And yet, statistically, women are better drivers than men.

Could it that you're adhering to a sexist stereotype that has no basis in reality merely to protect your fragile male ego?

...in Saudi Arabia (women aren't allowed).

Laughter and outrage; such is being human. Sigh.

Mike

I hate to admit it but I agree with PP on this one. However it is hard to do. In the last 20 plus years here in Juneau I have been rear ended no less then 4 times. Each of which was a women driver. Just last year a young girl ran into the back of my truck, in front TMHS I saw her coming with cell phone glued to her ear. The sad thing is I was at a complete stop.

It seems you fellas know better than the thousands of statisticians who are employed by insurance companies to investigate this sort of thing. Perhaps you should offer your services? I bet you'd make bank.

@laurenh: Do you understand that statistics are made up of large numbers of individual experiences? And yet you think more information is less valuable than less information?

Let's see: if I take a random sample of, let's say, a million people, half women and half men, and find out that 50,000 men were involved in a traffic accident and 35,000 women were, that indicates men are more likely to be involved in traffic accidents. But oh! Someone got hit by a woman twice in his life! I guess that disproves my theory, because that certainly is outside the realm of possibly being coincidence!

I once read this statistic that said women were equal to men in intelligence. Then I met this really dumb girl. Good thing I managed to disprove that statistic--otherwise I would have been misinformed for the rest of my life!

I also heard that cats can't talk, but on "America's Funniest Home Videos" there was this cat that was clearly talking.

And I once read that you have a 50/50 chance of flipping heads or tails on a coin, but I managed to flip heads three times in a row! Explain that, you smarmy statisticians and your "analysis."

Since Persnickety seems to like statistics, let me share a few of my own personal experiences:

In 1999, I was forced off the road and into the grass on I-95 by a woman who entered the Interstate from the right and went across 3 lanes without even signaling.

In 2006, my car was totaled at an intersection by a woman who failed to yield. My insurance wrote off the car, and I got a replacement.

9 months later, the replacement car was totaled while parked in front of my house. A woman passed a pair of parked police cruisers and was looking over her shoulder to see if they were following her, when she swerved into my car. My insurance agent wasn't amused.

In 2008, while parked at a gas pump, a woman talking on her cell phone backed into my car, in spite of my repeated attempts to alert her by honking my horn.

So 100% of the accidents I've been involved in were the fault of a woman, and that's not even counting the close calls and near misses. I've never been nearly hit by a man talking on his cell phone, but I have had to slam on my brakes or swerve out of the way of a woman who was doing just that. I've never been nearly rear-ended by a man putting on makeup, but that happened to me in the turn lane by the hospital. I don't really care what some number counter in an office somewhere, looking at a bunch of papers says. I feel I have had enough life and driving experience to decide for myself.

C'mon Juneau Empire, holding up my post because I included "bad" words (that were already used in a previous post) or because I was trying to provide a link backing up my quotes? Lame.

I tried to say hey, ladies, at least you don't live in Saudia Arabia, where they've decided that allowing women to drive "would cause rampant sex, porn, and homosexuality, according to some of the country's scholars."

And if the ban was lifted, within 10 years there would be "no more virgins" in the country.

Whew.

PP's statistics may indicate that men get into more accidents than women, but it does not state that women are safer drivers than men. More likely, what is actually happen are that men, in order to avoid reckless women drivers, are forced into situations that cause accidents.

Maybe the Saudia's have the right idea.

And laurenh - it is always acceptable to blame teenagers!

@laurenh: I don't care about people's own experiences as far as explaining reality goes. I'll continue to tell them they're wrong until people wise up and realize they aren't the sole authority on what's real--the issue is that people are, by and large, stupid and uncritical thinkers who prefer to believe what they want to believe rather than take the time and effort to find out the facts.

It's extremely lazy to see an event and then assume that's the norm. And in this case, it's also sexist. How often in articles about accidents involving 3 male drivers do you hear about how men are such bad drivers? Never. Because there's no sexist stereotype about our driving. Nor are there sexist stereotypes about irresponsible things we do in the car on a regular basis (and I have NEVER seen a woman apply makeup while driving, so perhaps these guys up above are being rear-ended repeatedly by the same woman).

I agree with passerby. Maybe I'm being naive, but I think the very first comment that started all of this was a joke. And if people are for the most part stupid, then I'm not sure why you're engaging in these discussions at all. It's probably just giving you high blood pressure.

It's a sexist joke, based on the idea that women are inferior drivers. Ha ha. How funny! It's funny because women have been the butt of jokes for millennia! And that is funny, too.

And I'm a guy. Way to go assuming I'm a woman just because I didn't find your stupid joke funny, though.

doesn't mean you're not a bit...

overly sensitive. C'mon, take a joke.

I am a female driver and at times a female pedestrian. Both sexes have bad drivers. A man driving by himself w/o passengers is more considerate to those sharing the road with him and more likely to stop for you so you can cross the street. A woman driving by herself w/o passengers is more likely to cut you off, flip you off or try to hit you when you cross the street.

However, if a man is driving and he has others in the car/truck with him, his behavior changes because he feels the need to impress those in the vehicle with him and becomes a jerk.

A woman who has passengers in her vehicle becomes more considerate and patient because she wants to impress her passengers with her caring and concern.

Human Nature, funny thing.

Oh, and for my two cents worth;

Teens shouldn't be permitted to drive until they are OUT OF THEIR TEENS and people over 70 should be tested ANNUALLY for their driving/alertness skills.

I can't believe you people have nothing better to do than argue about which gender are the better (or worse) drivers. Why don't you do us all a favor and volunteer somewhere where your good nature will be a blessing to someone?

that any one has proof of what gender is a better at driving. If you find a person who tells you they are a great driver and never make mistakes you have just met a liar.