Why do most men condemn women drivers yet they are by far the safer driver?

Answer 1

Men think cars and driving should be totally male dominated and therefore their pride is at stake when women are proven to be better drivers. I know good and bad in both...of course (before any men shout me down!)

Answer 2

Point one (already made by someone else): most men don't condemn them, they just joke about them. It's a case of 'Why is that car going so slow? - Oh, it's a woman driver'.

Point two: not all women are safer drivers. I've known dangerous and safe male and female drivers.

Point three: don't confuse slow with safe. Slow can be dangerous (as pointed out by someone else) as it means you suddenly catch up with cars on the motorway, or you expect a car to move forwards at a roundabout and it doesn't (okay, that is slightly the driver behind's fault, but similar examples can happen which are less of the driver behind's fault).

Point four: don't confuse safe with better (I know you haven't said that women are better drivers, but it is slightly implied, and other answerers have said that). My mother is quite a safe driver, as she doesn't drive fast. There is one road, however, where she gets into 5th gear at 40mph, then comes to a chicane which needs to be taken at 20-25mph. She eases off the accelerator and goes through, and keeps going out the other side at under 30mph, still in 5th gear. That's not better driving!

I think that's my rant over. I might have answered your question somewhere in there as well if I'm lucky (and you are too).

Answer 3

Because that women are safer drivers is a myth, per year yes per mile no. Women are generally very good at the mechanical parts of driving but situational awareness and basic car control let them down, particularly on ice, the statistics disguise this because whilst it is socially acceptable for a woman to miss work or appointments because it is icy, but for a man it is not.
Driving is about doing nothing for hours then reacting appropriately when something goes wrong.
Today I spotted a stone heading my way and stopped with tyres howling to see it hit the road 10 feet in front, bloody kid had chucked it, it would have landed on top of car or windscreen if had not seen it and anchored up , I dont know any women with that sort of situational awareness and they stoll insist on looking at whoever they are speaking to.
Women are actually safer using a mobile phone whilst driving than having a front seat passenger because they ldont look at the phone but look at the passenger instead of the road

Answer 4

Well, speaking as a man, who constantly takes the p*ss out of g/f's driving, usually for a laugh. Men do tend to joke about things a lot, some of which only, or mostly, men find funny, maybe women drivers is one of those things. I don't think men or women are better drivers, it varies. Men tend to lean towards being more reckless, driving more dangerously and at speeds and so on, boy racer mentality. Women tend to be safer in that respect, but a lot will tend to drive with a certain lack of awareness, differing degrees of it with different women of possible danger situations and what's going on around them. Maybe driving isn't one of those things you can multi task? I'm guessing that we probably come out even overall, men have strengths and weaknesses, as do women, and they're quite often specific to gender. So we laugh about it and make jokes, like you do to us. Except when we do it, it's called sexist, and I'll probably get thumbs down from women for the "lack of awareness" thing, but there you go. Oh and by the way, my g/f drives recklessy at high speeds with an incredible amount of aggression (for a girl!) AND with a complete lack of awareness and disregard for anything or anyone else, and is always shocked by the presence of other vehicles about the place, despite living in London...

Answer 5

I don't think you can say that women drivers are by far the safer - you probably got that impression because insurance premiums for women drivers are lower than for men drivers.

Women have more accidents than men, however their accidents tend to be at lower speeds and hence their claims are smaller. Men have less accidents but at higher speeds causing more damage and bigger claims.

Answer 6

men don't condemn them, but two men do drive slower, than the average male driver. That is not the unsafe thing though. Its the way the women walk down the street, that catches our attention. That's when we have accidents. or the pretty girl sitting along side of us, as we are driving down the road. ps....but i'm not complaining about the women.

Answer 7

Not all men condemn women drivers, and not all women drivers are safer drivers.

It all depends on the individual. Making sweeping generalisations is not especially useful.

Answer 8

The reason why women are allegidly the better drivers is due to men stupidly putting women on their insurance policies so when the woman crashes it goes down on the MANS insurance policy. Therefore apparently making the woman the better driver. Ive learnt from these things. Im never putting a woman on my insurance policy. Watch the thumbs down on this answer!!!!!

Answer 9

Where's your evidence for this claim?

Sure, men have a laugh at women drivers' expense, but where is the harm in that? Are you saying that you don't take the piss out of men for any reason?

Personally, I don't think either gender is safer, it's all down to individual drivers and their abilities.

Answer 10

I think "condemn" is a pretty harsh word! I think it's more likely to be that most men have a joke about women drivers, but it's really nothing savage! They probably know deep down that we are the better drivers, but being "better" means being "safe", which to them is "dawdling"....just let them get on with it.