Time is the most precious commodity people try to manage. Equality is also highly valued, yet there are bigots that still play the sexist card when it comes to motoring. Go back in history when horse drawn carriages were replaced with motor vehicles. If a woman ever got behind the wheel a man had to walk in front waving a red flag, calling out ‘woman driver’. Strangely there are some male drivers that still believe motoring is a bloke thing! Think for a minute, does a motor vehicle discriminate between male, female, skilled or unskilled drivers? The answer is no, in fact a motor vehicle does not have a pulse, the back follows the front, unless a driver loses control and crashes.
Could it be a macho thing, guys feeling threatened, a new wave of ‘girl power’ hitting the streets? Females are more independent these days, they are more mobile and they are going it alone when it comes to buying new cars. Ask anyone of substance in the Motor Industry and they will confirm, females are a major part of the sales driven landscape.
Look at the highly successful Jeep television advertisement where the female answers her male counterpart – “Yes, I bought a Jeep”. At our Driver Training Business (Est. 1983) we get to see a huge cross section of drivers attending Defensive Driving Courses to High Performance Driver Training Programs. Working with the retail sector, Fleet and Government, drivers are either experienced or inexperienced.
Also being involved with media opens up a mine field of questioning when it comes to male, female drivers and who is the better? I would love a dollar for the amount of times this question is asked as my super fund would be overflowing. From my experience, women make better students as they accept advice, this is provided you apply logic. On the flip side, men want to argue the point, debate the issues, while fighting change. It’s like both sexes are on different planets, yet motoring is still the same subject.
Going back in history, to crank start a motor vehicle by hand required enormous physical strength. With no power steering, men would muscle vintage cars around corners using the now outdated push pull steering technique. Today modern 5 star safety vehicles are loaded with every possible device. Designed not only to improve your chances of survival, little physical effort is required. Like I said, motor vehicles do not discriminate between the sexes! All drivers are capable of crashing, it’s their attitude, awareness of surroundings and their ability to understand how new age vehicles function.
If this means brushing up on your driving skills and learning how to “Drive to Survive” then look us up on the web www.ianluff.com.au
IAN LUFF
PO Box 7237, Wetherill Park, NSW 2164
info@ianluff.com.au
drive-to-survive.com.au