Advocacy & Safety - Male Drivers

http://www.yaleherald.com/archive/xxvii/1999.04.16/opinion/p10males.html


I think this is because men drive much faster than women, they brake much later than women, and take more chances.

And, usually much angrier for some very stupid reason.

Wow, that was a nice objective article. :rolleyes:

I'm glad we now have the real story from a female freshman at Yale.

Wow, that was a nice objective article. :rolleyes:

I guess the woman who pulled up next to me, looked me straight in the eyes and then accelerated just enough to get infront of me to right hook me was not an action of an aggressive driver, after all she smiled at me, and was not threatning my life... Sorry I don't buy the bull about males being the only bad drivers on the roads. I get cut-off, right hooked about 50/50 between men and women. So far only one person has actually hit me and that was woman that HAD been waiting at a Stop sign as I was passing through the intersection (she was on a side street). The driver left the stop sign just as I was in front of her. I know she didn't mean to hit me, from her reaction she was clearly shocked... heck I was more worried about her having a stroke from the shock of hitting me, than about my fairly minor injuries. Most drivers could use a "chill" pill before they get behind the wheel of a 3000 to 5000 Lbs projectile. Its amazing the moves both men and women will make with the cars/trucks just so they can get somewhere 10 seconds earlier.

Happy riding,
André

Like most broad brush popular studies, the details disprove the stated conclusion. The implied conclusion that all males are worse than all women. We can all come up with notable exceptions.

Here, the study was limited to the City. Hardly represents what happens elsewhere. Just out here in the sticks, I have clear groups with very different driving characteristics. The middle aged live-long rural dweller males appear to be the safest. The two dangerous categories are very young males and the middle aged cell phone SUV women who grew up in cities.

The safest, slowest, most legal drivers I've known were men who had raced cars at high speeds on tracks a whole bunch at a high level. Very careful out among the average drivers.

Suggesting gender as a criterion for regulation intensity or whatever seems silly when all we need do is enforce the laws that exist!

I have worked with auto insurance data for a long time. Men do have a statistically significant deviation from women in terms of accident frequency even after controlling for exposure. However, it is not constant across age. The groups primarily driving the difference are the very young and the very old. In the middle, there is really very little difference.

this will end well

I have worked with auto insurance data for a long time. Men do have a statistically significant deviation from women in terms of accident frequency even after controlling for exposure. However, it is not constant across age. The groups primarily driving the difference are the very young and the very old. In the middle, there is really very little difference.

Your conclusion makes sense to me and matches my personal experience, and you actually have large group statistics to support your position.

This is an old article. I was tipped off by the "New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani". Sure enough it was copywrited 1999.

I think it depends to a large degree on the types of roads, weather conditions, and factors involved that contribute to accidents happening. My understanding of this complex subject (it's not as simple as it's made out to be here) is that men are more likely to have high speed accidents, especially when the weather is good and road conditions are good, than women are. This is indicitive of the "risk taking" that men do - weather isn't causing them to crash. Women, on the other hand, are more likely to roll their vehicles, and have low speed collisions in poor weather conditions than men are. This indicates that weather and emergency conditions are what are what contribute to the accidents women tend to have.

I don't think there is really any sex superiority as far as driving goes. It's very subjective stuff.

The safest, slowest, most legal drivers I've known were men who had raced cars at high speeds on tracks a whole bunch at a high level. Very careful out among the average drivers.

That's because they get their fix for aggressive, high-speed driving elsewhere and don't need to do it on public roads. Also, they've become hyper-aware of their surroundings, and are (justifiably) wary of all the other morons driving nearby.


Suggesting gender as a criterion for regulation intensity or whatever seems silly when all we need do is enforce the laws that exist!

I'd suggest better education first, citing your example of racing drivers as an illustration of better knowledge creating safer drivers.


I don't think there is really any sex superiority as far as driving goes. It's very subjective stuff.

But parking, however... ;) From my seat here by the window, while watching someone trying to parallel park, I could place bets on their gender and be correct most of the time. I won't say who is worse because I'll probably offend somebody. :D

Timely post.....

I work on race cars for a living and think it contributes to ho many miles
I put on my bike. ie; I cannot tolerate driving on the street. When I do, its
slow lane only, right at the limit or below if no one is following me. To me,
driving a car in any majorly populated area is close to having teeth pulled :eek:

I know what you mean. Whenever I get a chance to go do an autocross (I just don't want to take my daily driver onto a track and risk rolling it), I feel relieved when I get off the street and onto the paddock & grid where everybody's watching out for each other and nobody's driving like a jackass.

I'm much more aware of my car's abilities now, too -- which doesn't mean that I drive that fast all the time like most people would expect. It means that I'm much more aware of how easily & unexpectedly it can get out of shape and go into a spin or an understeering slide.

I have a pretty good idea of how to drive really fast... but in a controlled setting. Everywhere else, with things like broken pavement or unwitting pedestrians or unleashed pets or iPod zombies or kids chasing soccer balls or illegally parked cargo trucks, is simply much too dangerous.

Women can't drive worth a damn. Men are even worse.

:D

Every driver who's slower than you is a damned moron.

Every driver who's faster is friggin' insane!

:p

Funny, and here I was just thinking yesterday on how bad some women drivers are, since the majority of my experiences of being "buzzed" by motorists has been done by young female drivers.

My standard Saturday ride is a 40-miler through Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge to Playalinda Beach, which is part of the Canaveral National Seashore and down a narrow, two-lane road with no shoulder. I can classify almost all of the drivers that pass me. They are tourists, hunters, fishermen, nudists, and surfers. It's almost always the surfers - some kid, a young man or woman - that cause me trouble. Age is what matters, not gender.

I dunno our female to male driver ratio at work is like 1/5, and we have 1male/1female with major banged up cars. The male got most of his in parking lots, the female seems to get it from not being able to drive well at the speed limit without trouble (and tangled with a box truck!). ;)

Anyway, I feel the numbers are heavily biased, being as I see a much different reality being as I practically spend half my work hours on the road. I feel it's more balanced, mainly has to do with age (though most damage at our work is in the 30 year old range...), and possible number skewing seems to be that it seems that there are more males behind the wheel than females, or hand picking of data.

However, it does seem that our new 18 year old driver does have that "I don't care, I'm speed racer" attitude about him, had a biker (motorcycle) yelling at him the other day. Told him to be careful of those guys, they're not protected in a car like others, and that he has one hell of a right to be pissed. :p

It isn't just driving.

Men are much more likely to die cycling than women. Now I think there are probably more men involved in the sport and the average male cyclist probably rides more miles than the average female cyclist. But it seems to me that the male advantage in fatalities has to have some sort of systematic bias such as ill advised behavior, taking stupid chances, risk, feeling invulnerable or something else.

It isn't just driving.

Men are much more likely to die cycling than women. Now I think there are probably more men involved in the sport and the average male cyclist probably rides more miles than the average female cyclist. But it seems to me that the male advantage in fatalities has to have some sort of systematic bias such as ill advised behavior, taking stupid chances, risk, feeling invulnerable or something else.
And would that "something else" be located just south of the "male equator?"

:D

It isn't just driving.

Men are much more likely to die cycling than women. Now I think there are probably more men involved in the sport and the average male cyclist probably rides more miles than the average female cyclist..

You're right, in as much as any statistic that involves the total relative *count* rather than *rate* of something is completely useless. I also expect more brown eyed cyclists die than blue eyed cyclists do.

Like most broad brush popular studies, the details disprove the stated conclusion. The implied conclusion that all males are worse than all women. We can all come up with notable exceptions.

Here, the study was limited to the City. Hardly represents what happens elsewhere. Just out here in the sticks, I have clear groups with very different driving characteristics. The middle aged live-long rural dweller males appear to be the safest. The two dangerous categories are very young males and the middle aged cell phone SUV women who grew up in cities.

The safest, slowest, most legal drivers I've known were men who had raced cars at high speeds on tracks a whole bunch at a high level. Very careful out among the average drivers.

Suggesting gender as a criterion for regulation intensity or whatever seems silly when all we need do is enforce the laws that exist!


Your first statement is incorrect. This is an article about a study. The details of the study support the stated conclusions of the study. When you say that the "implied conclusion (is) that all males are worse than all women", you're making a statement about the article, not the study.

I do agree that the 'article' is not objective however there is no evidence that the 'study' is biased.

And your anocdotal observations about different types of drivers prove nothing.

The safest, slowest, most legal drivers I've known were men who had raced cars at high speeds on tracks a whole bunch at a high level. Very careful out among the average drivers.

http://www.news24.com/News24/Sport/Formula_1/0,,2-9-2183_2236874,00.html

Just my personal observation, but it seems male drivers tend to nearly kill me more due to aggression and taking chances, while female drivers tend to nearly kill me more due to inattention and being unfamiliar with the laws of physics. There is much crossover, of course. This is from observation as a bicyclist, motorcyclist, and driving, which includes a job in which I drive from 35 to 100 miles in an eight-hour shift. I am not trying to say who is worse; if I am dead, I am dead. BTW, I am male.

http://www.news24.com/News24/Sport/Formula_1/0,,2-9-2183_2236874,00.html

Yeah, yeah... if there's anyone I'd trust with my own taxi, it's Schumacher. :D ;)

I'm sorry, but this is a pantload.

Women can be just as jackholish behind the wheel as men.
My ex-wife (before I married her) got busted for doing 105 in a 45.
And framed the ticket.

Women can be just as jackholish behind the wheel as men.


Oh absolutely, I knew I shouldn't have made bad karma thoughts about women drivers these last few days ;), sure enough, a young female driver couldn't wait just a couple of seconds behind me, she just had to pass me on a blind curve half way over a double yellow line, and then forces a ped, trying to cross the street, back on to the side walk a block further down the street.

I'm sorry, but this is a pantload.

Women can be just as jackholish behind the wheel as men.
My ex-wife (before I married her) got busted for doing 105 in a 45.
And framed the ticket.
In this state, I believe that's a 4th degree felony.

You know what, I think I'm going to spend my 30 minute break hanging out with my sign spinning friend and am going to count off the male/female ratio on the road. I'm very interested in real numbers.

Maybe if all us male drivers started putting on mascara and lipstick while we are driving we could be as safe as female drivers :D

You know what, I think I'm going to spend my 30 minute break hanging out with my sign spinning friend and am going to count off the male/female ratio on the road. I'm very interested in real numbers.

It'll depend a lot on the time of day, though. Back when I delivered pizzas (my shifts were any time between lunch and 1 AM), I noticed the different ages & types of drivers as the day wore on.

It'll depend a lot on the time of day, though. Back when I delivered pizzas (my shifts were any time between lunch and 1 AM), I noticed the different ages & types of drivers as the day wore on.
Yeah, he'd really have to count all day to get the data he wants.

Yeah, he'd really have to count all day to get the data he wants.

Right -- if the sample was in early afternoon, it'd be about 50% senior citizens and 40% housewives/househusbands (commercial drivers and delivery vans excepted).

It would be around the time rush hour starts. Which is generally when a lot of the traffic **** goes down anyway.

I'm mainly just curious how accurate my perception is to real numbers.