Oh dear, oh dear. It seems that women touching-up their make-up while driving cause up to half a million road accidents a year.They just can't resist sorting out that smudged mascara or refreshing their lipstick as they cruise along the nation's roads. Sometimes with calamitous results.
Or so says a survey of 4000 women drivers by a car insurer, in which 3% admitted to having a collision while applying cosmetics. And 27% confessed they regularly put on make-up while on the move.
The biggest culprits were women aged 17 to 21, while the least guilty, not surprisingly, were women of 56 or older, who practically never crashed for that reason.
Well, that's awful. What are you thinking of, ladies, have you no sense of social responsibility, no concern about the lethal vehicle you're flinging along the tarmac? How many innocent people are you putting in danger?
Hold on, though. Why are women getting all the blame here, as if they're the only ones doing crazy things at the wheel and threatening carnage?
There're plenty of men out there fiddling with the radio, lighting fags, checking maps and sending texts. Not to mention doing their own form of preening by combing their hair, putting on ties, having a shave and dabbing on moisturiser. I wonder how many hundreds of thousands of crashes they've caused by indulging their fleeting impulses.
The fact is we're all prone to do a dozen other things while we're meant to be concentrating on the road and making sure we don't mow anyone down. It's hardly the failing of one particular sex. We're all fidgety and easily distracted (and want to look hot) and get bored by the endless flow of vehicles and asphalt. We do our best but hey, we're none of us perfect.
I was thinking about this yesterday as I checked my email at a red light. I don't respond but for some reason feel the NEED TO KNOW if anyone has sent a message that requires my attention. This is usually work related but that is no excuse.
ReplyDeleteI've started leaving my phone in my purse so I am not tempted.
I once saw a guy in the next lane reading a broadsheet newspaper as we slowly made our way in rush hour traffic!
ReplyDeleteNope, it would be incredibly rare for me to be attempting to multitask while driving, being male and therefore incapable of multitasking. The main source of distraction for me would be the odd occasion when the kids decide to have a scrap in the back, which is mainly verbal seeing as they are strapped in. Doing something other than focusing on driving is dangerous, no question about it.
ReplyDeleteGayle - Not a temptation for me as I hardly ever use my mobile. But I see plenty of drivers who do.
ReplyDeleteGrannymar - Unbelievable! Perhaps he was reading about the dreadful carnage on our roads?
Thrifty - Funny, I was thinking of multitasking too. One instance where neither sex should ever be multitasking. And how very self-disciplined of you to keep your attention where it should be.
I read too that people get in accidents when they're eating in the car. The burger drops to the floor, and the primal human instinct is to bend down for it rather than keep one's hands on the wheel and eyes on the road!!!
ReplyDeleteLeah - You're right, that's the basic instinct. And of course you've never ever eaten a burger in the car....
ReplyDelete...never...
ReplyDeleteLeah - Who's a good girl then?
ReplyDeleteIn India we have more two wheelers than cars for private transportation. I have noticed that most women riders have both their rear view mirrors turned to an angle to reflect their faces and keep admiring themselves as they drive. Since they also cover their faces like hijabs as protection from the elements, they are not only menaces to the traffic, they tend to get into more accidents too.
ReplyDeleteRamana - Our women cyclists don't usually wear hijabs but they do often ignore the Highway Code (the same as men) which also causes accidents.
ReplyDeleteWell Nick, I think I mentioned to you before that I've spotted quite a few drivers (male) watching porn on their dashboard DVD's. No regs about that yet.
ReplyDeleteXO
WWW
www - Yes, I remember you writing about it. And if it's not that, they're gawping at semi-naked women on page 3 of The Sun. In fact it's a wonder anybody has time to actually look out through the windscreen.
ReplyDeleteI put on my make up when I get to the office, after I've parked. Takes about 30 seconds.
ReplyDeleteI am guilty though with the CD changer. I try to put in a selection at the beginning of the week and let shuffle until the end, but sometimes I feel like I just must hear something that I must reach for. Not good.
Megan - No make-up accidents from you then. But the CD/tape changing syndrome is classic. Isn't there always a moment when you want to listen to THAT song right now, even if you're bombing along the motorway?
ReplyDeleteI'm guilty! But I only do it when I'm at a stoplight or when it's just insane bumper-to-bumper and I'm sitting in the same spot for a bit and I'd have to be a total idiot to hit the car sitting right in front of me. But porn in the car? Um, that's totally awkward!
ReplyDeleteLiz - Well, that's fairly safe, I guess, in the middle of traffic gridlock. But personally I really have to resist distracting activities, as my concentration tends to wander at the best of times.
ReplyDeleteThanks for standing up for us girls!
ReplyDeleteI only do mine at red traffic lights!!!!
Suburbia - You're welcome. I've never been an "Always support the blokes" type. What if the blokes are wrong? Only at red traffic lights eh, that's what they all say lol.
ReplyDeleteI struggle to put on make-up in the bathroom ...
ReplyDeleteWelsh Liz - I know the problem. Eyeliner's a bugger, isn't it, it never goes where I want it, lol.
ReplyDelete