Jezebel: female drivers

A new survey of Canadian drivers has found...

Maria — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 12:40:00 EDT

A new survey of Canadian drivers has found that men ask for directions when lost more often than women: 71% of male drivers expressed a willingness to ask for directions as opposed to 44% of women. Good for Canadian guys and disproving old stereotypes, but what's up with that low percentage of women asking for directions? [UPI]

It may be an outdated idea, but apparently...

maria — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 10:45:00 EDT

It may be an outdated idea, but apparently some people are still complaining about women being lousy drivers! A recent Australian study tested 198 female drivers and found that the women who were made aware of the "lady driver" stereotype performed poorly on a simulated driving test. Somehow, the results of this study got interpreted as evidence of an on-road gender war in an article in today's Telegraph, which claims that overly-critical men cause women to drive poorly. But doesn't any vocal distraction make it difficult to concentrate on the road? (Mom, I'm talking to you.) [Telegraph]

Driven Crazy

Dodai — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 12:45:00 EDT

Honda has published a guide for female Japanese drivers.Their pamphlet (in Japanese) will "erase all your fears about driving," the car maker claims. Assuming you have any, that is. "We would like to let all women know how to drive safely. We would like to minimize accidents of women drivers," a Honda spokesman said. The guide has instructions: How to pump gas by yourself, how to safely transport children and pets and, how to park. Are chicks dumb? Why a guide just for women? Where's your guide for men? Do women suck at driving? Are women worse drivers than men? "We don't think so," the spokesguy said. "There are some specific cases of women drivers, and we focus on those cases." Huh. Fascinating. [Reuters]