(November 6, 2012) LONDON — A new survey reveals that, contrary to widespread belief, women are better drivers in terms of knowledge of the highway-code, number of penalty points and speed awareness.

A new survey from car rental comparison site Carrentals has found that women drivers perform better on the roads compared to men, highlighted by the fact they have been in fewer accidents and carry less penalty points on their driving license.

The study by Carrentals UK, which involved over 700 people over the age of 18 across the UK, asked respondents to identify common road signs and answer questions about their driving experience and ability. Results showed that men typically have more points on their license, have been caught speeding more often and have been involved in more accidents across all age groups.

The study found:

    • 57% of men had been involved in one or more accidents, compared to 44% of women
    • 45% of 36-45 year-old and 66+ male drivers had been caught speeding
    • 60% of men over 66 had been involved in an accident, compared with 30% of women in the same age group
    • Nearly one in three of all respondents incorrectly identified the "no-stopping" sign

Gareth Robinson, Managing Director of Carrentals.co.uk, said: "While men would like to believe they are better than women behind the steering wheel, it is clear to see that male drivers performed worse in terms of speeding fines and penalty points. Despite this, men consistently rated their driving skills higher than women when asked. It seems that, while men performed poorly on the questionnaire and typically had a worse track record on the roads, they believed that they were good drivers."

While women came out on top in terms of number of points and speeding, results revealed that both men and women performed poorly when identifying a number of common road signs. According to the findings, the "No Stopping" sign was the most incorrectly identified sign on the survey, with nearly one in three people answering incorrectly. A significant amount of participants who got the road signs wrong actually cited activities that are consistently illegal on the roads such as no racing, no undertaking, no speeding, no braking and end of speed limit.

The survey also showed that driving ability does not necessarily improve with age. According to the findings, over a third of those over the age of 66 had points on their license, with 30% unable to identify the national speed limit sign despite everyone in this age group holding a license for 20 years or more.

Robinson added, "It has become too easy to blame the younger generation of drivers for the rise in car-related costs, when it is clear that they are not alone when it comes to driving irresponsibly on the roads. It would seem that older drivers are just as likely to be caught speeding or be involved in an accident."

Women also appeared to be the better drivers in the over 66 category, with just 30% having been involved in an accident compared to 60% of men the same age. Men in this age group also scored significantly lower on the correct road signs and almost half had been caught speeding compared to just 15% of women. Despite this, none of the participants in this category rated their driving as poor.