5/29/2005
Danica Patrick turned the racing world on its ear by giving one of the best
performances by a rookie in the 89 year history of the Indianapolis 500 Memorial
Day Race.
At 23 years old, this 5'2" 100lb race car driver came in at 4th
place in Sunday's race despite the fact that she found herself at the
back of the pack on two separate occasions. If it wasn't for the
fact that she was running on fumes for the last few laps and had to
relinquish her lead to conserving fuel so that she could finish, there
was a good chance she could have taken the checkered flag. She
made history by being the first woman to ever lead the race (she was
out front for 19 of the 250 laps).
During post race interviews, if a reporter asked her how she felt
about doing so much for women in racing, she would bristle at the
comment. Her reply was; "I made a hell of a point for anybody,
are you kidding me?".
Way to go Danica!
The term "woman driver" is typically used as part of a negative stereotype of
female driving skills. I decided to check the statistics to see what foundation there is
for this often-used phrase and I found that, according to the National Highway Traffic and
Safety Administration (NHTSA)
"The male fatal crash involvement rate per 100,000 population was 3 times as high
as for female drivers in 1994. Female drivers continue to exhibit safer driving statistics
than male drivers. Males accounted for 67 percent of total fatalities, 68 percent of all
pedestrian fatalities, and 86 percent of all pedalcyclist fatalities in 1994. 22 percent
of male drivers involved in fatal crashes were intoxicated compared to 11 percent of
female drivers. 37 percent of female drivers involved in fatal crashes were unrestrained
at the time of the crash compared to 47 percent for male drivers involved in fatal
crashes."
I have seen just as many male drivers make stupid moves while driving as female
drivers. I believe that it comes from a person's attitude towards driving and not their
gender.
Rather than say any more, I will leave it to you. Will you touch this one with a 10
foot pole? Well, here is the pole so let's hear what you think.
I found this "True Story" on the net:
"I tell you, women drivers are a hazard to traffic. Driving to work this morning
on I-95 I look over to my left and there's this woman in a Mustang doing 65 miles per hour
with her face up next to her rear view mirror putting on her eyeliner! I look away for a
couple seconds and when I look back she's halfway over in my lane. Scared me so bad I
dropped my electric shaver in my coffee."
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