Tag Archives: Women In Gear

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Hands up every foxy lady who can change a tyre?!

I recently went to a special evening called Women in Gear held at the Kia dealership showroom in Washington, West Sussex.

More than 80 eager women and a couple of token chaps were there, keen to hear more about how to change a tyre, what to do if we’re confronted by road rage and how to defend ourselves.

I was there with my FOXY stand, promoting FOXY Lady Drivers Club (in the photo) with my bright red jumper matching our mascot Sophie’s little red sports car.

Everyone loved self-protection guru Grant Hicks who made the subject of defending yourself fun and practical. He gave us great tips about how to foil muggers or thieves in and around our cars – like what to do if someone attacks us from behind and how to disarm them in three easy moves with the aid of everyday objects.

We heard about the psychology behind road rage and how to deal with behind-the-wheel bullies from ex-Police Chief Inspector Vic Botterill, who explained useful techniques like recognising how close people can stand next to you before it becomes intimidating, and what to do when that happens.

Everyone’s thoughts and emotions form our attitudes at a given time, and our feelings can alter our perception of a situation.

We learned that aggressive and therefore potentially dangerous driving usually starts with something small like a flash of headlights or a beep, which can quickly escalate to verbal abuse. The next thing you know there’s a confrontation or worse. Vic told us if we’re being followed, never drive home but go to a friend’s house or even better, directly to the nearest police station.

This might seem common sense but when we’re in a panic situation, it’s easy to forget the obvious and default to a less safe option.

Some of us were surprised to find we were the aggressors ourselves, as we were asked what we’d do in certain situations. Of course, it wasn’t me, guv!

We were then taken to Kia’s pristine and shiny workshops where we split into groups and were shown what’s under the bonnet. There are surprisingly few parts we need to know about these days compared with older motors, but even so we should all be able to top up our oil and water, and know what the battery looks like.

All of us came away with some really useful tips and techniques, and those I spoke to were certainly glad they’d gone.

FOXY

Women in Gear run free courses from time to time across Sussex.

women drivers

West Sussex Women in Gear

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Jacquie Davis showed us how to cope with the unexpected...
Last week I attended a garage evening for women in Goring, West Sussex, organised by Birchwood Motor Group. I went with a Club member who wanted some company!

The evening split into three parts starting with a speaker about road rage followed by a session in the garage and rounded up with a talk about self defence, just in case.

The first speaker was a former Chief Police Inspector turned behaviour expert. He explained how most of us have preconceived ideas about motorists which are all too often groundless.

Anyone who drives too fast, too slow, who tailgates us or doesn’t indicate when we think they should may be immediately said to be too old, too young, male wearing a hat (!) or female… Needless to say, these perceptions can put us in a really bad mood when driving. But women shouldn’t be intimidated by the road rage they encounter. The perpetrators are just bullies (usually male in our case) and we shouldn’t let them make us feel like victims either or be tempted to inflame a situation by our body language.

If you have made a mistake say sorry, don’t smile, stay calm throughout, drive confidently at all times and carry on regardless…

The next session took us past the latest Suzuki and Skoda models into the garage area where we were then split into groups and shown by patient technicians how to change a wheel, check our tyres and top up oils and fluid levels. I overheard one lady admitting she hadn’t realised that different cars needed different oils and we were all able to ask motoring-related questions in a fairly jargon free environment.

At this stage we were all treated to a surprise supper including fresh sandwiches, pastries and hot and cold drinks.

The highlight of the evening for me was a quite remarkable lady called Jacquie Davis who then talked to us about self protection; she had been a personal bodyguard and mentioned some really hairy assignments. My initial reaction was that I didn’t want to think about having to defend myself for real but in a group of 80 females we all had a good laugh at imagining how we might. I can still see Jackie fending off her (smaller technician) ‘attacker’ as well as her novel uses for an umbrella and any innocent pen that might come in handy if someone chose to invade her personal space…

Jackie’s advice was to trust your instincts – if you think you are in danger you probably are so get ready to run or fight. You can charge your adrenaline levels by pumping (ie opening and closing) your fists several times. This does work she says although I’ve not needed it to yet… Put handbags under seats not on passenger seats; lock all doors in cities; go round not through parks at night; don’t stop the car in a dark place even if it seems to be police doing the asking – if it’s genuine they’ll understand if you drive to a lit up forecourt or the nearest police station before getting out. In a nutshell don’t take unnecessary risks and do put as much distance between him and you as possible…

All in all a great evening and all credit to Birchwood Motor Group’s staff. Most of them were male of course but I did spot a female Service Manager which is a rare and wonderful thing. The attitude of the Dealer Principal was particularly refreshing – ‘We are here to serve you’ he said and the whole team did exactly that including offering to park our cars on arrival bringing them up to the door for us when we left (with a goody bag to remind us of the night).

Well done Birchwood Motor Group for providing evenings like this for women drivers in Sussex. And to the AVF Communications team for organising the Women In Gear programme on their behalf.

FOXY

If you are looking for a female friendly garage or dealership like this one, near you, check out the FOXY Choice website. It identifies all measurable signs of quality which is oh so important because few motorists realise that UK garages don’t have to be licensed or mechanics qualified. And we’re talking about your personal safety here.