A new study has suggested that female drivers may find their motoring abilities are more likely to be affected when others present them with negative stereotypes.

Conducted by experts at the University of Queensland's School of Psychology, the project found telling a woman driver that males make better motorists than females made them more likely to drive unsafely, ABC Science Online reports.

Published in the Accident Analysis and Prevention journal, the study saw 168 female students split into two groups and made to undertake a driving simulation test.

One was told that the study would look at why males are better at driving than women, while the other group was simply told the test would look at the mental processes used in motoring. Almost half of those in the first group hit a pedestrian who suddenly appeared in the road.

"When people are confronted with negative stereotypes about themselves they seem to experience an additional cognitive load, which can decrease their performance on a task," commented Dr Courtney von Hippel of the University of Queensland.

Research carried out by Carnegie Mellon University last year found that male motorists have a 77 per cent higher chance of being killed in a car accident than their female counterparts, the Associated Press reports.

Find out about female-friendly motoring skills courses designed to make women better and more confident drivers.

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