Woman Motorists Happy to Slow Down

A recent survey by the Engineering Technology Board (ETB) has found that WOMEN drivers are more likely to accept devices to stop them breaking speed limits than men. The study revealed that 49% of women surveyed believe that car speed-limiters are the most effective way to improve road safety, compared with 39% of men. The survey has been undertaken following recent Government funded trials in Leeds.

Twenty Skoda Fabias were fitted with digital road mapping equipment, which linked to a satellite positioning system. The equipment detects where the car is travelling, at what speed and what speed limits are enforced. If the car is travelling too fast, a bleeping noise is heard and the accelerator pedal vibrates. If the driver still does not respond the car brakes automatically.

Initially, the devices will be offered as an optional extra, but ministers have not ruled out making a version of the system compulsory. The ETB surveyed 500 people and found that speed limiters were the second most favoured method of reducing crashes, after harsher penalties. A total of 44% of drivers surveyed said that they believe that speed limiters should be compulsory.

Women's greater willingness to accept speed limiters reflects their tendency to observe the limit. Women currently account for only 17 per cent of speeding convictions and 3 per cent of dangerous driving convictions.

Steve Stradling, Professor of Transport Psychology at Napier University, Edinburgh, said:

"A key factor is that women get less fun out of risk-taking. "People speed because they are under pressure. Men are more likely to speed to make a business appointment."

Women's driving habits appear to be changing, however, with Home Office figures showing a steady increase in the proportion of motoring offences that they commit.