Thaindian News

London, April 18 (IANS) Women are generally lampooned for their driving skills, but a survey in Britain has found that men are worse drivers and twice as likely to have an accident as women since they get distracted while driving.

According to the survey from Santander Car Insurance, only five percent of women have had a crash because they were not paying proper attention while driving. But more than one in ten - 11 percent - of men admitted being involved in a collision because they weren’t concentrating on the road, the Daily Mail reports.

The survey revealed that 30 percent of men and 20 percent of women said they had had a near miss through such distractions as adjusting the car stereo, eating or having a soft drink.

In addition, drivers admitted shaving, applying make-up and even reading a book. Others even said they stopped concentrating on the traffic to kiss a front seat passenger, according to the poll.

Other distractions included talking on hand-held mobile phones and map-reading while driving.

Although 96 percent acknowledged that texting while driving was the most dangerous behaviour, around 20 percent admitted doing it.

While most drivers expressed anger at seeing other motorists’ unsafe behaviour, 75 percent confessed to having been distracted.

Colin Greenhill, Santander Insurance director, said: “Clearly, motorists understand their risky behaviours are dangerous but many take their eyes off the road to do something other than driving.”

The study comes after it was revealed that men have six times more points than women on their licence on average. The average number of points per woman is 0.095 while men have 0.579.

Despite evidence of male drivers having more crashes, the European Court of Justice recently ruled that it was ‘unfair’ for men to pay more for their car insurance than women.

From December 2012, women will have to pay the same as the equivalent male driver when renewing their insurance.