Women drivers safer - except when parking

Men commit nine times as many motoring offences as women. Home Office figures show that the vast majority dealt with by courts for every type of traffic offence are male.

The disparity between the sexes is greatest for the most serious offences, with men guilty of 97 per cent of dangerous driving offences and 94 per cent for causing death or bodily harm.

Women's speeding offences have risen by four percentage points in the past five years yet still constitute only 17 per cent of the total. Women are far less likely to have high-speed collisions resulting in death. Crashes killed 238 women drivers in 2002, compared with 907 men.

In the past ten years the proportion of men with licences has remained at 81 per cent, but that of women increased from 49 per cent to 61 per cent. However, the proportion of all motoring offences committed by women in the past five years has risen by only one percentage point, to 12 per cent.

Parking appears to be the only area of driving in which women have a poorer record. Insurance claims showed in 2002 that women were twice as likely to have a collision in a car park, were 23 per cent more likely to hit a stationary car and 15 per cent more likely to reverse into another car.

Mary Williams, chief executive, of the road safety charity Brake, said: "The Government should place more emphasis on changing men's attitudes to driving and improving their safety skills, through advertising in mediums such as men's magazines and through education in the workplace. Particular concerns are excessive speed, high-risk manoeuvres such as overtaking dangerously, and driving when tired."

Steve Stradling, Professor of Transport Psychology at Napier University, Edinburgh, said: "A key factor is that women get less fun out of risk-taking. People speed because they are under pressure, and women have different patterns of obligations. Men are more likely to speed to make a business appointment."

In a survey for the Scottish Executive, Professor Stradling found that 82 per cent of women approved of speed cameras, compared with 68 per cent of men; 45 per cent of women believed that motorway speed limits should never be broken, compared with 30 per cent of men.

Nearly two thirds of men drive cars with an engine bigger than 1.6 litres, compared with 42 per cent of women. Women are also less likely to be members of the groups that campaign for an increase in speed limits.

男性发生违章驾驶的几率是女性的9倍。英国内政部的统计数字显示：在法院审理的每一类交通违章案件中占绝大多数的都是男性。

在最严重的交通违章事故中，性别差异体现的最为明显。在危险驾驶违章中，男性占到了97%，94%导致死亡或者身体伤害。

在过去五年中，女性超速行驶的情况上升了4个百分点，但仍只占整个超速行驶违章的17%。女性开车时因高速行驶发生撞车而造成人员死亡的可能性也远远低于男性。2002年，有238名女性死于撞车事故，而男性高达907人。

在过去十年里，男性拥有驾驶执照的比例一直保持在81%，而女性拥有驾驶执照的比例从49%上升到61%。然而，在过去的五年里，所有机动车违章驾驶中女性的比例仅上升了一个百分点，占12%。

停车场是女性不良驾车记录多于男性的唯一场所。2002年的机动车保险索赔显示：女性在停车场发生撞车事故的几率是在其他地方的两倍，其中撞到固定车辆的几率增加23％，倒车时撞到另一辆车的几率增加15%。

行车安全慈善机构“Brake”的主管玛丽·威廉姆斯说，“政府应该多加重视通过在男性杂志等媒体做广告、在工作场所宣传教育等方式改变男性驾车态度、提高他们安全行车技能。特别要关注超速行驶以及类似危险超车和疲劳驾驶等高风险驾驶行为。”

爱丁堡纳皮尔大学的运输心理学教授史蒂夫·斯特拉德林说：“其中一个关键因素是女性不太热衷于冒险。人们往往在压力下会超速行使，而女性承担着不同形式的责任。男性超速行使很可能是为了赶赴生意上的约会。”

在一项为苏格兰行政院进行的调查中，斯特拉德林教授发现：82%的女性赞同使用高速照相机，而只有68%的男性表示赞同。45%的女性认为高速公路的速度限制决不应该被打破，而只有30%的男性这样认为。

将近三分之二男性的车的发动机超过1.6升，而女性只有42%。而且，在呼吁提高限速的人群中也鲜有女性。

disparity: 不同
collision: 碰撞
stationary: 不动的、固定的
manoeuvre: 操作
obligation: 义务、责任