By Tony Ngare
Most male drivers may not like this but it’s apparent that men are more careless than women while driving. Little wonder then that a second hand car previously owned by a woman is more attractive in the market than one driven by a man. Women on the road are more likely to commit errors due to ignorance while men commit traffic offences basically due to arrogance.
A new study of drivers in New York City proves beyond a doubt what most of us suspected all along — men can’t drive safely. Male drivers kill pedestrians three times more often per mile than female drivers do. Male drivers also kill bicyclists ten times more often. Looks like incompetence is the defining characteristic of your average man behind the wheel.
Before the male chauvinists raise hue and cry claiming they are the majority on the road, a survey whether in Nairobi or New York shows that the ratio of men to women drivers is more or less the same.
What is it that compels male drivers to mow down little old ladies with grocery bags and children on bicycles? Psychologist Willem Vermuelen of the Dutch Pedestrian Association maintains: “Men tend to behave in a more hierarchical way, in which the car driver is superior to a cyclist or pedestrian.”
Convinced that the driver is a supreme being, most men drive more dangerously than women, ‘or more clumsily’.
That age-old stereotype about dangerous women drivers is shattered in a big new traffic analysis: Male drivers have a 77 per cent higher risk of dying in a car accident than women, based on miles driven.
And the author of the research says he takes it to heart when he travels — his wife takes the wheel.
Male drivers are more likely to be distracted by reading a newspaper, kissing or chasing insects while driving a car than women, the research shows. A survey of 1,350 motorists found eight per cent of men, but only five per cent of women, admitted to crashing because they were distracted while driving. Thirty per cent of men and 20 per cent of women reported near misses as a result of distractions.
Risky behaviour
Most participants admitted to risky behaviour such as adjusting the car stereo, listening to music, drinking a cold drink or eating. Some admitted to talking on a mobile phone (not hands-free) or reading a map while driving. More unusual distractions included shaving or applying make-up while behind the wheel.
Motorists clearly understand which behaviours are dangerous, but 75 per cent admit taking their eyes off the road to do something other than driving.
While virtually all people surveyed (96 per cent) acknowledged that texting while driving was the most dangerous behaviour, one in five drivers admitted to doing it. How many of us are guilty of this?
Many respondents also expressed their anger at seeing other drivers’ unsafe behaviour, yet most admitted to being distracted drivers themselves. This also happens often on Kenyan streets. A guy cuts in front of us and you chase him down the road in a serious case of road rage.
Unfortunately, getting males off the roads once and for all presents quite a logistical problem. Since men take cars for toys, they are more often on the road than women. And few women would deny the essential convenience of sending a husband or son off with a list of groceries to fetch — regardless of the number of innocent citizens he may flatten on his way to the market.
Perhaps what the male driver really needs is a vehicle that constantly emits a warning noise like the blare large trucks sound when they back up. But this solution would probably prove too clamorous. A better solution could be a flashing light, or a giant orange fluorescent sticker on front windshields that reads, ‘Caution: Male Driver Approaching’.
—tonyngare@standardmedia.co.ke
sosurce.standard.ke
