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Monday, January 10, 2011

Are women safer drivers than men?


One of the reasons for the heavy road traffic congestion and accident mishaps in Metro Manila are the bad driving attitudes of bus drivers.
A proposal was made by Francis Tolentino, chair of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to place women as drivers of pubic utility vehicles in order to curb traffic accidents in the city.
A gender issue?
To prove his argument, Tolentino cited the string of accidents that involve male drivers who figured in vehicular accidents since the beginning of the year, and concluded that female drivers should make better and safer drivers.
According to the text messages of MMDA chair to reporters, he is planning to forward his proposal to the Land Transportation and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).
He emphasized that the ideal situation is the provision of 50 percent female drivers or "better yet, 100 percent."
"Women drivers would give [operators] less headaches because they are more safety-conscious," said Tolentino.
Although he did not specifically cite any studies, the chair said that researches in the US showed that female drivers were less aggressive, more law-abiding and are more concerned about the vehicles they were driving.
He added, "It's in the genes of the males who tend to be hot-headed on the road."
Inquirer.net provided supporting data for the chair's conclusions.
According to the New York Times in August last year, female drivers had lower probability of figuring in road accidents than male drivers.
A similar conclusion was reported by the Jerusalem Post last year.
Men get in to more accidents because of drunk driving and seldom wear seat belts than women, according to Tolentino.
Author's note: If the 100 percent female drivers proposal were approved, what does Chairman Francis Tolentino plan to do with the male drivers who will become jobless? Is this the ultimate solution to the traffic problem in Metro Manila? How about enforcing the law so that drivers will observe the proper discipline on the road?
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