As part of an in-depth study made of 2654 car drivers involved in 2036 accidents over a 4-year period differences in the driver characteristics of men and women and the kind of human errors they made have been investigated. Whilst the analysis showed some significant differences between the sexes in the type of accidents and the sort of error committed, basically, there was little difference in the proportion of males and females who were regarded at fault; the figure being approximately 60 per cent of drivers for both sexes. The female driver tended to make errors of a perceptual nature by becoming distracted and not seeing hazards, she was less experienced in comparison with the male driver and found the right turn manoeuvre difficult especially when entering a major road. On the other hand the male driver was more likely to be impaired through alcohol, tended to drive too fast for the conditions and more readily took risks. (Author/publisher)
Abstract