Men are 6.4% more likely than women to pass their practical driving test, despite being at greater risk on the road after passing, according to the IAM.
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Men are 6.4% more likely than women to pass their practical driving test, despite being at greater risk on the road after passing, according to the IAM.
Order by Latest first | Oldest first | Highest rated | Lowest rated
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Also, new drivers need to be taught or reminded of the difference between driving around on your own and having a car full of friends in terms of how differently the vehicle responds with the added weight in terms of stopping distance and roadholding. Unfortunately some of them find out too late in the early hours of the morning, at the weekend, on a tree-lined bend on a de-restricted single c/way rural road.
Hugh Jones, Cheshire
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I agree that we need a more searching test and the best way to do this would be to have a longer test so candidates experience the full spectrum of roads rather than the variation across test centres that exists at the moment.This would ensure more instructors would cover the DSA syllabus better and it would be interesting to see if it has beneficial impact on new drivers.
Dr James Whalen, DSA ADI (car), Wolverhampton
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Perhaps if the DSA test examined some of the crucial skills required to stay alive on the roads, instead of very basic car control, we might see a reduction in the crashes had by young male drivers. The test does not test the ability to either overtake on a single carriageway road, or how to corner – failure to carry out these actions safely is the downfall of many inexperienced drivers. Things like parallel parking and reversing around corners are useful skills to have, but one rarely loses one’s life if one does not possess them. The driving test needs to be far more searching with a higher failure rate – this coupled with decent instruction might lead to better road safety for all, not just young males. Despite modifications over the years, it must be concluded that the test is not fit for purpose if those who are more successful at it, are those most likely to crash.
David, Suffolk.
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Since when has being tall been an advantage? I am over 6 feet in height and have a number of recurring problems in every car I have owned. The A frame blocks part of my view because I am sat so far back; and I have to use my left hand to operate the window opening switches because they are nearer my elbow than my hand.
Jim, Aberdeen
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being short myself (under 5ft 3) I can say that ergonomics of the cabin definitely makes a difference to me.
In my experience, the world is not designed for short people.
I would not be surprised if ergonomics was found to be a factor in pass rates.
Erika. leeds
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Regarding height – something I never really considered before being a driving instructor. The taller a person is the closer they can see the kerb to car when reversing giving them an advantage – height adjusters do help but the advantage remains (although modern cars with more convex exterior mirrors have reduced the issue for smaller drivers). On the flip side for taller drivers the interior mirror is a significant blindspot (especially when turning left). I do not have statistical data to back this opinion up – just 21yrs experience of teaching people of all sizes to drive.
Returning to the news item – its the mix of evolution + society that leads males to be more at risk.
Dr James Whalen, DSA ADI (car), Wolverhampton
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Dr Whalen, in agreement with Neil, I think that it is rather stereotypical to suggest that height has in impact on one’s ability to pass their driving test. Speaking as what may be considered to be a short person myself!
Owen, Chelsea
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Dr Whalen – why does height make a difference? If a person is ready for their test, then they’re ready for their test, regardless of height? Many new cars have height adjustable seats, so surely this doesn’t make a huge impact? Or did I miss something there?
Neil Hopkins – Sussex
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The insurance industry risk assessments have long used a rate based analysis that shows that women drivers cause fewer collisions per mile driven. There are other well founded studies into various aspects of driver behaviour and of more general gender based attitudes to risk and self confidence, all of which show that, for example, young men over-estimate their abilities and skills while young women under estimate theirs. In fact this is not limited by age…..
Honor Byford, North Yorkshire
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A very good response from Pete from Liverpool, particularly the black box idea, which, the more I think of it, the more I like it. Apart from insurers being able to “assess” their customers’ driving over the previous twelve months at renewal time let’s say, I think these devices if and when fitted to all vehicles, would revolutionise collision investigation and would give us a far more accurate and useful system of collision recording than the unavoidably flawed system we have at present. It would give us indisputable information on what the driver and the vehicle were doing in the seconds and milliseconds before impact. I appreciate this has strayed off the original news item slightly, but it’s always worth highlighting as a potential big leap forward for road safety.
Hugh Jones, Cheshire
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This report once again shows the reasons that car insurance for young women was significantly less costly than for young men – on a risk based assessment. Until other powers stepped in and decreed this to be discriminatory. Now young women as novice drivers – who are a demonstrably less likely to cause a collision than young male novice drivers – are being discriminated against by having to pay more for their insurance.
Honor Byford, North Yorkshire
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Why is it that I seem to urge caution with every one of these stories, and I seem to be largely ignored? Am I too cautious?
If men still get more of the jobs that are available, and the better paid jobs, surely they have a greater need to pass and their extra cash can buy extra lessons. That could explain the higher pass rate.
And, with more jobs, that could lead to males covering far higher mileages, and that mileage is more likely to be on unknown roads, therefore disproportionally more accidents.
As such these findings don’t mean much on their own. At the very least we need accidents per million miles before even starting to comment or consider solutions.
Dave Finney – Slough
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We know that males are pre-disposed to reckless acts. At the weekend I was overtaken in a 30mph zone on a residential road by a young male driver (with young male passengers) at 60mph. He was clean in his manoeuvre but subsequently overshot a red traffic signal due to his speed – no pedestrians in the way thankfully. Assuming we cannot have a policeman or safety camera on every road, the most promising way of curbing this sort of behaviour is black box recorders via insurers. Provided the overall cost of premiums (and equipment) of adopting this technology for Joe Average is no more (and hopefully less) than now, we should move to legislate for mandatory use of this technology. The market exists already and different providers will provide subtle variations to give choice.
Pete, Liverpool
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Males pass the test more easily due to more confidence, being taller and better spatial awareness. However, they are more likely to pay less attention to how they have been taught after they have passed their tests for a variety of reasons. It’s getting about 10 to 20% of young males to drive the way they have been taught – a tall order that is unlikely to be achieved.
Dr James Whalen, DSA ADI (car), Wolverhampton
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