Putting Those Nasty Rumors to Rest
Women drivers get a bad rap. They’re often seen as the slower ones, the nervous ones who can’t park, or the drivers who can’t drive at all. We’re here to dispel some of the worst rumors about female motorists and talk about some facts that showcase real habits!
1. Women are Bad Drivers
First and foremost, let’s address the elephant in the room—the biggest stereotype against female drivers is that they can’t do it all. Wrong! In fact, studies show that women are often touted as safer drivers who are more interested in the feel of a car than the look of it.
2. Women are Slow Drivers
There’s a difference between being slow and being cautious. Though, perhaps the confusion came from NHTSA’s stats that show men are more inclined to speed than women. No wonder it seems like ladies go too slow!
3. Women are Nervous Drivers
Well, sure. You’d be nervous too if everything you did on the road was scrutinized. While some drivers are more careful than others, the stereotype that women are nervous to the point of incompetence is just plain false.
4. Women Know Nothing About Cars
Some women are true car enthusiasts, keeping up with petrolheads as well as the rest of them. They can name make and model, talk about varying features, and take pride in their wheels. Maybe women aren’t as vocal about their knowledge, but that doesn’t mean they’re in the dark.
5. Women Can’t Park
The jury’s still out on which gender gets the top parking spot. Varying 2012 studies claim men are better while others from the same year claim women are better. Though men have better spatial awareness, women are more than capable of sliding in that street spot.
6. Women are Bad With Directions
Ah, yes—the classic trope we’ve seen in movies and television shows. Recent studies show that men are better with directions, though it has nothing to do with evolution. In fact, that study showed that men and women brought up in similar environments didn’t experience a huge gap in navigation. So, it’s less about an inability and more about encouragement to practice!
7. Women are More Distracted Drivers
Cellphone use isn’t as low as we’d like it to be, especially in today’s day and age. However, women aren’t the biggest problem here. According to the NHTSA’s 2022 data, young female drivers (16-24) were more likely to reach for their phone behind the wheel, but middle-aged men (25-69) reached for it more often than women in that age group.
8. Women Care About Car Color
While it’s true that men and women have preferences, color often isn’t a deciding factor for women. For the ladies, it’s less about aesthetics and more about what a car offers (more on that later).
9. Women Aren’t Interested in Cars
Some women don’t know much about cars. Others don’t really care to learn the nitty gritty. But plenty of women are fascinated. From spending weekends in their dad’s garage to fixing up their own set of wheels, many women can’t wait to talk shop.
10. Women Can’t Drive Stick
Not many manufacturers offer manual transmission anymore, certainly not as many as they used to. However, both men and women are capable of driving stick! It's an even bigger possibility across the globe too. Though a lot of American companies don’t offer manual models, about 80% of European cars sold still do.
Now that we’ve gotten those hairy stereotypes out of the way, let’s dive into a few interesting stats about female drivers.
1. Women Pay Lower Insurance
Many women pay less for car insurance than men. The biggest reason is they’re considered lower-risk drivers and therefore better to insure. However, recent reports from The Zebra state that since 2016, women are getting charged higher rates in at least 25 states—though it’s tough to pinpoint why.
2. Fewer Women Have Road Rage
Aggressive drivers make everyone’s day worse, but you won’t catch as many female road ragers. According to AAA’s 2022 Traffic Safety Culture Index, about 25% of men reported some sort of aggressive driving incident whereas women only accounted for 18%.
3. Women Buy More Cars
Despite most women driving far less than men, they still accounted for over half of new car sales in the U.S. Honda, Nissan, and Subaru tend to dominate the market with women, though they tend to take longer before finalizing a purchase.
4. Women Don’t Speed as Much
Aggressive driving is much more than flipping the bird—it’s anything from speeding to running red lights. That said, the AAA’s 2022 Traffic Safety Culture Index reported lower numbers of female drivers speeding on both residential roads and freeways.
5. Fewer Women Drive Under the Influence
No one should have to say it, but we will anyway: don’t drink and drive. Yet, that same AAA report concluded that fewer women drove under the influence in 2022. An IIHS report from the same year also found that male drivers under the influence suffered more than double the casualties of female drivers.
6. Women Care About Safety
When it comes to vehicles, the ladies are all about safety. Most women are far more interested in a car’s affordability and reliability than its aesthetics. Guys, on the other hand, tend to lean toward the latest tech and layout.
7. Women Drive Less
Women have driven less than men for the better part of 20 years across the U.S. Statistics show that most women only drive about 10,000 miles a year compared to men who cruise for at least 16,000 a year.
8. Fewer Women Drive Tired
Though the numbers are scarily high on both sides, fewer women reported driving so tired they could barely keep their eyes open. The AAA’s 2022 report concluded that roughly 18% of women got behind the wheel exhausted whereas 21% of men admitted to the same thing.
9. Women are Confident on the Road
Women aren’t as confident as men on the road, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t confident at all. According to The Zebra, they’re actually pretty assured about their abilities compared to men—74% of women reported confidence on the road as opposed to 82% of men.
10. Women Wear Seatbelts More Often
The numbers are blessedly high on both sides, but multiple studies reported more women wearing a seatbelt before they peel out of the driveway. The good news is that both genders scored in the 90th percentile for usage.
