What Makes a Good Driver?

According to stereotypes, women are worse drivers than men, but is that really true? According to a 2020 study of road fatality data, women are better drivers than men, as men do twice as many road fatalities as women. But, is this really correlated to gender? Partly, yes. As all know, men are stricken by an attitude that goes by the name of "toxic masculinity," but in the case of driving, it causes a case of boasting how well someone can handle a car--to the point of purposely putting themselves in dangerous situations.

We are all bad drivers

I would like to consider my own driving experience: I'm a driver, and a female, but I haven't done anything bad enough as a driver to hurt someone--yes, some curbs were hit, but let's not talk about that. Compared to male drivers, I can't say I have actively watched them drive, but I can say that there's not a big difference between my driving and their driving. If considering the everyday experience, women and men drive at the same level of lethality.

According to the Smithsonian Magazine, the myth was first conceived in the animated show, "The Jetsons," where female drivers of 2063 are shown driving horribly--and obviously, if an animated show, that discusses the average person driving a UFO, says anything, it must be 100% factual. This episode was aired in 1963, so it shows how one "jest" can carry a stereotype that still alive during the modern era.

The myth only allows for men to be benefited, as it praises their driving skills and undermines women's. This includes how men are most commonly represented when sports including driving are shown.