new road safety campaign twists misogynistic prejudices

Woman at the wheel, no accident at the turn. The Victimes et Citoyens association announced on Monday May 13 that it had launched a new road safety campaign entitled “Drive like a woman”, thumbing its nose at the persistent misogynistic belief that men are better drivers. “It is enough to look at the figures to attest that this preconceived idea has no basis“, underlines the association in a press release. “On the road, 84% of fatal accidents are caused by men”according to figures from the National Interministerial Road Safety Observatory 2022-2023.

The campaign, notably broadcast in the corridors of the Paris metro and on the internet, was “aims to initiate awareness among male drivers to bring about a change in mentality and therefore behavior”, underlines Victimes et Citoyens, an association supporting road victims, which also seeks to create awareness of road dangers. According to figures from the National Interministerial Road Safety Observatory (ONISR) 2022-2023, 93% of drunk drivers involved in an accident are men and 88% of young drivers killed are men.

According to ONISR estimates, 3,170 people lost their lives on the roads of mainland France in 2023, but since the start of the year road mortality has started to rise again. In March, 254 people died on the roads, an increase of 31% compared to the same month last year. “Driving like a woman means only one thing, staying alive”says the campaign.