That 'crazy woman driver' line in Disney's 101 Dalmatians might well have referred to the sinister Cruella De Vil's erratic turn behind the wheel, but it just wouldn't fly today - especially since new research suggests women are actually better drivers than their male counterparts.
You may have heard that women pay less for car insurance because they're safer drivers, shortly followed by the sound a skeptical man scoffing in disbelief. Well, according to Confused.com, women really are safer drivers than men.
Research published on their microsite, Gender Gap in 100 Drivers, explains that, historically, women have usually paid less for their car insurance than men.
Advert
This is because women have been seen by insurers to be statistically safer drivers - the average difference in premiums between men and women at one point was as high as £121.
Then in December 2012, the EU Gender Directive made it so that insurers were forbidden from taking a driver's sex into account when calculating a price.
The immediate effect was that the so-called 'gender gap' shrank down to £27.
However, women still paid less for their insurance than men, although not that much less.
Advert
But then the gap began to widen again, peaking at £120 in June 2017.
By analysing motoring data, such as court proceedings, insurance claims and driving test pass rates they are able to deduce why it is women pay £92 less for their car insurance than men, on average.
In fact, in 2017, 53 percent of those that took their driving test were female.
Even with this, unfortunately, more women failed their test than men, making up 30 percent of the pool of candidates compared to 23 percent of men.
And while women are often stereotypically branded as 'bad' drivers, the research reveals men are almost four times more likely to commit a motoring offence and have made almost twice as many insurance claims than women, on average.
Advert
Amanda Stretton, motoring editor at Confused.com, says: "As a female racing driver, I know women can hold their own when it comes to driving, and data suggests that they are in fact safer on the roads.
"This is reflected in the fact that they are paying almost £100 less for their premiums.
"And this could be down to the fact that more men committed more motoring offences in comparison to women."
Advert
She added: "Not only this, but they also often own more expensive cars, which means claims are likely to be more expensive."
It looks like this battle of the sexes has been won and the age-old debate decided - women are better drivers. Is there some sort of trophy to be picked up for this?
Topics: UK News, Interesting, Cars