Women are better drivers than men, study concludes

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Male chauvinists fond of criticising women drivers may be forced into a U-turn by new research that indicates it is men who are the inferior sex behind the wheel.

The study examined insurance, crime and driving test statistics – and women came out on top in almost every metric.

The research, by price comparison site Confused.com, revealed women take marginally longer to learn to drive but commit fewer motoring offences, are far less likely to be involved in an accident, and cost insurers less when they make claims.

The study also found men are almost four times as likely to commit a motoring offence than women.

Men dominate across the board when you look at the most common offences, according to the study.

In total, more than 585,000 drivers in England and Wales were taken to court for breaking the law on the road in 2017, of which 79 per cent were men.

Men were found to outnumber women five to one when it came to drink-driving offences, and two to one for driving without tax or insurance.

Almost one in four - 23 per cent - of all offences were men speeding in comparison with just one in 15 - seven per cent - where women were charged with the same offence.

The research suggests insurers are justified in using gender to hand lower motor premiums to women despite the fact this was banned under EU rules brought in six years ago.

Women currently pay £92 less than men on average for insurance cover.

The study suggests men are more likely to have bad driving habits - with 23 per cent of male motorists confessing to not indicating when switching lanes compared to 17 per cent of females.

Although the research may have concluded women can regard themselves as superior once they head out on to the road, it also showed it takes them longer to get there in the first place.

While more women took their driving test than men last year, fewer passed.