Best Gender for Driving

From the dawn of time, there has always been a battle between the sexes in different respects. The ability to drive is one of the most contentious facets of conflicts. For various causes, various groups and individuals hold opposing views on which sexes make the better drivers. Some agree that women make the best drivers, while others believe that men are still in a better place to be better drivers. In terms of driving, most men think they are superior to women. According to this article, women make better drivers than men.

Road protection is important for anybody who travels from one location to another in a car. The driver of such a vehicle needs to have the right personality as well as the correct attitude to enable safe travel. When the driver violates traffic rules or drives carelessly, it is likely that he or she might cause an accident (Laapotti, 197). As such, it is important to ensure that it is the right person that is behind the wheel. This point raises the question of which group between the sexes makes the better drivers. Arguments along this line tend to rely on the aspects of personality and behavior of people from the two genders. Some people believe that individuals’ behavior and habits have significant impacts on their driving while others believe otherwise.

A wide range of research in the area shows various statistics regarding the driving practice of men and women. According to Gray (485), about 80% of serious and fatal road accidents are caused by male drivers. The study also says that, compared to male drivers, female drivers are 26% less likely to cause a road accident. For instance, in the United States, women cause an average 4.4 million accidents every year while men are involved in an average of 6.1 million road accidents annually (Naumann, 358). From such statistics, most studies conclude that men are bad drivers compared to women. This perspective is often supported by men’s higher propensity to take risks, high testosterone, or higher levels of aggression. For these reasons, most researchers in this field believe that male drivers make too many mistakes while driving.

Opposing Argument

The opposition to this paper’s claim argues that men make better drivers than women. Proponents of this perspective give various reasons for their argument. One primary reason is that men are very attentive and less distracted by cell phones while driving. Women are known to spend more time than men on their cell phones. A recent survey by Nielsen reveals that women are on the phone 22 percent more than men every month. The National Highway Safety Administration shows that inattentive drivers cause approximately 6,000 road accidents (Naumann, 359). As such, attention on the road is important for safety.

Another reason for the opposing argument is that men are more experienced with cars and tend to pass the driving test faster than women. Although not worth mentioning, the automobile was invented by Karl Benz, a man. Men are likely to start driving younger ages and go for more miles. As such, from a small age, young boys get used to automobiles and tend to have a natural inclination towards using vehicles. Further, most parents often encourage young boys to enjoy vehicles than girls. For these reasons, men have a natural ability to comprehend issues related to vehicles and driving than women. This explains the reason why most men tend to pass driving tests faster than women, and subsequently become better drivers than their female counterparts.

Main Claim

My position for this argument is that women are better drivers than men. The primary reason for this argument is the cautious nature of women. Women are known to be more careful and take fewer risks than men. As such, the behavior of men, even in driving, is less cautious when compared to that of men. Studies have shown that male drivers have a higher tendency of driving while intoxicated, not wearing seat belts, driving closer to other cars, or driving at higher speeds (Chen, 964). Men are even known to take less time to park their cars and take riskier turns when driving. Such behavior of men puts then at a higher risk of causing accidents than women. For this reason, women are better drivers than men.

Another reason for the position that women are better drivers is that the men’s expertise in vehicles is only based on perception. It is just the perception that men are good with vehicles that make male drivers confident in themselves, hence, becoming more proficient (Clarke, 2007). From this point, men appear to be good drivers just because of perceptions rather than practice. Furthermore, women are also perceived to be weaker than men. This stereotype also affects their performance as drivers. As such, women are better drivers than men, but they are stereotyped on a negative live. However, over the years, women have claimed a significant place in the motor manufacturing industry and are gaining expertise in the field.

Common Ground

Both female and male are human beings with almost similar features and characteristics. Both the sexes are dual-armed and bipedal, with eyes in the same location in their sockets. Their brains and thinking capacities are almost the same with similar abilities to make sound judgments. For these reasons, both the sexes have the capability to become good drivers. All that is needed is a good personality, the right attitude, attentive skills, and compliance with traffic rules. Both men and women have the capacity to develop these characteristics. Therefore, what matters is road safety and not the driver’s gender.

Conclusion

There is a heated argument on who is better behind the wheels between a female and a male driver. Proponents of the different sides give various reasons in support of their positions. Those advocating for women prowess in the field believe that caution on the road is important while those on the side of male drivers argue that expertise in driving makes men more powerful in the area. However, no one wins the battle of the sexes between who is the better drivers because all that matters on the road is safety and not the gender of the driver.

Works Cited

Chen, Ching-Fu. “Personality, safety attitudes and risky driving behaviors—Evidence from young Taiwanese motorcyclists.” Accident Analysis & Prevention 41.5 (2009): 963-968.

Clarke, Deborah. Driving Women: Fiction and Automobile Culture in Twentieth-Century America. JHU Press, 2007.

Gray, Rebecca C., Mohammed A. Quddus, and Andrew Evans. “Injury severity analysis of accidents involving young male drivers in Great Britain.” Journal of Safety Research 39.5 (2008): 483-495.

Laapotti, Sirkku, and Esko Keskinen. “Fatal Drink-Driving Accidents of Young Adult and Middle-Aged Males—A Risky Driving Style or Risky Lifestyle?.” Traffic injury prevention 9.3 (2008): 195-200.

Naumann, Rebecca B., et al. “Incidence and total lifetime costs of motor vehicle–related fatal and nonfatal injury by road user type, United States, 2005.” Traffic injury prevention 11.4 (2010): 353-360.