SHE SAYS...

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33034, 29 September 1972, Page 13

SHE SAYS...

I’ve decided there’s a definite class of woman motorist about who can be described as the “Friday morning terror.” It’s not often that I sally forth into the city on a Friday morning, having long ago decided that Friday shopping (and city motoring) was something to be strictly avoided. Very occasionally, though, I have to drive into town at the end of the week, and the experience is a revelation.

Several things are noticed straight away. Shopping traffic is heavier, earlier, and there is (compared with other days in the week) a big increase in the number of women driving. It’s the way the driving’s done that really causes concern. You can really expect the unexpected, and you certainly need not expect any signals. So many drivers seem quite unsure of where they are heading. Cars stall at intersections. People become flustered. Women use the time at traffic lights to check their hair, and never notice the change to green. Many of the accusations, that seem to be levelled at women drivers by the men (who nevertheless seem to have so many more accidents) come true.

The reason they all come true on this one particular morning of the week is because many women borrow the family car to go into town only on Friday mornings. And does their driving show it! Inexperienced, uncertain, even incompetent, Friday’s the one day they risk themselves behind the wheel in the city.

In quite a few cases, their husbands should share the blame for this state of affairs. If they encouraged their wives to drive more, and especially to gain experience in city traffic (other than on Friday mornings) the problems wouldn’t arise. The “female Friday morning terror” is a result of inexperience, because without experience of city traffic driving you can never gain confidence and competence. In some big overseas cities, there’s a similar phenomenon, but it’s confined to the week-ends and applies to both sexes. All those nervous, inexperienced and incompetent drivers afraid to venture out into the bustling workaday traffic, creep out on to the roads for a nice little Saturday or Sunday drive. A truly astronomical number of really silly weekend crashes and near-misses is the predictable result.