Yes it’s that old chestnut again! We all know that men are more dangerous drivers than women ‘in general’ because insurance statistics tell us this time after time.

But all that happens when we mention this is that too many men take this as a personal affront so the debate flounders while male egos are calmed and restored.

Whereas women are more likely to say ‘you’re right dear’ and ‘let’s do what needs doing to reduce the number of avoidable and tragic deaths on our roads’. No gender game here in most female eyes I’d say.

Yet I fully understand why men might feel hard done by because in saying women are better/safer drivers and that men are more dangerous drivers we are talking about genders ‘in general’. This allows for the fact that middle aged men and women are much of a similarly safe insurance statistic, older women (over 60s) are more prone to minor bumps and accidents but majors on the worrying area that young men are the ones much more likely to cause fatalities and serious road injuries.

So why do we continue to publish the same old statistics if we don’t do something to address these gender/age differences? Often because the PC lobby seems to think that both genders/all ages should be treated the same. Much as the recent and crazy EU insurance mandate ends the era for women and low insurance rates despite our being statistically less likely to kill or maim others on the road, and in the knowledge that we have less expensive accidents in general.

Here are a few ways we might do things differently for genders.

1    A dedicated Refresher Driving Course for women aged 60+. FOXY will happily get involved here. The FOXY the brand is a female one meaning shrewd, canny and astute; spot on for doing this for women surely without upsetting men. An accreditation programme that needs refreshing every 5 years, successful participants could earn discounts from participating insurers. Any interested sponsors out there?

2    Let’s consider new drivers taking a minimum number of lessons before their test. We know that young men, who are naturally more confident drivers than women, are more confident and likely to pass their test in fewer lessons than women. Instead of this being a macho badge of honour (it certainly doesn’t make them better drivers) let’s recognise that some drivers are allowed loose on our roads too soon and do something about this.

3    Why shouldn’t young men be required to take the Pass Plus course before they get ANY insurance? The cost of this could be discounted against their insurance premium because they are now less likely to cause serious accidents than they might have done otherwise.

The sad thing is that young drivers are actively being discriminated against by insurers because few can afford to get insurance nowadays. The crazy thing is that having made motoring so elitist for the young the insurers are actively reducing the number of drivers they can insure.

Yes I hear insurers complaining that they haven’t made any money out of car insurance for ages <bless…> yet by increasing premium (to make c£250 profit on each policy I’m told?) this either discourages young drivers from driving or encourages them to drive without insurance. Which is why (allegedly) premiums needed to rocket this year.

Yes I’m in favour of black box telematics recording when and how young drivers are driving but this is adding more cost surely…

Finally I cannot for the life of me understand why UK insurers should have to listen to the EU before being able to rate gender risks to suit their portfolio and UK balance sheet. Unless it is a good foil for them to earn more premium profit from women of all ages without any compulsion to reduce the rates they charge men?

After  the latest survey confirming that men are nearly twice as likely to be involved in a collision, I see that IAM chief executive Simon Best suggests  “We need to look at the psychology of male drivers to reduce risky behaviour and over-confidence, but for both sexes accidents could be easily reduced by improving driver skills and lives could be saved.  The government is moving towards this by introducing driver training for careless driving offences but all drivers should consider training. Driving is a life-long skill that requires life-long learning.”

Yes we agree Simon but isn’t this just scratching the surface? Men and women drivers aren’t the same and we shouldn’t be treated the same. Let’s adopt training programmes that treat men and women differently and let’s get down to tackling the nitty gritty gender requirements that we know need addressing.

FOXY Steph

Women drivers who are members of FOXY Lady Drivers Club can rely on a fast and female friendly accident management service that always puts their best interests first. Whether the accident was their fault or not.

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

Pregnant women drivers are offered this motoring advice from the IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists) so they can drive safely and comfortably.

Thinking they are protecting their unborn child many motoring mums to be wear their seatbelt across the centre of their bump which is not, apparently, the right thing to do.

According to the IAM and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) motoring mums should

• Wear the lap strap below your bump, as low as possible, from hip-bone to hip-bone
• Keep the diagonal strap between your breasts, moving the strap around the side of your bump
• Adjust the fit to be as snug as comfortably possible
• You can push the seat back, as long as you adjust your mirrors accordingly and can reach the brake, accelerator and clutch. NB:You can buy pedal extenders for this purpose. Being an extra three inches away from the steering wheel makes a lot of difference in an accident.

Professor Sir Sabaratnam Arulkumaran, President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), said “Correct use of seatbelts by pregnant women is important, as incorrect use can cause harm to the fetus and fail to protect the woman in the case of an accident. Pregnant women should use three-point seatbelts above and below the bump, not over it.”

Women drivers can find out about motoring safety advice from FOXY Lady Drivers Club.

Motoring mums concerned about the competence of the garages in their area can find out more from the Good Garage Guide before singling out female friendly garages and dealerships from FOXY Choice.

FOXY Steph

Last night I attended a local NWR (National Womens Register) meeting. The topic was ‘The Perfect Weekend’ and this encouraged fantasy destinations, fancied partners and much female frivolity.

I can’t remember how but at one stage the conversation veered from Tom Hanks (on a romantic Isle of Scilly no less) to the fantastic freedom that our cars give us, especially when going out on our own at nights and to get to evening get togethers like this one.

No it wasn’t a topic introduced by me as few know what I do but yes I was interested to hear what was said…

One of the ladies explained that her partner now did all the driving because she had lost her nerve recently, completely out of the blue. She had moved house and area and simply couldn’t cope with driving on unfamiliar roads… even though this is a rural area and the roads aren’t exactly overcrowded. She wasn’t sure what to do about this.

Another woman suggested, in fairly blunt terms, that she shouldn’t delay, she had to get on with it and overcome her fears otherwise she could be stranded in the middle of nowhere (we’re talking about a mid-Sussex village here with poor rural bus connections). She explained that this had happened to her sister who lived in Scotland; she was effectively stranded after her husband had died unexpectedly after doing all the driving for years.

Of course I made a few constructive suggestions, like taking a refresher driving course with a local instructor, investigating the IAM’s Skills for Life package or starting off with a few local journeys early in the morning, with a girl friend perhaps and when traffic would be light. I also mentioned the Driving Standards Agency’s Arrive Alive Classic presentation, knowing that this is designed for groups of drivers over 50 years old. I have often thought about organising one for ladies in this area.

But I don’t think that these are exactly what were required on this occasion and I wonder if there might be more that could be done to make women more confident drivers (this is a critical gender difference) recognising some significant female life-style factors.

For example, more women than ever live alone and get divorced. There are and will continue to be more elderly women drivers as today’s baby boomers age and replace older women drivers who were less likely to drive then. Chances are we will continue to live and want to drive for longer and women will outlive their male partners. We are often distracted by children, we do much of the local caring work and, when we are older, we are known for having minor accidents, often in car parks. I think this is all to do with a lack of concentration and perhaps this is caused by having our mind on too many things at once.

So how about some refresher driving courses for women drivers who feel the need? Rather than a 1:1 driving instruction which is a little intimidating for most women, perhaps an innovative, low cost, confidence building and fun way for females to refresh their motoring knowledge, become better drivers (where possible ahem) and maintain their freedom to carry out their community caring roles as safely as possible.

Perhaps an insurance company would sponsor FOXY Lady Drivers Club to organise these across the country? We could add in our road safety information and car maintenance advice for women when it comes to running safer, greener and more reliable cars.

And maybe we’d be able to enjoy the equivalent of PassPlus insurance discounts, gifted by participating insurance providers. Just a thought.

FOXY Steph