Women drivers. There’s a conception that they have a serious inability to park, they don’t concentrate and that they’re more likely to crash. That’s the stereotype, but analysis by car finance provider Creditplus proves that women are better drivers compared to men.

But why, for decades, have men thought they’re the better drivers? Well, 43% of them do pass their practical driving test first time while only 32% of women can make that same claim.

And it’s also the case that they’ve got more experience on the roads, covering on average 5,300 miles a year, which is 15% more than women.

The extent of men’s superior driving stops there though, as women actually drive their cars more per year – taking, on average, 626 trips whereas men drive their cars 578 times.

According to a Freedom of Information request sent to the DVLA, close to one million speeding tickets were issued last year – but only 30% were issued to females. Ah, but aren’t there fewer female drivers in the UK? Well not really. In 2019, 47% of driving license holders were women, so it’s pretty even.

Not only were the vast majority of speeding tickets given to men but, in a survey by road safety charity Brake, 78% of male drivers admitted to recently driving over 35mph in a 30mph zone, whereas only 67% of women fessed up to the same offence.

The driving offence divide isn’t just limited to speeding either. Last year the number of tickets issued for using a mobile phone while driving continued to drop, reaching over 35,000 across the UK. But of those tickets only 19% were for females.

The combined effect of these offences results in men being twice as likely to have points on their license than women. Nearly 9% of male drivers had some points last year compared to just over 4% of female drivers.

According to a YouGov poll, which asked drivers to rank their own driving ability, men are three time more likely than women to consider their own driving ‘above-average’ too.

This masculine confidence could also explain the report which found that when approaching a traffic light flashing amber 20% of men would speed up and only 56% would slow down. The rest preferred not to say which they’d be more likely to do. Women, on the other hand, were less likely to speed up and more likely to slow down – at 17% and 62% respectively.

So, although men may start their driving lives with a spring in their step having passed first time, their over-confidence leads them to take more risks, such as speeding and using a phone, which resulted in almost one in ten receiving points on their license last year. Meanwhile, women might take longer to get on the road but when they do, they’re conscious of their ability, are more law-abiding and 25% less likely to be involved in accidents.

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Media Contact
Blake Hawksworth | Public Relations
+44 1202 684898 EXT: 260 | +44 7757 672376
blake.hawksworth@creditplus.co.uk | www.creditplus.co.uk

Notes to Editor
In 2004, Shaun Armstrong had a blue-chip career in automotive and tech but saw an opportunity to disrupt the used car finance market. Some might say the rest is history, but over the last 15 years we’ve become a leading fintech – with trusted partners such as Confused.com and MoneySupermarket – providing customers over 90 lending options and a straightforward online journey.

In 2018, Shaun welcomed Paul Nash as a joint-investor, after a thirty-year career in finance, most recently as Global Head of Asset Finance at PwC. Together they continue to lead a 100-strong team who are trusted by thousands of customers each year to source and finance vehicles.