Old traditions rule in the driver's seat

A recent Swedish poll shows that women are in the driver's seat only three times out of 10.  

  • In Sweden men are still at the wheel.
  • Old traditions rule in the driver’s seat
    Old habits die hard. And when it comes to who is driving in Sweden that is certainly the case. A recent poll shows that women are in the driver’s seat only three times out of 10.
    In 20% of their trips, women are passengers, whereas men are passengers only in 10% of their trips. Statistician Andreas Holmström, who presented the study at Transportforum in Linköping, doesn’t know why driving a car in Sweden isn’t more gender equal.

  • “Perhaps it’s all about old habits,” he says. “Like the old saying that men only ride in a car when they’re drunk.” The poll was based on 10,000 to 15,000 people aged 6-84 who described all the trips they made during 24 hours. The results are preliminary though, as the report is not going to be finalized until May. It’s difficult to get people to answer on the phone, and the answering frequency has been around 50%.
    “We will make an analysis if the ones who have yet to answer differ in their answers from the ones who have already answered,” Holmström concludes.

  • For more info, see Transportforum 2012