History Main / WomenDrivers

** In the cliffhanger ending to "Twice Upon A Time", the newly regenerated Thirteen presses a single button, causes an immediate error message and StuffBlowingUp and finds herself ThrownOutTheAirlock, watching a fire-wreathed TARDIS dematerializing before her horrified eyes as she's falling to her death. This's entirely in keeping with what her predecessors did post-regeneration; Ten had the TARDIS bouncing around a council estate like a pinball, Eleven started out in a TARDIS that was on fire and crashing, and nearly pitched himself out mid-air over London, and Twelve got the TARDIS swallowed by a dinosaur!

--> [[YouFailLawForever Lois, you know it's illegal for women to drive]].

* Becomes an InvokedTrope in another Ian Fleming [[Literature/ForYourEyesOnly short story]], when a female agent in Paris tells Literature/JamesBond that she drives a battered car so other drivers will stay well clear and she can get to work faster.

-->-- ''Series/{{NCIS}}'', "Enemies Foreign", about [[DrivesLikeCrazy Ziva]].

* For all the [[{{Pun}} stick]] they give to [[AcceptableLifestyleTargets some people]], and despite their TestosteronePoisoning personae, the hosts of ''Series/{{Top Gear|UK}}'' never have a bad word to say about women drivers. In fact, they even had racing driver Sabine Schmitz coaching Jeremy Clarkson (in a Jaguar) round the Nurburgring, and then trouncing his lap time. Then in a later episode nearly beating his time in a ''Ford Transit van''. Having guest stars like Jennifer Saunders, Billie Piper, Jodie Kidd, and yachtswomen Ellen [=McArthur=] (who set the fastest lap in the old car) drive the Reasonably-Priced Car round the track quite rapidly also subverts this one rather nicely.
** "Look at me, I'm a man in my Porsche... and then suddenly they're overtaken by a ''Van'' driven by ''a girl''!" is how Richard Hammond described Sabine Schmitz's driving of the Ford Transit van around the Nurburgring.

** There's an old French saying about this: "Femme au volant, mort au tournant" ("Woman driving, death at the next turn").

** In Italy the saying goes "Donna al volante, pericolo costante" ("Woman driving, constant danger")

** Tellingly, Katherine Legge is now known just as much for looking [[http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://i.a.cnn.net/si/features/2008_swimsuit/images/sections/other_danica-patrick_2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/2008_swimsuit/danica-patrick/&usg=__vELbOlKAq-6UL8Y8OiiFy-mf3XA=&h=300&w=415&sz=25&hl=en&start=5&um=1&tbnid=KHTwxqe7xDy6NM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=125&prev=/images%3Fq%3DDanica%2BPatrick%2Bswimsuit%2Bphotos%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DX%26um%3D1 extremely hot in a swimsuit]] as she is for being a racing driver. As such...regarding Danica ''specifically''...HypeBacklash moving toward {{Hatedom}}, especially from many who ''despise'' the sexualizing of their chosen [[strike:sport]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSzgwCql_mo drug-of-choice]].

Statistically speaking, women tend to have more accidents than men, but these accidents are far less serious than accidents caused by male drivers--women are more likely to scratch your car on the parking lot, but men are more likely to drive past a red light and into you at 100kmph. In locales where insurance companies are allowed to give different premiums for men and women, women's premiums will be ''less'' than men's as the overall cost to the insurance company of covering women is actually lower than the equivalent men.

* Studies differ, but one thing constantly seen is that men get in more accidents, but only because they drive more. Women tend to get in more accidents per mile driven (in the range of 10%), though these accidents tend to be far less severe than male ones. Young men get in more accidents than young women, and older women in more than older men.
* Inverted by auto insurance rates, especially for young drivers. Male drivers are often charged a higher premium because they're over-represented in severe crashes that are more likely to total the car or result in serious injury or death. Women do tend to get into more accidents on a purely numerical level, but the vast majority of these are just minor brush-ups that don't cost insurance companies as much. The disparity actually got to the point where the European Parliament forced insurance companies to stop charging different premiums based on gender because they were unfairly discriminating against ''men''.
** Statistics have actually proven that women are better drivers than men, and that [[http://glo.msn.com/relationships/13-things-women-do-better-than-men-8805.gallery?photoId=129098 women also survive car accidents more often than men do (sad, but true)]].

* Studies differ, but one thing constantly seen is that men get in more accidents, but only because they drive more. Women tend to get in more accidents per mile driven (in the range of 10%). Young men get in more accidents than young women, and older women in more than older men.

* Inverted by auto insurance rates, especially for young drivers. Male drivers are often charged a higher premium because they're over-represented in severe crashes that are more likely to total the car or result in serious injury or death. Women do tend to get into more accidents on a purely numerical level, but the vast majority of these are just minor brush-ups that don't cost insurance companies as much. The disparity actually got to the point where the European Parliament forced insurance companies to stop charging different premiums based on gender because they were unfairly discriminating against ''men''.
** Statistics have actually proven that women are better drivers than men, and that [[http://glo.msn.com/relationships/13-things-women-do-better-than-men-8805.gallery?photoId=129098 women also survive car accidents more often than men do (sad, but true)]].

* On one episode of ''Series/{{Top Gear|UK}}'' ([[ClueFromEd Series 5, Episode 6]]), a relative unknown by the name of Billy Baxter asked to take a power lap in the Suzuki Liana. As Jeremy Clarkson explained, many, many people have so asked, but they answered this one because the guy was literally ''totally blind'' ... but still thought he could beat Richard Whitley's lap time. Long story short: [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome he did]] - in fact, he beat Terry Wogan's time as well. ...and half the places where the video is published or linked online say, "Blind Man Beats Woman Driver", despite neither of those men ''being'' women.

* A "joke" that still rears its head on message boards whenever a female race car driver has an embarrassing incident -- like [[UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}} Danica Patrick]] hitting her pit crew at one race, then hitting someone's else crew a few races later. Considering male drivers like [[UsefulNotes/IndyCar Paul Tracy]] used to make a habit of such minor incidents the double standard is pretty tired. Interestingly when Katherine Legge had a ''huge'' crash, splitting her [[UsefulNotes/IndyCar Champ Car]] in half and emerging unharmed, there weren't any "LOL Women Drivers" comments, just a lot of compliments about her toughness. (Then again, even the most douchey person can't reasonably blame driving ability when a rear wing element ''broke off'' going into a non-banked flat-out corner. Unlike some crashes where the most skilled drivers would have a chance of saving the car, it was a matter where the best driver in the world would still have been going into that wall.)

Also, from the late 1940s to roughly the mid 1960s, women did tend to be poorer drivers than men of the same age, simply because they usually learned later in life, from poorer instructors (their husbands, rather than professionals), and until the two-car family became commonplace, had less opportunity to practice, as men made more use of the car. Also, before power steering became standard, driving needed a fair amount of upper-body strength, especially large vehicles. Even during that period, though, this trope was at best a considerable exaggeration of the actuality.

->'''Vance''': Most fathers teach their daughters to drive. I have ''you'' to blame for this?\\
'''Eli David''': This she learned from her mother.

* Deconstructed in the NewZealand comedy show ''Funny Girls'' [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3822534/New-Zealand-comedians-Funny-Girls-sketch-uses-fake-Holden-car-advert-mock-sexism.html in this spoof truck advert]].

* In ''Literature/TheGreatGatsby'', both female leads are awful drivers though they both tends more to the DrivesLikeCrazy. [[spoiler:Daisy Buchanan eventually kills someone who runs out into the middle of the road]], and Jordan Baker admits to being a reckless driver and doesn't care at all about other drivers. Her irresponsible driving is used as another example of her extreme selfishness.

* In the sci-fi sitcom ''Come Back Mrs Noah'', one of the BridgeBunnies pilots the rescue rocket sent to retrieve the title character, only to miss their launch window because she [[RuleOfFunny floods the engine]].

* For all the [[{{Pun}} stick]] they give to [[AcceptableLifestyleTargets some people]], and despite their TestosteronePoisoning personae, the hosts of ''Series/TopGear'' never have a bad word to say about women drivers. In fact, they even had racing driver Sabine Schmitz coaching Jeremy Clarkson (in a Jaguar) round the Nurburgring, and then trouncing his lap time. Then in a later episode nearly beating his time in a ''Ford Transit van''. Having guest stars like Jennifer Saunders, Billie Piper, Jodie Kidd, and yachtswomen Ellen [=McArthur=] (who set the fastest lap in the old car) drive the Reasonably-Priced Car round the track quite rapidly also subverts this one rather nicely.

* ''Series/TopGear'''s rival shot ''Series/FifthGear'' has Vicki Butler-Henderson (who also used to be a presenter on the old version of ''Top Gear'') happily averting this trope.

* On one episode of TopGear ([[ClueFromEd Series 5, Episode 6]]), a relative unknown by the name of Billy Baxter asked to take a power lap in the Suzuki Liana. As Jeremy Clarkson explained, many, many people have so asked, but they answered this one because the guy was literally ''totally blind'' ... but still thought he could beat Richard Whitley's lap time. Long story short: [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome he did]] - in fact, he beat Terry Wogan's time as well. ...and half the places where the video is published or linked online say, "Blind Man Beats Woman Driver", despite neither of those men ''being'' women.

* Similarly, Yukari from ''Manga/FamilyCompo'' is a [[{{Transsexual}} transgender]] {{housewife}} who has a driver's license but hasn't actually been behind the wheel in fifteen years. On the one occasion when she does take the car out, she winds up driving against traffic and ''jumping a barrier'' to get onto the right side of the road.

* Jeremy Hardy on ''Radio/TheNewsQuiz'' and ''Jeremy Hardy Speaks to the Nation'' sometimes takes on the persona of a patronising sexist twit, with the joke being intended to be at the expense of sexist twits (key sign: putting on a posh voice and referring to "the <i>la</i>dies" or "women of the opposite gender"). Quite common in these routines are references to women putting on their makeup in the rear view mirror, or leaving the shopping on the car roof.

** Allstate's latest commercial defies this trope. It features a woman rubbing the fact that she got a safe-driving bonus check from Allstate in the face of her male companion after he tries to claim that men are better drivers (with the implication that he isn't a good enough driver to receive one).

* In ''Manga/MaisonIkkoku,'' Kyoko has a license but hasn't been behind the wheel in years. As Shun puts it when asked to ride shotgun, 'Nothing would make me happier than to die at your hands.'
** She would have had very professional instruction, but has no seat time without an instructor (in Japanese slang a "paper driver"). Interestingly, her Niece says that she "Drove like a man, and passed lots of cars."
* Similarly, Yukari from ''Manga/FamilyCompo'' is a [[{{Transsexual}} transgender]] housewife who has a driver's license but hasn't actually been behind the wheel in fifteen years. On the one occasion when she does take the car out, she winds up driving against traffic and ''jumping a barrier'' to get onto the right side of the road.

* A frequent, frequent, frequent punchline to Franchise/ArchieComics circa 1960. Arch was always afraid of lending [[TheAllegedCar Ol' Betsy]] out to Betty, for fear that she'd "drive like a woman" and somehow destroy it (more). Particularly funny considering Betty [[CharacterizationMarchesOn eventually evolved]] into a WrenchWench and one of the only people who could successfully get Betsy running.

* Definitely averted (or subverted?) in 1914 silent ''Mabel at the Wheel'', starring Mabel Normand, who stands in for her boyfriend in a car race after he gets kidnapped by the villain (unusually played by Creator/CharlieChaplin)- and, despite his attempts to thwart her at every turn, wins.

** Sure enough it's the cliffhanger ending to "Twice Upon A Time". The newly regenerated Doctor presses a single button, causes an immediate error message and StuffBlowingUp and finds herself ThrownOutTheAirlock, watching a fire-wreathed TARDIS dematerializing before her horrified eyes as she's falling to her death. Then again maybe that's [[ThirteenIsUnlucky just because she's the Thirteen Doctor]].

* ''ComicBook/MortadeloYFilemon'': Exploited by Mortadelo. One trick he has pulled once or twice to shake off pursuers in a car chase consists in disguising as a woman, then [[BatmanGambit using blinkers properly]].