"Must be a lady driver!"

I recently started taking driving lessons. To tell the truth, I have only had two lessons. And that was enough for me to make an important conclusion—I do not like to drive. There are simply too many things to take note of while driving!

Adjust seat. Adjust rear view mirror. Fasten seat belt. Depress brake. Release handbrake. Slowly release brake. Step on accelerator.
“I am on the road! So far so good.”
Signal left. Look right for cars traveling straight ahead. Check blind spot from behind left shoulder. Check rear view mirror for traffic behind. Turn steering wheel.
“Am I turning fast enough? Should I turn the steering wheel more? How much more? Do I step on the brake? Or the accelerator? I think it’s the brake. Or is it the accelerator?”
Oncoming car in opposite right lane turning left.
“Do I have the right of the way? Should I wait for the car to go first? I think I should go first, or should I wait? I think……”
*HONK!*
Step hard on accelerator. Car jerks forward. Car swirls a little off lane, almost hitting kerb. Approaching red traffic light. Depress brake. Traffic light turns green. Release brake. Step on accelerator. Sweat.
“My foot is getting tired, my eyes are tired, my brain is dead, when is this ever going to end?”

So you see? Driving is simply not my cup of tea.

When someone meets a lousy driver on the road, the first thing he is likely to exclaim is, “Must be a lady driver!” And it is not just the men who say that, even the women echo in unison. When the lousy driver really turns out to be a lady, people exclaim, “See, it’s a woman? No wonder.”

Are all lousy drivers women? And are all women lousy drivers? Before the ladies reading this flare up in anger and knock me on the head with your 3-inch high heels, let me put it this way: perhaps not all, but most? I do not think so, but I am not sure, and allow me to elucidate, “I am a lousy-driver-in-the-making, but that has nothing to do with me being a girl! At least I think not.”

A female friend remarked that the car industry is a man’s world and vehicles are mainly designed by men. This puts women at a disadvantage, because men and women think and react differently, and thus it is likely that women would have difficulty controlling a men-designed car.

All right, so ladies claim that men-designed cars are difficult to maneuver. In the 2004 Geneva Motor Show, a team of women designers and engineers presented a Volvo “Your Concept Car” (YCC) specially designed to be “particularly attentive to women's needs”. You would have thought the ladies would leap in joy. Quite the opposite.

The YCC received a fair amount of criticisms from both the sexes. The car was designed such that “a special place was provided in the floor, right ahead of the shag carpet, for high heels, so women drivers don't cause accidents wearing frilly and impractical shoes”, and a “warning system to remind women when to head for the shop when the oil needs changing—apparently another issue the YCC team found difficult for typical female drivers to cope with”. Quoting a female journalist, “They're telling us exactly what men used to say, that we women are lousy drivers, and likely to slam into the wall of the garage.”

What does that mean? Women do not want men-designed cars, yet they feel insulted with a women-designed car. Women seem to be saying, “We are not lousy drivers, period. Even if we are, we do not need men to tell us that and we will drive what the men drive.”

A quick search on the web revealed that there have not been much studies on the gender differences in driving, at least they are not found readily on the net. Some sources attribute this difference to social norms and stereotypes, as in women are portrayed as passive, unskillful and mechanics-idiot, as opposed to men who are aggressive and skillful.

I guess there is nothing wrong about being a woman plus being a lousy driver. This has got nothing to do with intelligence or what-so-ever, although I agree that being alert and having good coordination do help.

Frankly speaking, I seldom check out drivers on the road, but the general idea I get is that the truly reckless and complacent drivers usually turn out to be men and there are some lady drivers who really make you wonder how they ever got their license. But there are reckless lady drivers and careful gentlemen on the roads too.

So it seems driving has nothing to do with gender, or so it appears. But, reasonably speaking, I believe different sexes do excel in different areas, to a certain extent. Is driving one of this area?

So much for driving, and that reminds me of my third driving lesson tomorrow. HELP!