Some recent research reminds us how scary motorways are for many learner drivers, especially women drivers.
No surprises really because motorway driving isn’t taught as part of the test and it is a completely different driving skill.
It also reminds me of the different characteristics of young men and women when it comes to road safety.
Young men who pass the driving test after taking fewer lessons than women because of their own confidence… but who are then more likely (than women) to speed and cause accidents resulting in deaths and serious injuries.
Women of all ages who take longer (than men) to pass their tests, feel less confident, drive more slowly, often have children with them and can be seriously scared by speed and motorway driving.
I seem to recall Glasgow City Council doing something about this in their area with refresher driving courses for women. Great idea.
Are there any other safety driving courses out there like that for women drivers who are either learning to drive or who want to gain confidence in motorway driving, and in good company.
I would imagine that insurance companies would be interested in a PassPlus sort of thing for older women drivers – this is the age group where we have more accidents than men (over 60s I think) but they are minor shunts in car parks, doing manouevres and when reversing…
On second thoughts perhaps these are covered by their insurance policy excess, so the insurance companies might not be bothered.
Discounts for fitting parking sensors would be a good offer to target older ladies (I have just spotted that Inchcape Ford are doing this for a very reasonable £199 fitted in their Bracknell, Farnborough, Guildford and Farnborough branches…)…
And a fun refresher course for those of us who have been driving for years… Not so we might say ‘I am an advanced motorist’ (is it just me that reads the IAM acronym of the Institute of Advanced Motorists as ‘ I am…’ and sees in her head the image of a man polishing a button badge as a sign of his driving superiority …) but simply to say ‘I have enjoyed finding out what I need to do/know to be a safer driver and to catch up with the latest rules and legislation…’ In short a driving safety training course with other women, that’s lighthearted and fun.The sort of thing the recently divorced and widowed could feel instantly at home with.
As long as it doesn’t patronise or seem age-ist in any way of course!
FOXY Steph
PS About 10 years ago I took The Caravan Club’s Practical Caravanning Course at a training centre in Croydon. We started with all the safety-related matters in a classroom then had such a laugh reversing the caravans (think Top Gear’s exploits and worse) and there were as many women drivers as men. I probably couldn’t do it straight away now (and didn’t need to then as we had a camper van!) but I wouldn’t be frightened to have a go.
