Road safety campaigns have to be straight talking and direct to have an impact and one safety group in France has certainly taken this on board. Victimes & Citoyens, a group which supports victims of road traffic accidents, is urging French male drivers to “Drive like a woman” in order to stay safe on the roads.  

The aim is debunk the traditional myth that men are better drivers than women and has some hard hitting facts to support this. The group points out that women in France are eight times less likely to be involved in a fatal accident on the road. It also puts forward data from the France National Interministerial Road Safety Observatory for 2022-2023, which shows that 93% of drunk drivers involved in accidents are men and overall 84% of fatal accidents are caused by men. It also seems that male drivers are far more likely to speed and attempt dangerous manoeuvres and less likely to wear a seatbelts. 

Data from other countries paints a similar picture. For example in the USA between 1975 and 2021 twice as many male drivers have been killed on the roads as women.  

A spokesman for Victimes & Citoyens stated, "When we look at the figures, they are clear: to stay alive behind the wheel, the best thing for men to do is adopt the same behaviour as women."