Men love to hate women drivers

Men love talking about accidents or mishaps that take place on the roads because of female drivers. We cannot stand to be overtaken by a woman.

When I learned to ride a bicycle I was told to be aware of kids playing in the street or the roadside, old men on bikes and cars with female drivers. There is certain logic behind the three precautions and after almost seven years, I still follow these rules on the road.

Yesterday, the topic of women drivers popped up, while some of my friends and I were having a chat. I do not know why but we men really enjoy talking about accidents or mishaps that take place on the roads because of female drivers. For the first time in my life, I felt that our attitude was unjust. I am not in favor of or against the idea of women driving a car, as it is a skill, an ability, and more importantly sometimes it is a necessity.

This reminds me of a TV show (I tried to get the video but I couldn’t find it). The anchor presented stats from all over the world that showed that there is a less ratio of women drivers involved in accidents. The main reason behind this, I think,  is that women are much more careful when they are on the road and believe me they are kind at heart. They are not as brutal as we men are, no matter what vehicle we are riding.The factor of ‘being careful’ is what has created a bad impression for women drivers here. One of the major reasons is our social norms and trends.

 In our society, the number of women driving cars has increased. It is a new thing in this male dominated society, and many of us, I think it will be better if I say not all of us, are ready to stomach this idea properly.

From my observation, I have noticed that most of the time women driving a car are nervous, which adds a strange feature to the ‘careful’ factor. Moreover, believe me, they do not consider themselves safe, which adds to the nervousness, and the extreme part is sponsored by us. Yes –we- the men, especially, boys.

For us, it is indigestible to see a woman drive, especially when she is over taking us or asking to give her some way. Most of bike fellows perform special tricks or stunts while taking over cars driven by woman. All these factors become the reason for the poor performance of the woman driver. That is what I have observed and I feel there must and can be a difference of opinion.

I have to say that archaic mentality is a phenomenon that plays a major role. Let me clarify that I am conservative about many things but as I said, driving is a skill, which is not exclusive to males and a necessity at times. The need is to change the mindset of the society so that accidents that are caused by this lame phenomenon can be reduced.

Lastly, I would like to confess that I have no right to question anyone’s driving skills when I do not know how to drive a car myself!
WRITTEN BY:
Rai Muhammad Azlan Shahid The author is an MSc in Marketing from the University of the West of England. Currently he is based in Lahore and associated with the area of education marketing. He blogs at RaiAzlan.com and tweets @Mussanaf (https://twitter.com/Mussanaf)
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (1)

Nojeba | 13 years ago | Reply I agree. I remember i was going to this driving school and we were driving at khayban-e-Mohafiz. Car Deals generally has a big sign board on the car thus it was obvious i was learning how to drive.I reached an intersection where this car full of boys were crossing. Since i was still getting the hang of driving i signaled to them to go ahead first. One of then called out and said no u go first we wana see. As ticked off as I was, i tried and off course I got so nervous that i couldnt get the hang of starting the engine and letting go of the clutch as they laughed. If only men were a little more supportive.
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