Thursday, 08 May 2008
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Are Women Really Bad Drivers?
Just some assignments which i've written as opinion pieces, features and profiles so i thot might as well upload it and let you guys have a look... Feed back is welcomed!
Written by: Eric Lim Date: 08/05/08
Category: Opinion Pieces
Yeah I know! This has become a proverbial saying since Ford Motors, started to roll out its ‘Model T’ aeons ago. And this topic has been done to the death, by many others too. So why bother? You may ask…
Well we know that generally men has better spatial abilities as compared to women and many scientific studies have confirmed this, such as studies conducted by scientists from the University of Giessen, Germany, have shown that women achieved lower scores in tests that measured their spatial skills, as compared to their male counterparts.
This may be caused by a lack of testosterone in the womb, which they say may adversely affect spatial ability. Such spatial ability includes the ability to assess spaces and judge distances, skills which are essential to driving.
But does that alone justify the argument that women are bad drivers? I believe that the problem lies in the inherent characteristics of women, such as the ability of multi-tasking… I’ve seen many of my female friends who are able to chat on the phone while watching TV and at the same time breastfeed their babies! But afterwards when quizzed, they are able to recall the soap opera’s dialogue and also what was happening over at the other end of the line with their friends (minus the babies of course).
It’s astonishing to say the least… But such behaviour is sometimes also exhibited on the road; I’ve seen female drivers trying to do a last minute touch up of their makeup by looking at their rear-view mirror, trying to SMS somebody while driving and trying to execute a lane change while at it.
Just over the weekend, while trying to negotiate a two way lane that swivels out from my school, I chanced upon a lady who was trying to PARALLEL PARK her car by the roadside. And it’s an understatement to say she has limited spatial abilities as she was holding up the entire lane for a full 14 minutes (Yes, I counted!). Needless to say she experienced some unpleasant honking, courtesy of my twin air-horn as I’m the bloody impatient type. I usually reserve such unpleasantries, for errant taxi-drivers, geriatrics and ‘bad women drivers’.
Even so I too concede that “guys also cause inconvenience on the roads sometimes, usually because they don’t care.” In fact, the conventional notion that men are better drivers may actually cause us to overestimate our supposedly superior spatial skills, ironically disproving that very notion. “I think it’s just a really stale stereotype,” says Michelle, 22, “I look around at the girls I know... they're all steady drivers.”
Ultimately, it is difficult to generalize. Men and Women each have different skill sets and personality traits that all contribute to their behaviour on the roads. So ladies do remember to doll up before leaving the house next time, as you will never know when a nice pout will get you off the hook with impatient male drivers…
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