Safe Speed Forums

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1245428/Women-drivers-pay-getting-old-insurance-rates-higher-young-men.html


I have to say from personal experience many of the most incompetent, hesitant, unobservant numpties on the road seem to be middle-aged and elderly women.

It seems Les Dawson was right after all - "The mother-in-law's been driving for fifty years. Never had an accident. Seen hundreds."

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

i've noticed a very fast growing trend, around our way, for women motorists not to indicate at all, especially on roundabouts. Now we have dozens of roundabouts around telford and it's always been common practice for a few not to indicate or indicate incorrectly but in the last six months or so, it seems to be becoming the norm if someone doesn't indicate at all, for it to be women (of all ages). I was beginning to wonder if its something they've read in womens' magazines or at the hairdressers, that you no longer have to indicate to be a safe driver (just keep below that magic number). At first I thought I was imagining it but it's becoming so bad , that virtually NO women seem to be capable of, or want to, indicate any more and considering women are supposed to be better than men at multitasking, I can't understand what the problem might be.

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

Simple.

If their multitasking brains suddenly remind them of or throw up the need to go to another destination they do not have the inconvenience of having indicated the wrong direction to start with.

As my wife is now going to beat me to death it may be some time before I post again.

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Driving fast is for a particular time and place, I can do it I just only do it occasionally because I am a gentleman.
- James May

Since I'm not willing to rush (HA!) a post that could possibly start a political movement, I'll simply state that this doesn't surprise me. I often have to go out of my way to follow my 4th Rule below because Aunt Tique or Aunt Cestor regularly relinquish the majority of their duty of care on the road to everyone else.

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The Rules for ALL ROAD USERS:
1) No one gets hurt
2) Nothing gets hit, except to protect others; see Rule#1
3) The Laws of Physics are invincible and immutable - so-called 'laws' of men are not
4) You are always immediately and ultimately responsible for your safety first, then proximately responsible for everyone's
Do not let other road users' mistakes become yours, nor yours become others
5) The rest, including laws of the land, is thoughtful observation, prescience, etiquette, decorum, and cooperation

IMEO, 'grandma' tends toward these traits when driving:

Visually - has more tunnel vision/less peripheral vision, takes longer to scan, identify, and predict other drivers - especially if someone is going faster than she expects or deems 'normal'

Kinaesthetically - is more physically averse to changes in motion (my best friend's mother can only barely tolerate any sudden changes in motion), which leads to not being able to escape situations requiring immediate and gross control input transitions (won't steer or brake hard/fast enough to follow Rules #1 & 2)

It's worth noting that this tendency can also be the catalyzing factor in creating a situation in which, while she herself is not actually in danger, any other drivers forced to protect themselves and/or her find themselves either avoiding a collision, or part of one - like Les Dawson was saying

Mentally - has more trouble tracking multiple 'missiles', especially when their vectors are wildly adjustable (not many 'grandmas' drive in NYC's rush hour traffic, almost none enjoy it, and they tend to fear taxis and law enforcement vehicles for their 'unpredictability')

My 1st girlfriend's mother was probably among the best drivers I'd ever met in my life - the only one who could not only drive a stick shift, but could rev match a 4-2 downshift with cigarette in hand while in conversation during a left hand turn against oncoming traffic. (She knew I enjoyed it, but she also quizzed me on what happened afterward, every time.)

She said she drove so to set herself apart from how typical 'retired old ladies' tended to drive.

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The Rules for ALL ROAD USERS:
1) No one gets hurt
2) Nothing gets hit, except to protect others; see Rule#1
3) The Laws of Physics are invincible and immutable - so-called 'laws' of men are not
4) You are always immediately and ultimately responsible for your safety first, then proximately responsible for everyone's
Do not let other road users' mistakes become yours, nor yours become others
5) The rest, including laws of the land, is thoughtful observation, prescience, etiquette, decorum, and cooperation

Been looking for info on this and found the following from this website here.Whilst it talks about many interesting aspects I wonder why these different and known accident probabilities are seemingly never addressed or further investigated.
Why is there no education or better engineering that can help go towards solving these differences by age / gender (developed) habits.
For example why do older women not seek more education as they approach 50 or 60 etc ? Why is it not encouraged? Are insurance companies happy to simply take the extra funds they feel they can justify - yet never encourage better education to help improve this.

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Safe Speed for Intelligent Road Safety through proper research, experience & guidance.

Several guesses educated by experience ...
Besides having a pretty good idea of who commissioned this study ...
It's much more likely that men involved in collisions with other drivers had insufficient regard for those other people, at the worst possible time. I know someone here can back up that statement statistically - how many collisions between drivers are the direct result of breaking a 'law'? Yet a collision between two or more drivers is nearly always a failure to consider others' interests. (Often, especially after the first driver breaks a 'law', the second driver needs to break another 'law' expressly to avoid the collision.Taking some of the spin out of this ...
I'm willing to bet that - except for the crashes in the dark - just before the crash, the man will realize it's about to happen, while the woman would find the crash as a surprise.

Men tend to overestimate their [stereotypical] ability to track and compare multiple vectors while hoping to escape the situation they got themselves into ( and realizing their error just before it ripens), whereas women tend to be surprised because they - partially, but critically - failed to notice something about what they were getting themselves into.

As for the crashes in the dark, any collision would be more likely to occur for reasons similar to why women are involved in more accidents at junctions - someone or something was in the dark; something wasn't noticed.Firstly, 'aggression' is itself a passive-aggressive characterization of 'sensation-seeking and risk-taking'. It's also redundant. Finally, it's indicative of an agenda against those who enjoy driving with more kinaesthetic enjoyment by those who don't.

The other indicator of an agenda, is the very fact that driver education is increasingly starved of kinaesthetic experiences, and increasingly about 'learning' by simply doing what you're told - which is more often than not, to avoid as much physical stimulus when driving as possible.No further investigation is necessary if:
a) you've come to the conclusion that the male proclivity to learn kinaesthetically is to blame
b) education is not an investment you're willing to make
c) you're happy to leave things as they are in order to profit from the status quo

If, for example, the economic landscape were adjusted so that either the insurance industry or the government would actively and directly profit from lowering the number of collisions/Ks & SIs (as opposed to merely saving money, which is not nearly as profitable), then they'd do that in a heartbeat.

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The Rules for ALL ROAD USERS:
1) No one gets hurt
2) Nothing gets hit, except to protect others; see Rule#1
3) The Laws of Physics are invincible and immutable - so-called 'laws' of men are not
4) You are always immediately and ultimately responsible for your safety first, then proximately responsible for everyone's
Do not let other road users' mistakes become yours, nor yours become others
5) The rest, including laws of the land, is thoughtful observation, prescience, etiquette, decorum, and cooperation

I've noticed this demographic is most likely to commit to something while blissfully unaware of whats around them, eg "straightlining" a 3 lane roundabout oblivious to the conflicts of the marked 3 lanes of traffic.

I dare say the old £300 paint job repair a fender bender entailed is today more likely to be a several grand/write off due to complex construction of modern cars, plus new airbags etc, and thats before the obligatory whiplash etc claims, that the cost-per-claim of smaller incidents is now closer to the 22 year old demographic who completely totals a car in a high speed smash. Look at the £11k nissan GTR shunt- http://www.gtr.co.uk/forum/127250-accid ... i-did.html

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Fear is a weapon of mass distraction

I'm glad to say that my other half has finally persuaded her elderly mother (who has had a stroke!) to sell her car and get a taxi if she wants to go to town. Instead of the sale of the car being seen as a loss of independence she "sold it" to her mother on it actually being a gain in ability to get where she might want to go.

I'm pleased with this.

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

We've got loads of roundabouts around here and although the lanes aren't marked, the number of people who stay in the left hand half of the roundabout when going straight over, (even though they start off in the left lane), can be counted on one hand and I have to say, it's usually older/middle aged women who stray. You have to very alert when turning right on Telfords' roundabouts when someone is in the left lane alongside or slighty in front of you.

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

We have roundbouts here that have CLEARLY MARKED LANES informing people where they are/should be going...and most ignore them...which leads to people who are in the correct lane being cut-up by others suddenly pulling across the lane to exit the roundabout....

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The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing

It's not always easy to do, but try to avoid being alongside another vehicle when negotiating a roundabout.

As for staying in lane, if there is nobody else nearby I take the straightest and smoothest line through roundabouts: better fuel economy, less tyre wear, and it's more comfortable.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

I actually have two women in my life who are brilliant drivers; my sister and a friend called Mary.

My sister can park her car in the garage better than her boyfriend by his own admission; inch perfect every time and quick with it. I remember Mary once shouted out of her window at a dithering lady driver “it’s women like you who give women like me a bad reputation!”.

But I think they are the exception rather than the rule.

Is it racist to say I find Asian women are amongst the worst? Too late…


Good luck with the missus toltec

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.