Patrones de cambio en la conducción de las mujeres

Abstract

Until relatively recently, the task of driving a vehicle was almost exclusively one for men. Only in the last fewdecades have women taken en masse to driving. This review analyses the driving behaviour of men and women andattempts to establish whether women are better or worse drivers than men. It is paradoxical that according to the stereotype,women are less skilful at carrying out manoeuvres such as parking. However, it is said that women are more cautious at thewheel. The statistics show that men tend to be over-represented in traffic accidents although women are said to getdistracted more easily, for example by looking at themselves in mirrors. This study discusses to what extent women’sdriving patterns differ from those of men, how they have changed in recent decades and what the future predicts, taking intoaccount the accident data of these groups. We contrast the popular belief, which portrays women as bad drivers, with datacompiled from the literature on evolutionary and constitutional differences and the differing vulnerability of the twogenders. We analyse whether differences exist in the frequency of driving between men and women, evaluating thecharacteristics, types of journey, accident data and, among other issues, styles of driving: caution vs. aggression at thewheel.

Keywords

• Driving behaviour
• fatal crashes
• gender differences
• stereotypes