Do Women Drive Better or Men?

that women are bad drivers There is a baseless and sexist prejudice. When a female driver crashes, it’s on the news “The female driver had an accident.” While headlines are being thrown, it is stated that when the male driver has an accident, he is a male. no need to specify. According to scientific research, there are parts where women are weaker than men in driving, but there are also parts where they are stronger than men.

The reason why the two sexes drive differently than each other explained by evolutionary biology. Physical differences between men and women play a bigger role in driving skill than you might imagine.

The male hormone testosterone has a very strong effect on driving skills.

To drive well, you need to have strong visual processing skills. Testosterone by increasing spatial awareness in men more on tasks like parking provides an advantage. Distance, surrounding objects and symbols can be better understood. In this way, road conditions are interpreted more quickly. Researchers found that older men who were starting to lose some of their visual abilities experienced an increase in their visual processing speed when they took a dose of testosterone. So the share of testosterone is quite large.

Your ability to understand the relationship between yourself and other objects (vehicles, structures on the road, etc.) spatial awareness is also important. People with good spatial awareness tend to be more successful in various areas of life, including arts, sports, science, math, and driving. Again, some studies show that high testosterone levels can be caused by cars or objects on the road. to drive without crashing It has shown that it increases spatial awareness, which is vital for

It is also necessary to consider the disadvantages of testosterone.

This hormone associated with aggression we know it is. Testosterone doesn’t automatically make men aggressive, but it can cause male drivers to take more risks and be overconfident.

Because adolescents, men in their twenties and thirties more likely to die in a car accident because it is during the years when testosterone levels are highest. Therefore, testosterone can sometimes be an advantage, and sometimes a disadvantage.

Like testosterone, estrogen can have an impact on driving. Estrogen allows women to concentrate better while driving than men.

Accidents due to drivers looking away for a moment are quite numerous. That’s it “Caution” women dominate; because estrogenincreases concentration. Women are not easily distracted, they focus better on the road ahead.

Memory also plays an important part in being a good driver. Elements such as remembering the route, time of arrival are related to memory. Studies have shown that women are more tends to have a better memory It shows that age-related memory loss begins later in women than in men. Perhaps the reason why a man called “buy bread when you come” comes home without bread is perhaps related to this situation.

The biggest difference between male testosterone dominance and female estrogen dominance is behavior. We often associate estrogen with empathy. That’s not the only reason women show affection, but it does play an important role. Therefore, female drivers are more likely to obey the road rules, not argue with other drivers, and not take unnecessary risks.

Hormones may fuel the differences between men and women, but the brain is the real engine behind sex behaviors.

Men have a better sense of direction, while women are better at remembering routes. That’s why men don’t ask for directions easily, so ego isn’t the only reason. It’s all about the hippocampus. This part of the brain allows people to create mental maps and navigate city streets without getting lost, and research has shown that men use this part of the brain more when driving.

On the other hand, women remember landmarks and objects better, allowing them to remember a route better. Women play an important role in working memory. in the frontal lobes they take advantage of this because they have more connections.

The reason for the sentence “women can’t park like men” is because women have a smaller parietal lobe, which can cause spatial difficulties.

men greater surface area in the parietal lobes has an advantage in this regard. Since this part of the brain gives men the ability to spatial awareness, it provides an advantage in conditions such as parallel parking and reversing.

Men with an almond-shaped brain structure associated with emotions, especially negative ones (anger, fear, aggression). It has larger amygdalas. When exposed to threatening or stressful situations, the amygdala “lights up” and encourages male drivers to take action. This can cause situations such as reacting angrily to a driver.

Females are larger, maturing faster than males. It has the prefrontal cortex. This part of the brain gives people the ability to regulate emotions and behavior. This is the part that comes into action when we “think things through.” This explains why women take less risk than men because the area of ​​this region is larger.

So what do the statistics say? For this, going to the place where it all started will give an idea: Driver’s license exam results

A UK study found that female drivers compared to men The rate of passing the driver’s license exam revealed that it is higher and this rate increases with age.

Findings from this study:

• 17-year-old female drivers are 7% more likely to fail the driver’s license test than men.
• This rate rises to 15% for women who take the exam at the age of 20.
• By age 30, women are 25% more likely to fail than men.
• At 35, this number rises to 41%.
• At age 50, women are 50% more likely to fail than men of that age.

So why do female drivers have such a disadvantage? Besides differences in brain structure and hormones social conditioning also has a share in it.

Men are more successful in the driver’s license exam, but they have more accidents than women.

Men spend $15,000 more than women over their lifetime insurance fee it pays. Men under the age of 25 take the lead in this regard. That’s because men, especially younger ones, have a tendency to drive aggressively.

Despite their cognitive advantages such as visual, spatial and motor processing, men are more likely to be involved in fatal or serious accidents. Men are also more likely to get speeding tickets, violating traffic signs/lights. Men compare traffic rules to women twice as many violations. In other words, if you are in a car driven by a female driver, you need to feel safer.

Women are not without risk either. In some cases, they can be more dangerous than men.

• Women are 5% more likely than men to reply to messages while driving.
• Women are 11% more likely to snack behind the wheel than men.

As a result, both men and women can succumb to dangerous habits while driving. The difference lies in what they do.

In summary; Men have the capacity to drive more skillfully than women, but if you’re in a woman’s car, you’re much safer.

Regardless of whether the driver is male or female, practice and good habitswill make everyone behind the wheel better. There are many women who make a living by repairing cars or racing, outperforming male drivers. Also, not every man is going to be aggressive just because he has testosterone.

As a result, everything Depends on the individual, not the gender. Although both men and women excel at different types of skills, both can be great drivers.

Sources: 1, 2