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To Each His Own

I was just catching up with some friends over drinks the other night and the conversation came round to bad driving behaviour on the road.

We were recalling and exchanging our experiences with feisty angst and soon started listing causes of bad driving behaviour.

Taxi drivers, bus drivers, P-platers, teenagers, and all was fine until someone said, “Lady drivers!”

As I happened to be the only female at the table, all eyes turned to me and I could feel the indignation building up within me as I inhaled sharply.

You see, I can’t entirely blame the guy. The stereotype about female drivers being inferior drivers has been around since forever.

Hell, even I am guilty of swearing “It has to be a lady driver!” under my breath when I see a woman holding up traffic or taking five tries to get into a lot.

This argument about men making better drivers than women has been going on forever.

But nothing has been able to resolve this argument in favour of women; despite insurance companies worldwide having evidence that men have more aggressive driving habits than women and are more likely to be involved in accidents.

Think about it, men generally spend more time behind the wheel than women.

So by clocking more driving hours, more mileage on the road and becoming more familiar with the car, you would think that it’s only natural to become better at driving.

I’m sorry; I can’t help but beg to differ.

Taxi drivers spend the most time on the roads but I can’t say that they are the best of drivers.

Besides, spending more time on the road than women and yet having a higher rate of crashing? I wonder who’s more dangerous.

Essentially, men and women have different personality traits that lead to different driving styles.

Men have innate risk-taking tendencies which may result in better control of the car, or have them negated by recklessness due to overconfidence and too much risk.

Women on the other hand, are usually disinterested in cars and their risk-adverse tendencies help to keep them out of trouble.

To me, simple things like not acknowledging acts of courtesy or intentionally not giving way make fine examples of bad driving behaviour.

Let’s not even get to tailgating, reckless overtaking or failing to obey traffic signs.

And both men and women are guilty of such acts. I mean honestly, does putting up a hand to say thank you really require a lot of energy?

If you ask me, I think driving behaviour is unique to each individual, regardless of gender.

A recent study by neuroscientists from University of California, Irvine, concluded that “bad driving may in part be genetically based”.

Results showed that people with a particular gene variant drove more than 20 percent worse than people without it.

Therefore, I feel that the greatest cause of bad driving behaviour is the human factor.

One’s personality, attitude towards driving, as well as respect for other motorists on the road is most crucial.

An outspoken character is more likely to drive aggressively as compared to a timid one. Likewise, adopting and practising good driving habits help to keep the roads safer.

Can I also advise to try and avoid driving if you’re feeling sleepy? This small act of consideration may just save lives.

One driver’s behaviour is responsible for the other driver’s behaviour as their actions directly affect and impact each other on the roads.

Let me give you a scenario:

This car was annoying me as he zipped in and out behind me, trying to overtake. Finally he ends up on the lane next to me and tries to get into my lane ahead of me.

Because of how he irritated me earlier, I intentionally refuse to let this car in, so I follow the car in front of me very closely. Alas, a brief moment of negligence caused me to rear-end the car in front of me.

Very simply, one thing leads to another and we are all part of a web of intricate driving relationships when we are on the roads.

And that’s the beauty of driving – How each driver silently communicates with each other as they move in mutual co-operation.

Before I go, I just have one favour to ask.

When you drive, make sure you are not guilty of committing the same act before you make a wild accusation that it must be a woman behind that bad driving.
Not one to hanker after the latest handbag from Chanel or the newest lipstick colour from Bobbi Brown, Cheryl Tay instead spends her time checking out the hottest cars and keeping up with motorsports like Formula 1.  The best way to express this automotive passion of hers is through words, as reflected through her writings (www.cheryltay.wordpress.com). Said to ‘have fuel in her blood’ and ‘a mind of nothing but cars and motorsports’, the 23-year-old freelance motoring writer hopes to share this passion with more like-minded people and also reach out to the female motoring audience so as to increase awareness of the significant share of voice that females have in today’s automotive world. 

“Anyone who drives in Singapore, even for one day, will inevitably shake his head more in sadness than in frustration at the reckless antics on our roads. One foreign driver was sufficiently peeved to write to the newspaper here. Why, he asked, with such beautiful road infrastructure yet our drivers drive like manics?

Young drivers in their souped-up Subaru, Lancer and Honda turn our expressways and roads into race tracks. They even dare to race along Orchard Road. These people think they’re Formula 1 material, inspired by watching too many episodes of F1 on TV no doubt. They fool themselves really. It’s the alertness and evasive actions that other law-abiding drivers take that enable these hotheads to repeat their craziness on yet another day.

The strange thing about driving is that road hogs seem to hoose the very day when you’re in a hurry. Hugging the outermost lane, and a stubborn refusal to give way to faster vehicles are the mindset of such drivers who think driving at 90 kph give them the right to stick to the lane. Not only do they endanger themselves but other road users as well as frustrated drivers overtake them on the left. It’s both pride and sheer ignorance on display here.

Perhaps, the most annoying thing is rampant queue-jumping. After you have taken the right lane and been in the queue for ten minutes or so, along comes a car that squeezes into the small space in front of you. It’s at this critical moment when you have murderous intentions!

Sadly, reckless, dangerous, rude and inconsiderate driving have become the culture in Singapore. This is largely due to the lack of effective enforcement of traffic rules. In my view only strict policing and a zero tolerance towards errant driving can eradicate the menace, and make our roads and expressways safe for all road users.

If on any day, I can drive without any aggravation from other drivers I’ll feel blessed. To prevent my blood pressure from escalating, I’ve adopted the strategy of overlooking three instances of atrocious driving before I get worked up.

Singapore drivers can drive you up the wall. It’s a free-for-all on our roads is the inescapable conclusion. Am I alone in feeling this way?”

Roger Poh is a freelance writer, specialising in travel writing. He has been driving for more than 30 years in both Singapore and Malaysia. He travels quite frequently, as a backpacker, for his travel stories. A fitness fanatic, you find him in the gym on most days. A prolific contributor to the local newspapers’ letters page until the advent of blogging. Read his writing at http://footlooseinasia.blogspot.com/ and http://rogerpoh.wordpress.com/