A new study settles the debate: Women are better drivers than men — simply because they would rather drive a car than let it drive them.
The Pew Research Center found that women were much more skeptical of self-driving vehicles and other automated features in cars than their male counterparts. Only 17% of women said they believe letting a car drive itself is a good idea, compared to 37% of men. And 72% of women said they would definitely not want to ride as a passenger in a self-driving vehicle, while 46% of men said they definitely would.
There’s a reason women pay less for car insurance than men.
And yet, even though women are much more reluctant to get behind the wheel of a vehicle run by artificial intelligence, they’re also much better at driving them. A different study from Newcastle University found that women were better able to respond to hazards on the roads than men while driving an autonomous car. They had better control of the steering wheel and had faster reaction times, according to the study.
The only people who might find those results surprising are the men who think one’s ability to parallel park is representative of one’s entire driving record. Studies have shown for years that women cause fewer accidents. In fact, male drivers of cars and vans have twice the rate of fatal accidents per mile driven than women, according to British researchers.
We’re less reckless and aggressive, more focused and aware. Some might even say we’re smarter on the roads. At the very least, we’re smart enough not to get inside a car we can’t control.
