ENGLAND’S WOMEN DRIVERS

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 12751, 6 January 1936, Page 3

ENGLAND’S WOMEN DRIVERS

50 PER. CENT. FAIL IN TEST

EXPECT MEN TO GIVE WAY TO

THEM

LONDON, Nov. 3)

Fifty per cent, of women drivers — one in every two —fail to pass their driving test before the official examiners, according to an official ef the Ministry o 8 Transport. He added that one driver in every seven—men and women —fail in their first test. Most of the failures aro due to faulty signals or not making signals at all. This accounts for 30 per cent, of failures.

“Most candidates are really proficient in the purely mechanical side of driving”, said the- official. “They can reverse, run the. car into a side turning and bring the ear to rest within six inches of the curl). But they concentrate so much on the steering wheel and the gears that they forget to indicate direction by .signals. There is also a widespread misunderstanding regarding the- use of traffic lanes on arterial roads. Where, there are tliree lanes novice drivers are under the impression that, the middle lane can be used for speeding. The middle lane is just/ for overtaking.” The AJinisfry official was scathing about women, drivers.

“The average woman driver has the tube train psychology”, he said. “She expects men drivers to make way for her- This is particularly the case when they are making a righthand turn. Instead of edging over to the right to get out of the normal flow of traffic before making the turn they usually hug the left of the road and then make a sudden dive across, causing other drivers to pull up suddenly to the peril of following traffic. My criticism does not apply to all women drivers. When they are good, they are brilliant—but when they are had they are dreadful. ’’