Women Drivers

This post is for my ladies who have heard the following before:

• Yuh buy yuh license awa?

• Women cyah drive at all!

• Ah sure iz a woman driving that car! (I've said this myself sometimes *hides face in shame*)

I don't know who is the man that gave women a bad name in driving but dear Loooooordt, it needs to stop!

"Women drivers" is commonly used as a negative term by both men and women worldwide. We hear negative statements like the ones above so often that it becomes ingrained in us to believe that women are horrible drivers... or at least not as good as men. I remember a time when I went to pick up my husband from work and he told me that his coworkers were in awe that I reverse parked straight and in one move. Excuuuuuse me? Then they became bored with seeing me park after a while because I did it in one move every single day.

Now, if you know me and my driving personally, you would know that I am usually met with shock and awe on the road. Yuh girl can drive ok?! Don't tell my mom this but I once drifted around the corner of a turn off on the highway (yeah you read that right - I'm the stunt double for Letty in Fast & Furious... jk). No one believes me when I tell them that story but thankfully, I have Leroy as my witness. If I had to attribute my driving skills to someone though, it would be my dad. He's the safest, yet the craziest driver I know. Of course it didn't help that on my first driving lesson with him, he told me "Driving is for who has more balls, so make sure you have the most balls in every situation... Never hesitate when driving and; Be confident in your driving, even if you do shit". Looking back, I can probably write a book on inspirational quotes my dad gave me while teaching me to drive. LOL!

Anywho, back to the phenom that are women drivers!

I think we all know that men started driving first. I mean... they invented the car for crying out loud! Plus, in this present day of the 19th February 2022, there are still countries that have laws, decrees, etc. which ban women from driving (Whaat?!) Actually, Fun Fact: Saudi Arabia only recently lifted their ban on women drivers in June 2018. I remember being so thrilled about this development, especially since my Saudi girlie lamented to me once that she couldn't drive... meanwhile, I had my driver's license for 4 years at the time.

I think that because they were the first drivers, men ultimately believe that they are the better drivers BUT... there's so much evidence that states otherwise.

Let's look at the statistics, shall we?

Last year, according to our own Deputy Commissioner of Police in an interview, in 2020 "78% of road fatalities were men". If we go back in time a little further, a study done in 2016 (you can read it HERE) noted that from the year 2005 to the year 2011, of the 2,360 road fatalities, 80% of the fatalities (1,213) were men and 20% (299) were women, with the majority (32.3%) being within the age group 15-29 years old. Plus, men do tend to practice riskier driving habits (e.g. driving without a seatbelt, driving under the influence, speeding, etc.) which more often than none leads to their detriment.

That's it! Boom! Talk done!

*mic drops*

Jk jk!

Although the stats are there and are pretty darn good evidence that men are suckier drivers (jk), the sociologist in me is nagging me to point out that on average, men do drive more than females, so these stats may be a bit skewed. This can also be why women are less verse in driving causing them to be less confident in their driving skills and to fall victim to minor accidents, nicks here and small dents there - this inexperience leading them to gain the rep of being bad drivers. Sighhhh

The distinction as to whether men or women are the better drivers is still up for debate. Say what you want but in my home, although Leroy has more experience driving than me, I can confidently say that I'm the better driver - Leroy can attest to this too... and noooooo I'm not holding him ransom to say it; it's the God honest truth!

I think through our own experiences with driving or just by being on the road, we can come up with our own conclusion as to who drives better. At the end of the day, driving is an activity that has to be learned and with more experience and practice, the better you would get at it! Do what you've got to do and stay safe!

P.S. Did you know that a woman by the name of Bertha Benz was the first woman in history to drive a car over a long distance? I actually love her story. You can read some facts about her HERE.