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Everything you wanted to know about women (drivers) but were afraid to ask
Driving Patterns of Women

by Jim Walczak

for About.com

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(Continued from Page 2)

According to Brian O'Neill, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, women are less likely to be driving at night, to be driving impaired by alcohol, to be doing other things that are precursors to rollovers. It's statistically provable and very gender-specific.
- (USA Today, 2001)
According to General Motors Corp.'s OnStar navigation and communication system, far more women than men (62% versus 29%) worry about driving on deserted roads. The OnStar study showed 65% of women surveyed said having a flat or a car breakdown was a concern. In contrast, only 40% of men said those situations were a concern.
- (MSN Carpoint, 2002)
According to AutoPacific Inc., 15% of men SUV drivers said they go off-roading for recreation, while 10.8% of women said they do, too. And while 24.1% of men said they use their SUV to get to off-road camping, hiking and fishing sites, 17.9% of women do the same.
- (MSN Carpoint, 2002)
With plenty of room for kids, pets, suitcases, coolers and canoes, these heavy-duty people movers (a.k.a. SUVs) offer interior room and brawny performance for women with active lifestyles.
- (Edmunds, 2002)
Women make more trips to perform household-sustaining activities such as shopping and family errands to a greater extent than men.
- (McGuckin & Murakami, 1999)
As women have entered the labor force in greater numbers (more than 60% of married women are in the paid labor force, however working women still retain substantial child care and domestic obligations), more shopping and family-errand trips have been pushed into non-work periods, including peak congestion periods, and linked with other trips for efficiency.
- (McGuckin & Murakami, 1999)
Women (especially those with children in the household) are more likely than men to stop at multiple destinations on the way to or from work and make more trips to and from work.
- (McGuckin & Murakami, 1999)
Women take more trips for family and personal business than for any other trip purpose.
- (U.S. Department of Transportation, 2001)
The majority of women (61.2%) make at least one stop after work, and 28.3% make two stops or more. In contrast, 46.4% of men stop on the way home from work, and only 17.7% make two stops or more.
- (U.S. Department of Transportation, 2001)
Women with children have little choice but to travel in private vehicles. Their need to combine work with household and family responsibilities makes it likely that they will make one or more stops on the way between work and home.
- (McGuckin & Murakami, 1999)
Women initiate most of their trips and drive most of their miles during the daytime (9 a.m. to 7 p.m.).
- (U.S. Department of Transportation, 2001)
Employed women travel 54.3% more miles daily than unemployed women.
- (U.S. Department of Transportation, 2001)
According to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), women are better drivers than men.
- (Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2001)