# Male/female drivers: who's worse? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 17, 2003, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-female-drivers-whos-worse/189189 "2003-07-17T17:27:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-female-drivers-whos-worse/189189/21 "2003-07-19T13:55:34Z")
Such “cornering” is not inevitable – large industries can be surprisingly unified against such actions (recall the recent price-fixing suit successfully brought against the CD companies – why didn’t someone just start selling CDs cheaper?) Also, large-cap industries like insurance can be tough for newcomers to move into and set up shop. Yes, costs are a factor in setting prices. I just asserted that here they may not be the _only_ factor. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Great Unwashed \* > \*\*It’s hard to see how such a pricing mechanism could be sustained “industry wide” – some individual insurer would “drop-out” from the over-pricing, thus “cornering” the market. > > Anyway, surely, it is a tenet that capitalist pricing mechanisms are driven by marginal costs (because that is what the market will bear). \*\* ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-female-drivers-whos-worse/189189/22 "2003-07-19T14:11:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by shijinn \* > \*\*i think the better, more experienced driver will tend to be more careless, whereas the newbie will be more careful on the roads… \*\* You’d think, wouldn’t you, but alas, not so… And, **F. U. Shakespeare** , the market for CDs is _not_ comparable to that for motor insurance – the contents of a CD are _monopolistically_ owned by a label, motor insurance is all “much of a kind”, the type of pricing that you refer to is not unusual under monopoly conditions. Please (even though this thread has been bizarrely moved to IMHO (surely it’s at least a Great Debate?)), if you think you can argue your point with citations I’d be greatly interested, because I certainly agree that suppliers tend to charge what they can get away with, just in this case I think what they can get away with is marginal cost pricing. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-female-drivers-whos-worse/189189/23 "2003-07-19T14:37:10Z")
**The Great Unwashed** , I will concede your point about there being _some_ difference between the nature of those two markets. For the record though (pardon the pun), the copyrighted contents of a particular CD should be no barrier to some entrepreneur going out and starting their own label, signing stars away from the existing labels, creating new stars, etc., and selling CDs for less. In fact, plenty of indie labels have been doing this. But they don’t seem to have prevented CD price fixing. I reiterate that it takes a lot of capital to start an insurance company. (And insurance is indeed a risky business, and maybe less attractive to that capital than other, safer ventures). IMHO, all of this raises the possibility that insurance companies may not be telling us everything in how they set their rates. ---
**Author:** ![Mercury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e95f7d/32.png) [@Mercury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mercury)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-female-drivers-whos-worse/189189/24 "2003-07-19T23:50:38Z")
**skeptic\_ev** , I think you’re totally on to something! Men are taller, cars are made for men. Case in point: airbags. An airbag can kill a person under a certain height (I think 5’4") because a person that size will have to sit close to the wheel to reach the pedals. While I was researching my Taurus, I read that Ford was now marketing them more towards women than men. The Taurus now has adjustable pedals. When I drive my mom’s Forester, the steering wheel is practically in my lap in order for me to reach the gas. The brake and the clutch are ok, but stepping on the gas is no easy feat for the short among us. (My mom’s 5’8" and I’m jealous.) ---
**Author:** ![Gozu\_Tashoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@Gozu\_Tashoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu_Tashoya)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-female-drivers-whos-worse/189189/25 "2003-07-20T04:53:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Murasaki312a \* > \*\*Really? I find just the opposite (since we’re making observations and sweeping generalizations). I find that men are the ones whose minds are on “other things” as you put it. Rarely do I see a woman driver with her wrist draped over the top of the wheel and half her body in the center of the vehicle while the other hand scratches nuts or picks nose. Rarely do I see a pick-up with three women scrunched in the front seat going to a construction site going 45 in a 60 zone. And no, popular as it is to tell the old story about seeing women applying make up (Oh but I’m sure you REALLY did), I’ve never even seen it once. I will say that I see far too many women (and some men) talking on cell phones while driving. Bad idea in my opinion. > \*\* Anecdotal data: I have seen women putting on makeup while driving. However I tend to see more men talking on their cell phones while driving (and driving like total freaking morons while doing so, btw) than women. Also, all the drunk drivers (or, to be more precise, drivers that were weaving all over the road) were men. Of course none of these mean they were necessarily bad drivers (at least while not hampering their abilities to drive), just much, much stupider ones. ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-female-drivers-whos-worse/189189/26 "2003-07-20T06:05:26Z")
Well, here’s my observations: Drivers that are too fast, or too careless, or have terrible macho issues, or have hair-trigger tempers, or who are otherwise inconsiderate, reckless, or unaccomodating - male. Drivers that are timid, indecisive, or absent-minded, or don’t watch where they’re going, or spook incredibly easily, or get distracted, or simply don’t pay attention to the world around them - female. _Every single incident_ that I’ve witnessed. One of which happened to ME (rather not talk about it). It’s uncanny. The bottom line is that drivers who can’t deal with normal road conditions, for whatever reason, shouldn’t be driving. Doesn’t matter how good or bad anyone is. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-female-drivers-whos-worse/189189/27 "2003-07-20T13:53:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DKW \* > **_Every single incident_ that I’ve witnessed. One of which happened to ME (rather not talk about it). It’s uncanny.** Sentences doubtful coherent not! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-female-drivers-whos-worse/189189.md?page=1)