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Post by admin on Sept 17, 2007 13:26:56 GMT 1
If you look at the data, women have more accidents but they are lower cost (driving into bollards, dented wings, etc.) than those accidents caused by men (major crashes involving personal injury payouts). This is why women's insurance premiums are lower.
I think part of the blame lies in our cultural machismo around driving. Women are told by society through hints and social conditioning that they can't drive wagons or vans, can't tow trailers or caravans, can't do long drives or difficult drives or even silly things like driving on motorways (I don't know any men who are afraid to drive on motorways but I know I was before I met Martin). It's only when women have positive enforcement (thank you Martin) that we can begin to smash our own self-inforced stereotypes, which is why a few months ago I found myself driving a huge van through the middle of London and not panicking even a little bit.
Marie - if you want to borrow Martin for a couple of motivational driving lessons I can see if he can pop along. He really is brilliant at encouraging and explaining what to do.
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Post by ian on Sept 17, 2007 13:38:17 GMT 1
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Post by admin on Sept 17, 2007 13:49:18 GMT 1
*OFFICE OF NATIONAL STATISTICS: 83% of all speeding convictions and 85% of all careless driving convictions over the last five years were male drivers.
Ian - you can brag all you want about how great male drivers are, and us women will quietly get on with it knowing that we are paying around 30% less for our insurance premiums. ;D
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Post by merrybel on Sept 17, 2007 16:23:42 GMT 1
I can drive ENORMOUS vans - had to do it when doing the Chelsea Flower Show, through London, and have never had a problem on the motorway. Have also successfully driven towing a caravan for several miles and reversed parked it. I have never had confidence problems behind the wheel.
I always drive in the left lane unless overtaking and have seen equal amounts of women and men hogging the middle lane. Mainly elderly men, coz the ones under forty are too busy tailgating people in the fast lane or bombing along at over 100. (Not that all men over forty are elderly!!! Sorry.)
I think we could go round and round with this one, each accusing the other and being stereotyped. So I shall agree, grudgingly, with Ian (shock horror) and say that everyone is individual. There are some male drivers who are O.K at driving and there are some women who are bloody brilliant!!
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Post by gwenifer on Sept 17, 2007 17:24:55 GMT 1
I had to drive a 71/2 tonner in an emergency, with L plates from a gig. Admitted this was about 20 years ago when I was learning to drive but ever after that I was invited to drive when we got off motorways and into town centres. Really built my confidence when the traffic would disappear when I was driving!! Amazing how all those male drivers suddenly found other routes!!! I had many compliments on my driving of trucks and vans.
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Post by ian on Sept 17, 2007 19:16:50 GMT 1
*OFFICE OF NATIONAL STATISTICS: 83% of all speeding convictions and 85% of all careless driving convictions over the last five years were male drivers. Oh come on now, play fair, where on earth did you dig this rubbish up from the womens institute?  And this is the fact that really p###es me off  Merrybel, so what you drove a little van around for a bit (there is NO such thing as an enormous van, its a blooming van!!! That should be the sort of thing that I am putting on, do you not think that they may have been getting out of your way for a reason??  And all of you big bad woman who can drive vans 7.5 tonners or whatever, when you have driven a 56 ft long articulated wagon carrying 44 tonne (by special license) for the past 15 years, without so much as a scrape, travelling 100's of miles a day then you can come back to me and say that you are a good driver, until then, talk to the hand, cos the face aint listening  ;D |
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Post by Butterfly on Sept 17, 2007 20:56:32 GMT 1
My mum is an advanced driver and has also passed her motorcycle test and hgv test, oh and also toed a horse box and trailer! She also now drives for a living now (And never had a ticket or crash)....
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Post by ian on Sept 18, 2007 6:19:33 GMT 1
See so there you go then, just goes to prove that there are some good women drivers and there are some good men drivers, it is just such a shame that there are not more of both because there are so many BAD drivers out there lately They are talking (again) about making the driving test harder, how they can have a riving test that does not include motorway driving is beyond me, I also feel that there should be further tests at set times through out life, say another test at 40 and then another one at 60, or they could even retest everyone every 10 years, just think of the jobs it would create and should make for better and more curtious drivers (in theory) |
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Post by admin on Sept 18, 2007 9:08:02 GMT 1
Very true. Driving lessons don't teach you how to drive, they teach you how to pass the test.
Rhiannon
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Post by wyrdewood on Sept 18, 2007 9:55:21 GMT 1
As an aside, what's with the Volvo/Rover drivers (men & women) who will only drive in the middle lane on the motorway? Nine times out of ten they have nothing on their left hand side for a good few miles.
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Post by warrierwitch on Sept 18, 2007 11:04:26 GMT 1
And I've been run into by a man eating a sandwich and reading an A-Z!! I think there is probably an arguement against both sexes here. No one is infallible. However, whenever I am nearly pushed off the road by someone who can't seem to understand what the white lines are for or where their indicators are, it is ALWAYS a bloke in a high powered penis extension. In my case its mostly been white vans. |
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Post by moonsmith on Sept 18, 2007 18:18:19 GMT 1
Are we really having this discussion?  Anecdotes versus statistics will never agree! |
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Post by evadarkness on Sept 18, 2007 19:42:30 GMT 1
The offer of a few trips with Martin would be greatly appreciated if we can find a time suitable and he is willing. I can use all the help I can get.
As for the whole male female thing - suggested reading:
Why Men Dont Talk and Women Cant Read Maps.
There is a test in the book you can give yourslef to see how typically male/female your thinking is. I was surpirsed by my answer!
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Post by admin on Sept 19, 2007 9:38:51 GMT 1
Hi Marie
Martin is willing. He really helped me with motorway driving, though you do have to have complete trust in him when he says "accelerate now" and you're thinking "shit shit shit shit shit I'm going to die".
bb
Rhiannon
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Post by evadarkness on Sept 19, 2007 19:00:06 GMT 1
Right will try to grab a mo tomorrow at Stonehouse if poss.
M.
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;D
