PORTUGUESE MEN are more dangerous than women behind the wheel of a car, according to a recent report. In 2004, 676 drivers died on the roads and only 49 were women, debunking the urban myth that women make bad drivers.
“Men, in particular, like to say that women make bad drivers, but all the evidence points to exactly the opposite,” said Captain Lourenço da Silva from the GNR traffic brigade. “It’s a cultural myth spread by Latin men, because, in reality, car accidents involving women are nearly always on a small scale,” he added, commenting on the latest figures released by the Direcção-Geral de Viação, Portugal’s driving authority.
Around 76 per cent of all road accidents in Portugal are caused by male drivers. Speeding and dangerous driving are cited as the principal causes. Also, according to the report, the number of men with a valid and current driving license could soon be neck-and-neck with women, meaning more women drivers are on the roads than ever before. Currently there are five million male registered drivers in Portugal, with the number of women standing at three million.
Psychologists say that men drink more, are more likely to become aggressive behind the wheel, speed, drive dangerously and show off on the road. Women on the other hand, particularly mothers, are instinctively more cautious drivers.
