Survey: Is the long vacation drive still men’s work?

Young people break the pattern

In more than six out of 10 cases, men drive the vacation trip, the survey shows. Only one in eight vacation drivers is a woman who accounts for the long miles. Still, something is starting to shift. Twenty-somethings are alternating more often: in one-third of couples, the wheel is shared fairly.

Half of young men still drive the most kilometers, but this is significantly less than in older generations. And remarkably, it is precisely the over-70s for whom the roles are sometimes completely reversed: there you see women more often as the sole driver.

Not the children

Children seem to have little influence. In fact, men drive even more often when there are no children in the car. With children in the back seat, women more often take the wheel. So the old cliché that mothers only occupy themselves with toys and sandwiches while father drives does not hold true.

Self-confidence and control

What then? Habits and feelings. Women say they are more likely to feel insecure abroad, especially when their driving style comes under criticism. Men, on the other hand, say they like to be in control. That explains why the role division remains so persistent.

The better driver?

That is not to say, by the way, that men are the safer drivers. Traffic statistics have shown for years that they are more likely to be involved in serious accidents. They drive more, but they also take more risks. So the “logical” division of roles is anything but obvious.

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