If you tend to hand over the car keys whenever you travel with your family then you are not alone. A recent survey shows women are far more likely to sit in the passenger seat when riding with male household members. According to sociologist, Pepper Schwartz, even the households that would label themselves as holding feminist values have men behind the wheel a lot more often than women.
A recent article from New York Times brings to light some statistics from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor regarding women and their habit of riding as passenger. ATUS reports that women spend 29 percent of their time riding in cars as passengers whereas men spend only about half that, 14 percent.
One theory of why men may drive more is that they tend to work longer hours outside of the house than women and are alone in the car more often. Families with higher incomes do not show as much of a gap with men driving more since each household member tends to own their own car. But this doesn’t explain why when men and women are together, it is usually the man driving. The 2001 National Transportation Survey reports men are three times more likely to drive than women when sharing a ride with household members.
Do women just not want to be bothered by the stress of driving and decide to take a break when traveling with a male partner? Or are women better navigators than men and take that role on when traveling with men? Or is it something else entirely?
What do you think?
Do you tend to hand over the keys in your household and if so why?
My fiance always drives it never fails. He just grabs the keys and gets in the car before me and he drives like a paw paw it drives me nuts inside, but I don't say much. I don't feel it's worth fighting over so I let him do his thing. Sometimes I catch myself pushing on the floor board though. Like go go . ha ha
We have 2 cars, they are not his and her cars they are our cars. whatever car is parked behind the other is what you take in the morning. 99.9% of the time when we drive together as a family I am driving, I have motion sickness. If I am a passenger I tend to watch ever single thing that we pass and it makes me sick. My husband could care less if he drives or not so I have always done the driving. When we are on long trips He will drive but I have to be sleeping (that's the .1% of time he drives). Its funny this topic came up....about a month ago my son he's 7 came home and said that they had a survey in the class about when driving with both parents who drives the car. My son was the only one that raised his hand for his mom. He was shocked to find out that most fathers drive all he has ever saw was me driving all the time he thought that was a normal thing.
My husband loves it when I drive so he can pretend to be an announcer on a radio and read the signs as we go by them. Also, I get car sick with him driving because...again, he's trying to read the signs to "practice" that announcer voice. It works out for both of us that way. The only problem is that our boys are now trying to read the signs with him, sigh.
i let my hubby drive when we go out because i am the one that has to take care of the screaming kids in the back seat and most of the time he is only in my car if awe are going somewhere far plus his backseat driving drives me nuts
I would definitely say when we drive my fiance generally drives, he is and I'll admit a better more cautious driver than myself, and I feel safer that he drives.
I drive 65 miles each way to work so when I'm at home, he drives. I get tired of driving and like to relax. I do drive when we travel on long trips or if we're in a hurry because then I'm in control. Sometimes he tends to not be aggressive enough for me. If it's snowing, he drives because I'm terrified of driving in snow. I guess it's all a give and take and we share the driving.
I don't mind driving country roads, but I tend to ride shotgun since I am terrible at driving and talking at the same time. I need to be totally focused on the road or could end up crashing the car!
I had no problem letting my husband drive, because then I could sit and read a book or take care of the kids. Now that I am single, I LOVE driving, especially country roads that I can go zooming down and not worry where I am going.
Personally, i am so apart of this statistic. My reasonings for always sitting in the passengers seat are mostly because i trust my man to take care of me and drive safely. Usually when girls drive (at least for me), I like to talk,sing, or observe my surroundings. Women are more emotional in most ways and situations, therefore i feel we might have a more emotional reaction to something happeneing. For example someone cutting me off... i would yell and be angry and try and follow them to give them a piece of my mind. Whereas a man may say a curse word, and move on with thier lives. THE POINT FOR ME: I feel more safe with male drivers.
I would love to drive more, but my husband makes me feel like am so stupid. He watches every move I make, JESS just leave me alone. I should just get stronger and not let him bother me.
I am not as big a fan of driving as my hubby is, so I fit the pattern described. Another reason, though, is that I never drive as well when he is a passenger as I do when he's not in the car... no good reason for this other than the fact that he looks/acts unhappy and it makes me uncomfortable, so I avoid it.
Right now my husband is not working, hence not driving as much. So when it comes to weekends, he tends to drive and I am the passenger. I enjoy the chance to chill out and relax as a passenger. We also have our own cars and depending on the car, usually dictates who drives. I don't like driving so am all too willing to give it up. Now growing up, my Dad always did the driving. I asked my Mom and she said it was never a choice.
It is mostly my husband behind the wheels when both of us are around. Its because,between the two of us, he likes driving more than i do. I also think that men are better drivers than women
I enjoy driving so I am always willing to get behind the wheel. I don't mind being a passenger either, depending on who the driver is of course! Being a passenger allows me to take in the sights more, but being the driver is safer in some instances!
It depends on where we are going and how far we have to go. I don't mind driving, but mostly, I hand over the keys.