Women's Car Insurance
One in five women drivers shun motorways
Mon, 24 Oct 2005
Almost 20 per cent of female drivers in the UK avoid driving on motorways because they are afraid of breaking down, a survey has revealed.
More than two and a half million women drivers were found to travel an extra 384 miles a year in order to avoid Britain's major roads, research carried out on behalf of Direct Line has found.
The survey also showed that the thought of breaking down on a motorway made 45 per cent of those questioned feel vulnerable, while more than a quarter said they felt apprehensive about having an accident.
According to Direct Line, most women's car insurance claims involve incidental bumps and scrapes, where as claims made by men tend to involve larger scale crashes.
Sue Nicholson, of RAC Scotland, told the Scotsman: "We mainly find that people who are afraid of motorways are those that are inexperienced. Women tend to drive less than men, which may account for some of the figures.
"Women, however, are getting more aggressive in their driving and I suspect if you did the same survey in 20 years time the results would be different."
Road experts claim however that motorists are statistically less likely to crash on the motorway than on any other road.
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