the Beatles.
Maid Service
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Paul, 29 Feb 2012 @ 2:31am

IQ
Instead of being sex biased how about ranking accident volume against IQ? My guess is there aren't many stupid pilot in the sky but they let anyone with $10 in their pocket get behind the wheel of a car.

If you're a half wit, you are more likely to get into a dangerous situation in a car because your brain power isn't up to the task of comprehending vehicle dynamics in real time.

Robotic control of vehicle brakes/dynamics in emergency situations is fine and most definitely preferred, but.... increased driver SCREENING and TRAINING is what is required for drivers on public roads.
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Shine (profile), 3 Mar 2012 @ 12:31am

I think women may not be the best drivers but they are the safest drivers since women are more cautious that men. They also drive slower than men so accidents caused by them are not as serious as accidents caused by men. Of course, this is just my opinion. :)
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