If we ask a man discrimination against women on the road This is a reality, it is quite possible that you will say that this is a thing of the past and that if it continues today, it will only be in some cases. Not all menu. But the reality is that this discrimination comes from prejudices that are so ingrained in us that we do not realize it until we artificial intelligence it throws them in our face.

This is exactly what the auto repair company did. Midas. As part of the campaignThey are driving“, they surveyed 1000 people, 500 men and 500 womenabout whether a car should be designed specifically for women. They then fed those answers to the AI ​​to design what this hypothetical vehicle would look like. The result, called CARmela, is terrifying.

The car has features such as a sleek, impact-resistant design and a large glove compartment that can accommodate a large amount of cosmetics. All this is not counting the pink color of the case. This may seem like an exaggeration, but the truth is that it is a good demonstration that discrimination against women on the road still exists. The problem is that, as with fatphobia, there are those who disguise it as worry.

A car for women created by artificial intelligence

Before asking the AI ​​a question, survey data was collected from 500 men and 500 women. Of these, 30% considered it necessary to exist cars for women. Additionally, 41% of them explained that it should be a safer car, 30% said it should be lightweight, 25% agreed that the car’s speed should be limited, 32% said it should be “gentle” and, Finally, 17% think it would be nice to have more mirrors and larger glove compartments for makeup.

So a car that looks like something out of a Barbie movie isn’t the result of AI exaggeration. This is nothing more or less than a graphic representation of what a section of society wants for women. And not only men. Also some women, because we ourselves in some cases also internalize the prejudices that society has maintained in our brains over the years.

CARmela, a car developed by Midas AI.

Discrimination against women on the road

It may seem that the people who voted for all this in the survey simply want a safer and more functional car for women. They seem to care. However, this is still a way of discriminating against women on the road. Because yes, this discrimination still exists.

As part of the same campaign, Midas also surveyed a group of female drivers, 75% of whom reported being harmed discrimination in some area related to driving a car. 32% felt discriminated against in workshops, 22% in dealerships, 24% when entering into service contracts for their vehicles and 16% when obtaining a driver’s license.

mechanic
Although it doesn’t always happen, repair shops are one of the places where women feel most discriminated against. 1 credit

We already see that yes, stereotypes and discrimination exist. But are they scientifically proven?

What science says about the role of women on the road

In 2020, a group of scientists from the University of Cambridge conducted a study analyzing the factors influencing traffic accidents. First, attention was paid to the type of vehicle and the gender of the drivers, and something surprising was discovered.

As expected, buses and trucks They were the most dangerous vehicles in terms of accident rates. But when it came to sex, men had more risk per kilometer get into a car accident than women.

Many other studies have confirmed the same. You just need to look at the statistics. Actually. It is true that there are those who compare each other’s driving skills and find no differences. It doesn’t seem like there is a more experienced sex, but there is clearly one that has more accidents and this, in part, may be due precisely to the blind confidence that some drivers have in themselves.

car accident
Men tend to get into more car accidents than women. Photo: Carl Solano (Unsplash)

In fact, according to a study carried out by the DGT, violations speeding, drinking alcohol or not wearing a seat belt They are more common in men. These are all risk factors for accidents, which are often caused by overconfidence and a lack of risk perception. Women on the road are much better at accepting risk, and this makes them better drivers in this sense. Now, knowing this, it is very interesting that 25% of Midas respondents believe that a car for women should have speed limiters.

They die more

It is noteworthy that men are more likely to be involved in traffic accidents while driving. However, women have 47% more likely to be seriously injured and 17% more likely to dieaccording to the book Invisible woman. In an interview Sink Agency its author, Caroline Criado Perezshe explained that this is because car safety tests have long been carried out with male mannequins.

For example, in the US, female dummies were not used in safety tests until 2011, and in Europe they were not used until 2015, but only for frontal crash tests. Because women’s bodies are different, with different distributions of fat and muscle, it’s important to know how accidents will affect them. But making this decision took a long time.

In this case, we are talking not only about discrimination against women on the road. It consists in their removal and, as a consequence, put your life in danger.

Who parks better?

It has always been said that no matter who is a better driver, men are better at parking than women. In fact, in the 90s. Frauenparkplatzlarge parking spaces with fewer obstacles, intended only for women. Other countries such as Malaysia, China, Korea or Indonesia Over time, they joined the same fashion. This may seem like a benefit to female drivers, but it is another form of discrimination. Many of these countries advertise this as a method make parking smoother. They report that since women take longer to park, making their job easier will be better for everyone.

And yes, it’s true that women They usually take longer to park. There are many studies that confirm this. However, the problem is that the ability to park often depends only on this, although many other factors influence it.

parking
Men park faster, but that doesn’t mean they park better. Credit: Michael Kahn.

In 2012, a study was conducted in the UK in which parking maneuvers was carried out in a public parking lot over several days. It was clear that the men really took on average 16 seconds to parkand among women this figure increased to 21 seconds. It has also been observed that men are better at lining up when parking. However, the women found more suitable places and, after completing the maneuver, left the car in a more advantageous position. The videos were analyzed by driving instructors who rated each person’s parking ability from 1 to 20. On average, men scored score 12.3, while women had 13.4.

It is also interesting that when men were with a woman in the passenger seat, they tended to park in smallest square when there were two to choose from. And of course, they were not always able to drive the car.

Despite all this, when the same study asked a group of women which gender they thought was the best at parking, only 18% indicated women. This gives me a lot to think about.

Women’s confidence on the road

Without a doubt, this lack of confidence in one’s parking abilities is not the only internal bias that many women have. In general, men consider themselves better drivers. In fact, curiously, they don’t want to ask for directions either. A study was conducted in 2010 that asked men and women about their attitudes towards get lost behind the wheel. 26% of men reported waiting at least half an hour before asking for directions. Half admitted that they had never done this. On the other hand, 74% of women said they had no problem asking for directions, and 37% admitted to asking for directions as soon as they got lost.

As a result, according to other surveys conducted later, men on average travel 444 km lost per year and women 411. For men this represents an excess of almost 2400 euros in gasoline all my life as drivers.

women's road
If they are lost, women usually have no problem asking. Credit: Jacob Lau (Unsplash)

In short, given all this, is a car really necessary for women? Logically no. Everyone wants safer cars, perhaps with bigger glove boxes to hold everything they need, but without bias. Also, given the bias, perhaps speed limiters should be installed by others.

Source: Hiper Textual

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