words of futility...
Sunday 6-17-2001
10:43pm
life's not fair... and i'm just a voice crying alone in a desert
This is in response to a question about women drivers, and the response of "All i have to say is that i think there is a good reason that mens car insurance costs more." needless to say, it irritated me, so here's my rebuttal. And yes, mine is a little bit more detailed than her response. I wonder if she thinks that because she likes having the lower rates? hmm... thoughts to ponder
i think that a review of the facts is in order.
The problem that is happening these days is once again, a broad and sweeping generalization, leading to discrimmination based on gender. (especially if you're single and white and under 25)...
Go read the statistics. They will speak for themselves. In recent years, female drivers especially have gotten more agressive.
Never have i had to take drastic measures to avoid a collision with a man driver because he did something blatantly stupid. However i have had several issues of women merging into me (almost) without ever looking. When my dad had his sports car, several women between 18-27 TRIED to run him off of the road with their vehicles. One of these was an SUV pulling a trailer. Was that wise? i don't think so. (his response was fun though. ;), but we're not talking about that)\
I can pretty much prove to anyone alive that a male and female, given the same training, same vehicle, and same reflexes will drive very similarly. It also depends on who does the teaching, and especially who drives you the most in your formative years.
In general, the worse the parent drives, the worse the kid drives. Ohh... more generalizations?
I was always taught that a vehicle was a several ton weapon, and that i was responsible for more lives than mine. Does this make a difference? YES! does the fact that my parents are making me pay my way on the entire deal make a difference? I would say almost definitely. When you have to deal with gas, insurance, vehicle costs and maintenance, you end up being a lot more careful.
Knowing your limits. I've found a lot more guys who know their limits, than females. They don't seem to know them. Sure guys will try to push the envelope, but they know when to back off (unless they're stupid, and then they ought to get what's coming)... I have a friend who should NOT be driving, she has terrible vision, and even with glasses it's questionable. Her parents, friends, insurance company, they don't have a problem with her driving. I'll always have higher rates than she will because she is a girl and i'm a guy. Is it because i'm less safe? I don't think so; because i could prove in a court of law that i'm safer, more alert and have better reflexes. I've seen her almost not stop at lights because she couldn't see them clearly. That's dangerous, but she's a girl, so she gets a lower rate.
Girls don't get as many tickets? I think not. What happens is that they get pulled over, they cry and they get let off. Laughing the whole time the officer drives away. the insurance companies notice that guys have more tickets so that effects things. That's because a guy can't cry his way out!!
It really annoys me even more because of women's lib. Women are still fighting for "equal" everything. Well, they certainly aren't fighting for equal rates in insurance. If a woman had to pay as much as a man did on the same car, she'd have a fit, but because it's in their favor, they don't seem to mind.
My favorite cousin's cousin was riding along in a car with her friends one night late. Horsing around at high speed. Driver lost the car, the cousin went through the window, and was dead before she hit the river (they were next to it). So do both genders screw off? Yeah, I think they do. I think that people get hurt. It isn't right to do it, and it isn't fair to discriminate on gender.
It sickens me that people can wantonly decide things totally ignoring the facts.
The fact of the matter is that boys speed. Girls speed. There's quite a bit of horseplay on both sides of the gender coin. Does this make it good? Does it make it right? No, i don't think so, but it doesn't make it fair either.
I'm taking up womens lib this week, I'm going to write a letter DEMANDING that women and men get equal insurance premiums. If i have to pay out the nose, why shouldn't women? what difference should it make that you have a different sexual makeup? Women can fight in war, they can be welders, machinists, ditch diggers, construction foreman... just like men. So they ought to be able to pay, just like men.
Until that time, I'm going to keep being a single, white male, under the age of 25 with no dependents, and a ten year old SUV that they want 600 a month for if i get my own policy. Thank you womens lib. I really appreciate it.
(while one of my friends can drive a 2 year old car, that her parents bought, and her parents pay a shade over 200 a month on it for her insurance. Oh yeah, and the gas card, and the mechanic's bills.)
Life is definitely not fair, but i'm not about to sit around and not even *say* anything about it.
