According to today's Bristol Evening Post, the Advertising Standards Authority has confirmed that it is OK for Diamond to advertise that women are safer drivers than men.
Someone had evidently complained that this was untrue.
Maybe this should be on HJ's news page? Although, of course, it's not really news at all ...
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They must be mistaken - I know a lady who drives a Porsche, the tyres are
usually half flat, she thinks the oil needs topping up when the oil pressure
light stays on, the expired MOT is renewed only to tax the car, and the car
is kept running on secondhand parts- including brakes and steeringSue wrote:
>
> According to today's Bristol Evening Post, the Advertising
> Standards Authority has confirmed that it is OK for Diamond
> to advertise that women are safer drivers than men.
>
> Someone had evidently complained that this was untrue.
>
> Maybe this should be on HJ's news page? Although, of course,
> it's not really news at all ...
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Going back to when I was dealing with these statistics and assuming not much has changed, it depends how you define "safer" and how you determine the causes.
In that women have, overall, less accidents resulting in a claim per year, it is substantially true. In that women have less accidents resulting in a claim per mile driven, it is also true but less markedly.
It is influenced by the number of miles drive, the time of day and the circumstances in which the miles are driven, the speed at which these miles are driven, the environment and roads, and the type of accident resulting in a claim which normally results from these factors.
The statistics are driven by the groups as a whole, not individual sectors of it. If you research further into more precise circumstances (e.g. number of accidents by professional people who normally drive on motorways between 8am & 9am and usually do more than 15000 miles a year), you will find there is no sex-dependent difference.
Sadly, therefore, it is down to these factors, much more than ability.
Unless you're my wife or a friend of hers; in which case the correct, scientific, humble and submissive answer is "yes, you are a much safer driver as are all women and I'm an idiot for thinking otherwise, sorry and I promise never to do it again".
M.
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I wonder if any researcher were to publicise road safety figures broken down by ethnic origin, would any newspaper be brave enough to print the results? (Unless it showed that white males were bottom of the league, of course).
I strongly suspect that "facts" like those quoted are taken out of context in order to pander to the "Right On" credentials of the researcher, who would be very brave indeed to bring the feminist lobby down on his head should his findings show the reverse. Sixteen years as a driving instructor has shown me that road safety is all down to individual attitude, and just as some women can be as responsible, skillful and as safe as some men, some more can be just as ignorant and dangerous as the rest. Sadly.
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Two words: Maureen Rees.
< ducks and runs for cover :-) >
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The problem with statistics is that they only prove what you want them to prove.
With the referance to Maureen Rees, I cannot recall seeing her hit anyone or anything, so statistically, she is a safe driver, however would you ever get in a car with her, when she was driving?
Kev
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Mark (Brazil) wrote:
>
> Going back to when I was dealing with these statistics and
> assuming not much has changed,
Kev wrote:
>
> The problem with statistics is that they only prove what you
> want them to prove.
Did I say anything about statistics, or try to prove anything?
I simply drew your attention to an item in my local paper. I'm sure the ASA has sound grounds for their ruling, and I was sure you would all want to know about it. ;-)
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> Did I say anything about statistics, or try to prove anything?
Did I say you said anything about statistics or that you had tried to prove anything ?
M.
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that wasn't meant to sound rude or abrupt, sorry.
BTW, 'scuse the ignorance but who is Maureen Rees ?
M.
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Ill put my apology in too, sorry if it seemed that I infered you were talking statistics, what I meant was that the insurance quotes are based on these statistics, thats what annoys me.
I agree that women tend to be calmer drivers, most tailgaters appear to be men and most road rage happens between men.
However, women are not free from other types of dangerous drivers, talking on phones, turning round to make sure baby in back is ok etc.
My point is that there are both men and women bad drivers, and accidents are caused by both men and women, it is just annoying that insurance companies 'could' use what ever statistics to bump up premiums, and could it purely be coincidental that there are more male drivers than female, so on probability men would be involved in more accidents.
It would also mean the insurance companies get more money if all men had to pay more than all women.
Conspiracy theory?
Kev
P.S does the NHS take money from your insurance company to pay for your treatment if you are involved in a RTA? I hear something about it, but not sure.
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When my fiancee passed her driving test earlier this year, we rang the insurance company involved with this story and asked for a quote. They priced something in the region of £600 FC for a £750 car. We also rang Direct Line and they priced £350 FC.
They may think that women are safer, but they certainly didnt price it as such. The first quote is the same as I pay for my group 17 sports car doing 25000 miles per year.
Jon
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Mark - she was a middle-aged lady who featured in a fly-on-the-wall TV documentary a while back about her numerous attempts to pass her driving test. IIRC, she eventually gave up trying to drive a manual and passed her test in an auto instead.
Heavily-edited, staged or whatever, the scene where she backed into someone's front door whilst attempting a 3-point turn in a terraced street still makes me smile.
I draw no conclusions from it though - it just sprang to mind as a classic piece of TV when I saw this thread.
Ian.
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Actually, Maureen drove exactly the same as any learner of that age - and many a lot younger. The TV company that made that series put a camera in the car and recorded about 30 hours worth of lessons, then picked out the ten minutes every week that made Maureen and her instructor look like a pair of clowns. One of the instructor associations that investigated the series found that many of the incidents shown had actually been staged, based on experiences that they had been told about.
Good television and the true story's are not always the same thing. We live in the age of spin.
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I will go further: it all depends on the point of view; I think we are really arguing about who is the BETTER driver, and if that is taken to be the slower driver, the one who really hates driving at all, the one who LIKES the anti-motoring police, etc, etc then some women win hands down; that they are an absolute sanguinary menace at child dumping/retrieving time at the bottom of the road here (I do not just drive very slowly, I stay away altogether!) - for instance - is of course taken to be beside the point.
My own good lady, on the other hand, came back from the Continent once complaining that her first edition 4-speed Carina "buzzed" on the autobahn. On interrogation she claimed it was clocking 110 but had not noted the revs - well. there you are, even the best of them.......
By the way, as some character has taken delight in "outing" me for some peculiar satisfaction, is "Tomo", "Sandy" or "Alex. L, Dick" more acceptable; bearing in mimd that the last was effectively driven off the site for opinions not welcomed by non-motorists?
Again by the way, I get possession of my Mk IV Supra next week - a last fling. Love it or, where upset, lump it!
In reverent memory of Alan Clark, I salute true motorists of all (one must write nowadays, it seems) sexes.
73 de Sandy
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The girls are thankfully (mostly) free of male agression when driving and posting, makes for a refreshing change.
Anyone can press the throttle to the floor, both in the car and on the forum.
David
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Your'e quite right about statistics proving anything you wish them to.
My own belief on women drivers is that yes they were safer drivers although not so competent. However this is perhaps more the case a few years ago when women drivers were more mature in years.
Of late I seem to see more aggressive driving from younger women on a par with younger men and the future may show different results.
However Sue you are quite right in bringing this to our attention and was done with the best of intentions I'm sure.
And to make you feel even more superior I must tell you that a friend of mine who has his own HGV school tells me that the best pupil he ever had was a young woman........ he would say that wouldn't he...
Alvin
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its nothing to do with what gender you are, its to do with how safe a driver you are.
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Listen to you all, getting your underpinnings in such a twist and holding passing water contests about this hoary old chestnut. As ever the argument has generated into the old yes you did, no I didn't match.
I am perfectly sure one can pull any sets of "facts" and any number of data out of all sorts of places to "prove" the argument about women vs men drivers from his (her) own angle of perspective.
The only assertion that makes any sense to me is a lousy driver is a lousy driver is a lousy driver. It's attitude and training, whether it's the next sales appointment or just that day of the month, counts. As we've seen with the environment argument lately, and to misquote Henry Ford "statistics are bunk".
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Listen to you all, getting your underpinnings in such a twist and holding passing water contests about this hoary old chestnut. As ever the argument has generated into the old yes you did, no I didn't match.
I am perfectly sure one can pull any sets of "facts" and any number of data out of all sorts of places to "prove" the argument about women vs men drivers from his (her) own angle of perspective.
The only assertion that makes any sense to me is a lousy driver is a lousy driver is a lousy driver. It's attitude and training, whether it's the next sales appointment or just that day of the month, counts. As we've seen with the environment argument lately, and to misquote Henry Ford "statistics are bunk".
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My wife is as good or better than me on an open road, but has a tendency to knock bumpers or mirrors on posts when parking.
However, she can be a dab hand at putting a car in a tight spot, due to her experience in traffic counting.
I suppose it's all down to horses for courses and being better at the things of which you had the most practice at.
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