Author Topic: Women and gay men are 'worst drivers'  (Read 6061 times)

roo_ster

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Women and gay men are 'worst drivers'
« on: January 07, 2008, 01:02:42 PM »
In other news, heterosexual men found "Most likely to mix stripes & plaid."

Women and gay men are likely to be the worst drivers, a new study has shown.

Research has revealed that both perform poorly in tasks involving navigation and spatial awareness when compared to heterosexual men.

Psychologists at Queen Mary, University of London, who conducted the study, believe the findings mean driving in a strange environment would be more difficult for gay men and women than for straight male motorists.

Both tend to rely on local landmarks to get around, and are also slower to take in spatial information.

The computer-based tests were carried out on 140 volunteers, and demonstrated that gay men, straight women and lesbians navigated in a similar way, sharing the same weaknesses.
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The results back earlier studies supporting the stereotype that women are poor navigators.

Although women are more successful in tests requiring them to remember the position of objects, men consistently do better in tasks requiring navigation and uncovering hidden objects.

The research team, led by Dr Qazi Rahman, used virtual reality simulations of two common tests of spatial learning and memory developed at Yale University.

In one, volunteers had to swim through an underwater maze to find a hidden platform, while the second involved exploring radial arms projecting from a central junction to receive 'rewards' .

Dr Rahman said: "Men are good at using distal, or geometrical cues, to decide if theyre going north or south, for instance. They have a better basic sense of direction, but they can use local land marks as well.

"Driving in a novel environment which is poor in cues is where these differences are likely to show up most.

"Women are going to take a lot longer to reach their destination, making more errors, taking wrong turns etc. They need more rich local landmarks."

Dr Rahman added that a similar performance between gay and straight men in the radial arms test showed that the divisions between sexual groups were not straightforward.

"Gay people appear to show a mosaic of performance, parts of which are male-like and other parts of which are female-like," he said.
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roo_ster

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Paddy

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Re: Women and gay men are 'worst drivers'
« Reply #1 on: January 07, 2008, 01:38:58 PM »
No, Asians are the worst drivers.  Either male or female, makes no diff.  I know this because I lived in Orange County for awhile.

atomd

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Re: Women and gay men are 'worst drivers'
« Reply #2 on: January 07, 2008, 01:46:45 PM »
What he said

Declaration Day

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Re: Women and gay men are 'worst drivers'
« Reply #3 on: January 07, 2008, 01:46:59 PM »
I have to agree with RileyMc.  It's just as bad here in MI.  They drive around aimlessly, without the use of turn signals, and apparently unaware that other drivers are on the road.  Pull up next to them and marvel at the blank, oblivious stare in their faces.

BTW, I'm 1/4 asian, and am thankful to have caucasian driving skills.   grin

Perd Hapley

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Re: Women and gay men are 'worst drivers'
« Reply #4 on: January 07, 2008, 02:02:53 PM »
Not that many Asians around here, but NOBODY uses their turn signals.

OK, it's not that bad, there are a few of us.  And, hey, at least some people turn it on when they're half-way into your lane, six feet ahead of you.  Very helpful, that is. 
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never_retreat

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Re: Women and gay men are 'worst drivers'
« Reply #5 on: January 07, 2008, 02:55:21 PM »
DWA driving while asian
DWI driving while indian

the second is usually worse IMO
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thebaldguy

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Re: Women and gay men are 'worst drivers'
« Reply #6 on: January 07, 2008, 03:23:51 PM »
Try college students. The new thing is people will text messge and drive. I can't tell you how many times I've seen kids driving around looking like they're staring at the floor. Every so often they look up to see if they've hit anything yet. The worse I've seen was a young girl texting at 65 MPH down a highway on a windy day; her car would drift over into the other lane, and she'd move back and continue to text.

Unreal. If I get hit by some kid he will probably be too busy on a cell phone to pay attention.

280plus

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Re: Women and gay men are 'worst drivers'
« Reply #7 on: January 07, 2008, 03:25:18 PM »
Oh, I don't know, I once watched an Indian woman (she was wearing a sari) do two complete 360s on an icy road in her Taurus wagon, straighten it out and keep on going without missing a beat.   shocked

cheesy

Now, let's talk Mass-holes...  grin
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cassandra and sara's daddy

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Re: Women and gay men are 'worst drivers'
« Reply #8 on: January 07, 2008, 03:57:52 PM »
we call it dwo here  driving while oriental. left lane at or below speed limit.
1'm 1/2 japanese and i chuckled first time i heard it

French G.

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Re: Women and gay men are 'worst drivers'
« Reply #9 on: January 07, 2008, 04:22:31 PM »
So I guess it's time to revise "Women drivers, no survivors." (BTW my little sister, working on getting her own race car hates that phrase.  grin )

 Now it will be "Asian lesbian college student backberry user driver, no survivors." 
AKA Navy Joe   

I'm so contrarian that I didn't respond to the thread.

BridgeWalker

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Re: Women and gay men are 'worst drivers'
« Reply #10 on: January 07, 2008, 05:15:23 PM »
I'm confused.  The title says "drivers" but the article says "navigators". 

There're more skills than navigation involved in driving and most crashes happen near home, in very familiar places.  There's a couple real bizarre leaps there.

atomd

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Re: Women and gay men are 'worst drivers'
« Reply #11 on: January 07, 2008, 06:13:50 PM »
Now, let's talk Mass-holes...  grin

Here's my take on drivers in the northeast after spending the last 4-5 years going back and forth from MA to ME about once per week. I think the MA drivers are actually better than the RI and NH drivers. At least in MA you know that these jerks are going to drive as fast as possible with little regard for anyone else. You stay out of the passing lane and you're OK (except for those weaving drivers here and there). You know what to look for (a car going 20-30mph over the limit who will navigate within inches of your car if needed). The closer you get to Boston, the crazier they get. A lot of these drivers can actually drive well but they completely lack regard for others.

In RI they drive pretty much the same way as MA with a tiny bit less attitude. The only problem is that there's a much better chance they are in a car crappier than yours and don't have any insurance.

The NH drivers are the worst tailgaters, usually in pickup trucks with loud exhaust. They just tailgate like crazy for no reason. They will tailgate you even if you are in the travel lane going 10-15 mph over the limit and the passing lane is completely clear for miles. Once they finally pass, you'll find them back in the travel lane going slower than you. I don't get them at all. I think their outright recklessness is less than the MA driver but their driving skills overall seem way lower (if you don't believe me, watch them try to parallel park). They aren't as predictable and they don't signal either. These days they seem to have the same "FU" attitude as the Massholes too. They will stick around and annoy longer than the MA drivers which makes them bother me the most.

The ME driver is just the overall slow driver. They will go under the speed limit in the passing lane. They won't move out of the way either. I don't know if they aren't paying attention or they just don't care but nothing will convince them to reach the speed limit or get out of the way. They are annoying and not the best drivers...but at least they are predictable. They also sit at green lights a lot longer too. They are the least aggressive of the bunch but I think overall the safest of the group because they just won't go fast enough to do as much damage as the others.

Antibubba

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Re: Women and gay men are 'worst drivers'
« Reply #12 on: January 07, 2008, 08:27:48 PM »
It's obvious the researchers have never been in an automobile in Miami, Florida, or they'd know about Haitian drivers.
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Jamisjockey

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Re: Women and gay men are 'worst drivers'
« Reply #13 on: January 08, 2008, 03:30:38 AM »
You're all wrong.
Head to SW Arizona in the winter.  Encounter the scourge known as a "snowbird".
Regardless of ethnicity, religion, sex or sexual orientation....
You'll learn the meaning of defensive driving when a bluehair comes from the left lane to make a right hand turn in a 30' RV towing a 1/2ton pickup truck with a fishing boat on top.

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MechAg94

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Re: Women and gay men are 'worst drivers'
« Reply #14 on: January 08, 2008, 04:23:29 AM »
Did the article even consider race at all?  I have seen bad drivers of all sorts.  The only really consistent factor I can think of is distracting devices like cell phones.  But then I don't always look around to notice what other drivers look like.  I just pay attention to what their car is doing.


I think all this really says is that women and men think differently and solve problems differently and evidence can be found for that in how they navigate in an automobile.  Nothing more. 
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griz

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Re: Women and gay men are 'worst drivers'
« Reply #15 on: January 08, 2008, 06:31:14 AM »
Quote
but NOBODY uses their turn signals

What is this "turn signal" to which you refer?
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Warhorse

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Re: Women and gay men are 'worst drivers'
« Reply #16 on: January 08, 2008, 01:26:40 PM »
Folks, I have been around a rather long time and am firmly convinced that the doofus density has been rapidly increasing to nearly unmanagable proportions. The advent of the cell phone has contributed enormously to this phenomenon as you have surely noticed. The higher the population density, the worse it seems to be.

We talk of such things as "situational awareness" but I suspect that the overwhelming percentage of our population is "situationally oblivious!" Too many people seem to be totally unconscious of anyone or anything going on around them. Could this be a result of the "ME" generation, just a defensive reaction to population density and the resulting lack of personal space and privacy or perhaps they simply don't care about anyone but themselves?

For those who have had the "pleasure" of driving anywhere in MA, especially closer to Boston, here's a little anecdote: I spent a lengthy TDY in Boston a couple of decades ago and the horrible experience of trying to get through the Calahan Tunnel is burned into my memory. I finally figured out how the natives get through it. They close their eyes and step on the gas! During that tour, one of the men who worked for me was actually stopped and chewed out by a cop for NOT running a red light! (Yeah, that really happened. I was there!)

OK. Rant mode off. Thanks for letting me get some of that off my chest.

Warhorse
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Paddy

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Re: Women and gay men are 'worst drivers'
« Reply #17 on: January 08, 2008, 01:35:54 PM »
Quote
Could this be a result of the "ME" generation,

To whom do you refer?  Boomers or Gen-Xr's?

Warhorse

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Re: Women and gay men are 'worst drivers'
« Reply #18 on: January 08, 2008, 03:11:49 PM »
Riley:

Quote
To whom do you refer?  Boomers or Gen-Xr's?

Does it matter? The general populance seems to be cut from the same cloth, at least in the subject arena.

Warhorse
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wooderson

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Re: Women and gay men are 'worst drivers'
« Reply #19 on: January 08, 2008, 03:17:37 PM »
Seems the universal opinion is "EVERYONE is a terrible driver, except for me and possibly people who look like me or share my cultural values. And not all of them."

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Perd Hapley

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Re: Women and gay men are 'worst drivers'
« Reply #20 on: January 08, 2008, 05:42:36 PM »
Well, actually no one said anything much like that.

And I will admit to being a terrible driver.  Another sign that I am actually "gay."   shocked
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BridgeWalker

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Re: Women and gay men are 'worst drivers'
« Reply #21 on: January 08, 2008, 06:16:03 PM »
Seems the universal opinion is "EVERYONE is a terrible driver, except for me and possibly people who look like me or share my cultural values. And not all of them."

Nah, I'm perfectly willing to admit that female Jewish Catholic law students with a serious gun obsession are crappy drivers.  Unless they are me, in which case they are awesome drivers.  So you're half right... cheesy

BlueStarLizzard

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Re: Women and gay men are 'worst drivers'
« Reply #22 on: January 09, 2008, 11:09:45 AM »
dads a courier and he maintains that early 20 something girls ( like me) are typically the worst drivers. its more for the talking on cell phone and thinking one is hot sh*t behind the wheel that actual skill.
its the older folks who scare me. when all you can see of grannie is her little white bun sticking up over the top of the steering wheel, its time for a bit of deffensive driving. oh, and the other scary one is tourist on VA rt. 53.
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CAnnoneer

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Re: Women and gay men are 'worst drivers'
« Reply #23 on: January 09, 2008, 03:14:59 PM »
In my experience:
1) most of the bad drivers are women, but the very worst drivers are almost exclusively men.
2) on average, men are somewhat better navigators while women do tend to think in terms of landmarks

Paddy

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Re: Women and gay men are 'worst drivers'
« Reply #24 on: January 09, 2008, 03:16:06 PM »
Has anybody noticed the increasing number of women road ragers?   I mean really aggressive women drivers?