14 DAY TRIAL // Jokes about what poor drivers women are will probably never go away, just as blonde gags are highly unlikely to ever go out of fashion. That is not to say though that all women are terrible nightmares behind the wheel, even though a new poll cited by the Daily Mail reveals that one in three men still says he’s very uncomfortable when he’s in the passenger seat and his lady at the wheel.
Women, the gents believe, are too easily distracted and have serious problems concentrating when at the wheel, which makes a ride with them almost unbearable. They also have terrible timing, don’t know when to brake or when to hit the accelerator. Consequently, one in ten men was forced to reach out and handle the wheel himself as his partner took her eyes off the road, or allowed the car to skid outside the lane. An equal number of men admitted to losing their temper and asking their partners to pull over so that they could take over.
“The study also found that one in five couples have argued about their respective driving skills - or lack thereof. Men’s biggest complaints were that women are too easily distracted by children, scenery or other motorists. Other grumbles included allowing the car to ‘roll’ from side to side instead of keeping it in a straight line and not staying away from rumble strips. Flicking the accelerator, which results in a stop-start feel to the ride, also came high on the list, as did getting too close to cars before overtaking. Braking too late was the second most common complaint, while braking too hard came in sixth. Not braking at all surprisingly didn’t make the top ten,” the Daily Mail says of the study.
The high level of discomfort translates into a firm belief that they (the men) are much better drivers than their better halves, a spokesperson for OnePoll, which conducted the survey on 3,000 men, says for the Mail. “Most feel they are better drivers than the women in their lives. They believe they concentrate a lot better, read road situations more quickly and clearly and have better reactions. One in five even went as far as to say they were never able to relax when their other half is driving,” the rep explains.
Nevertheless, that’s not to say that men are without fault when on the road: another recent poll, for instance, showed that the gents were more likely to cause high speed crashes, while women would lose control of the car and crash it when there were more vehicles in the same place, the aforementioned publication says.
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