Why we women really are bad drivers Men

...and men are to blame!

AT The age of 71, I am finally resigned to the fact that I will never learn to drive. All my life, I have looked up to women who can, polishing the stories of my attempts to learn into amusing anecdotes. But recently, some less finessed confessions have come my way and I now see I have been envious for no good reason.

Most women of my acquaintance may have passed their driving tests, but they are infrequent drivers beset with phobias. not for them the thrill of motoring along the Grande Corniche in an e-Type Jaguar with the wind in their hair. They are more likely to be on the school run or nervously parking a nissan Qashqai at Asda. Many of them have hung up their car keys for ever. my friends, here is the tally: Two have given up driving entirely. Three won’t drive at night. Three won’t go on motorways. Two have narrowed down their driving to a few limited routes. One needs 20 metres of empty kerb before attempting to park, and one, bless her, won’t turn right.

I only know one really competent woman driver, and she can swing a Transit van into the tightest of parking spots and has happily motored her way through India and Russia.

So what is going on? Why have so many capable women turned into such timid drivers?

Lack of confidence seems to be the recurring theme. Rebecca Ashton, head of Policy Research at the Institute of Advanced Motorists, RoadSmart, says: ‘Where a car is a shared asset, the majority of driving often falls to the man. The problem is, infrequent driving leads to lack of confidence — or at least it does in women. Driving is something men will rarely admit to being bad at or losing confidence in, while women are all too ready to accept criticism of their driving skills.’

may not admit to faults in their own driving, but they can be very critical of women drivers.

‘I used to whizz around everywhere in my little car,’ says one friend, ‘ but a horrid boyfriend kept picking at me until he got the car off me for himself. he promptly wrote it off — but by then my confidence had gone and I have not driven since.’

This lack of confidence is curious when one considers that statistically, women are better drivers than men. The road safety charity, Brake, reports men are far more likely to be killed or seriously injured on roads than women.

In Britain, men account for 74 per cent of road traffic deaths and 70 per cent of serious road traffic injuries. not surprisingly, women pay an average of £92 a year less for car insurance than men.

As a non-driver — I spent two years in my 20s trying, and failing, to pass the test, and learned my peripheral vision is almost nonexistent — I have spent many hours of my life as a passenger chatting to keep drivers from dozing off, passing sandwiches and juggling coffee. So I have had plenty of time to observe gender differences in their behaviour.

For girlfriends, I have calmed panic induced by aggressive male drivers, missed turnings and getting lost. I have even plotted a route with no right turns.

With men, I have tried to defuse rage at other road users, suggested less use of the horn and have often found myself white-knuckled and begging to go slower.

My observations are backed up by a study by Brake, which found male drivers are much more likely than women to think their safety behind the wheel is above average. Men think the speed limit is too slow, while women think it is too fast.

For those who want to get their driving skills back, there are options. Look out for driver confidence courses offered free through the AA’s charitable trust, or book yourself in for refresher lessons. The Institute of Advanced Motorists offers specialised modules on skills such as parking and motorway driving.

But to those who have given up on driving altogether, or to us ladies who never passed our tests, I say: hold your heads high.

Remember that most of your friends are probably driving in circles, weeping in car parks or ploughing up and down suburban streets with groceries and kids.

Go ahead and boast about your green credentials, and remember how much money you are saving by not owning a car — average running costs stand at £4,500 a year. And that can buy a lot of shoe leather and Uber miles.