Men ARE better drivers, says UK's chief examiner

The debate as to whether men or women are better drivers has been reignited, because the country’s chief driving examiner has controversially claimed that men are better drivers than women.

In his role as chief examiner for the British government’s Driving Standards Agency, Robin Cummins oversees 1.5 million driving tests each year – and has concluded that male drivers display 'more natural ability' than females.
"Overall it does seem to be that men can pick up the basic skills more quickly," Cummins was quoted as saying. "With young men there seems to be a lot more natural ability. Some females – though not all – take a lot more teaching".

Statistics showed that men are better at controlling and manoeuvring a car and need less tuition, Cummins said. He told the Sunday Times that current pass rates showed women needed more time and tests to pass, with the overall rate for women 40 percent compared with 46 percent for men.

Mr Cummins, who oversees the testing of 1.5 million learners each year, had based his comments on the pass-rate figures. He said: "Some females - though not all - take a lot more teaching to be able to use the controls. "It might be in the genes or a matter of observing mum and dad driving, or it might go back to playing with cars rather than dolls. I only know what we see."Male drivers need an average of 12.2 hours of driving lessons before passing their test – while women need 15.3 hours – and women were 40 percent more likely than men to fail the test when reversing or trying a three-point turn, he said.

Cummins – whose job includes maintaining the standards of the 1,586 driving examiners throughout England, Scotland and Wales – was quick to concede that “there are plenty of women who are excellent drivers and plenty of men who are terrible.”

Motoring organisations have rejected the provocative comments, arguing the statistics tell a different story. They defended women drivers, claiming age was more of an issue than sex when it came to competence and safety.

"This is the battle of the sexes that has been talked about for years," a spokeswoman for the British School of Motoring (BSM) said.
"BSM has found that there is no marked difference between the way men and women learn to drive," she said, noting that the age of the learner driver has a much bigger effect on their ability to pass a driving test."

Insurance companies distanced themselves from Mr Cummins's comments, saying males are more aggressive and accident-prone and hence often pay higher premiums. First Alternative Insurance, a Halifax and Bank of Scotland insurance company, referred to its discounted female car insurance rates as proof that the industry considers women drivers to have a better safety record than men.

The company unveiled a new women-only car insurance policy last year after a survey revealed two-thirds of male drivers showed a 'need for speed', compared to only a third of women. Many insurance companies now offer discounted car insurance for women, or female specific policies, based on their better safety record.

Peter Marsh, of the Social Issues Research Centre in Oxford, who has studied gender and driving, said the legacy of stone age man was evident in men's greater frequency of violation of traffic regulations, including speed limits and drink driving. "Levels of deviant behaviour are significantly higher in men."

But Tony Vickers, of the Association of British Drivers, said: "When you get into practice on the road, you tend to find men behave more aggressively and take greater risks, so it doesn't result in them being better drivers.
"When you get into practice on the road you tend to find men behave more aggressively and take greater risks, so it doesn’t result in them being better drivers," he said.

Vincent Yearley, of the Institute of Advanced Motorists, said more men than women took the advanced driving test, but proportionally their pass rates were equal. He said: "Statistically it's younger males aged between 17 and 25 that have more crashes."

The Advertising Standards Agency has rejected complaints that a poster claiming women were better drivers than men was untrue after an insurance company presented evidence to back the statement. It accepted women in general had fewer accidents and had made fewer claims. But a study by another insurance firm showed a women was, on average, more likely to have an accident and her claims would be higher.

I've only had one accident, where someone rammed into the back of my car at red lights... it was driven by a man.

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