A poll conducted by the IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists) found that 61 per cent of females drove to and/or for work and 22 per cent of them had been offered driver training by their employer.
Whereas, of the 60% of men who drove to/for and from work, no less than 94 per cent of them had been offered driver training as an employee benefit.
A clear case of female discrimination however you read this.
Here are a few personal observations as well as ones based on anecdotal evidence from FOXY Lady Drivers Club‘s experience…
- Yes equality is supposed to apply in the workplace but scratch the surface and it rarely does…
- Yes female friendly employers do exist but they might be offering driver training as an optional ‘employee benefit’ which women may perceive to be for men, and prefer a more enjoyable benefit…
- Statistically young male drivers are a far greater accident risk on the roads whereas most women are more cautious, drive slower, have lesser accidents and so on… so why not target the men first?
- When money is tight, why pay to train the better gender driver?
- Women are unlikely to volunteer for training if given a choice – just have a look at the critical male faces in the IAM photo to see why this might be
- Few employers have picked up on their Corporate Homicide and Corporate Manslaughter Act responsibilities (of which driver training and FOXY’s free car fitness checks are THE perfect combination to demonstrate an employer’s duty of care to their female employees)
The poll also found that only 47% of females feel perfectly safe on the roads but isn’t this likely to be more to do with the other drivers and who of us does feel perfectly safe on our roads anyway...
Simon Elstow, IAM Drive & Survive Head of Training makes some interesting points, reminding us that DfT 2007 stats compare 530 females involved in KSI (Killed or Seriously Injured) accidents with 1,640 men (a greater percentage of male drivers I’d have thought) and that the most accident prone times are in the morning and evening when we’re all driving to and from work.
Simon says “We know that women have fewer KSI’s but they are most vulnerable at junctions and are involved in more low speed accidents which can result in hefty costs to employers.
Both IAM and FOXY Lady Drivers Club would like to encourage more businesses to offer driver training and assessment to ALL employees, not just because it’s surely best practice but also to demonstrate their duty of care.
What I like about the IAM is their offer to provide a female friendly training programme which recognises that women have massively different needs from their male counterparts. One size does not fit all’ on this occasion and thank you for sharing this research with us IAM.
FOXY Steph
