Could the difference in the way women's brains work explain why they have fewer road accidents than men or is it simply a cultural difference?
Women will more often than not take the role as childcarer meaning they are more likely to be at home during the day. Therefore they are less likely to be on the road during the most dangerous times, morning and evening rush hours, when most accidents happen. It is probable that when in the car they will be driving with children on board; this may make them more prone to drive carefully and consciously. It also means that they're likely to drive fewer miles, giving them less of an opportunity to be involved in an accident.
Women are known to be significantly better than men at shifting concentration. Men do more motorway driving while women tend to contend with the more difficult conditions in town centres, often having to deal with children as well so they are used to having to shift concentration and having to react quickly and accurately. When driving on the motorway it is easy to fall into a lax mode, Motorway hypnosis is a well known problem, you switch off making you slow to react. So it's not much of a surprise that men are prone to more accidents.
Could the old argument that women are better at multitasking actually be true? If so, could this be another reason why women tend to be safer drivers?
Scientists believe sex hormones could be the reason for the different driving abilities between men and women. A new study by researchers at the University of Bradford found that women seem to be more aware of their surroundings, and also realise they are being asked to do something more quickly than a man. The report goes on to show that women are quicker to switch focus to deal with unexpected events such as a car pulling out in front of them. Men however are supposed to be better at parking and map reading. This is likely to be down to testosterone, the male hormone which aids space awareness.
