They are less likely to have to slow down before a camera or to accelerate away from one and more women than men believe cameras are there to save lives rather than simply make ‘easy money’.
These are key findings of a new study by Brunel University in West London into differing attitudes to road safety between men and women.
It says transport officials should take its findings into account when setting road safety policies.
Paper author Dr Claire Corbett said: ‘Our findings and those of other researchers show women tend to drive and think more safely about driving and road safety matters than men.
‘It is therefore important that the views of both sexes inform any decision by policymakers to change speed limits or to adjust speed enforcement policy.
‘There seems to be an assumption of a general consensus of all drivers on these matters.’
The study was carried out on 1,100 people randomly at petrol stations.
Dr Corbett added: Four out of 10 drivers in England and Wales are women, so it seems essential that gender should be included in all studies of driving behaviour.’
The study has come under fire from the SafeSpeed campaign, whose founder Paul Smith said it was ‘ludicrous’ to equate attitudes to speed enforcement with attitudes to road safety.
Smith said: ‘This sort of nonsense will misinform the road safety debate and cost lives.’
Road safety attitudes
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