So important ladies can drive .

[PaulT]

I once knew a couple. He always criticised her driving. She then suggested that they both go for the Advanced Driving Exam.

She passed, he did not.

A little while later they divorced.

Paul

[Polly]

Right, Frederick, so really you are talking about help for the elderly of both sexes.

[Frederick]

Yes ...and not just the elderley ... children sadly have to go for treatment One last bang of the drum ! Husbands and wifes / partners . Any couples who live together rural areas.. Its a great help when one is not well to have the other person able to drive so you wont end up trapped in your home.

[Cendrillon]

Quite right Fredick

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

My wife always hated driving in France as she was always freaked out by the way cars are parked in the road meaning you spend half the time driving on the other side of the road.

She's Australian, so she's used to the roads being wide enough for cars not to be parked on the road itself.

Didn't matter after a year, as we'd discovered that she wasn't allowed to drive anymore because apparently you have to exchange your licence within the first year of arriving in France.

Apparently, according to bureaucrats, if you haven't done this, you instantly forget how to drive after a year, so to get a French licence, you have to do the whole test.

[AnOther]

[quote user="Polly"]No doubt AnOther will be along soon, to add his views.....[/quote]You rang m'lady ? [:D]

I agree that being able to drive is crucial in France. Fortunately for me 'er indoors only drinks in extreme moderation, if she drinks at all, so the question of who drives home simply doesn't arise.

She is an excellent driver and I've told her so, (well I've told her she's very good, don't want to lay it on too thick now [:D]), but we both have very different styles which I think is probably what's at the

root of most he/she in car squabbles, that and map reading of course.

She passed her test (first time) and before me, largely because I was out

working all the hours under the sun to earn the dosh to pay for a car

and lessons, that is just a statement of fact, not a jibe or a gripe.

I passed mine on the second go having known instantly that the first one was a lost cause from the moment the examiner got into the Ford Anglia van which circumstances had forced me to turn up in and which unfortunately had no passenger seat, (they were optional extras in those days, along with other 'luxuries' such as a heater !) The only thing he managed to find to fail me for was reversing on the mirrors which actually was the only option because the van had blacked out windows at the back !

[quote user="Albert the InfoGipsy"]My wife does most of the driving apart from returning from events that involve alcohol.[/quote]Err does that mean that she is the one who routinely gets s**tfaced or that you insist on driving when you are [Www]

[Âme]

Agreed: it's a good idea, if possible, for both partners to be able to drive, especially if they live in a rural area.  I would say the same about being able to communicate in French. [Www] 

[Cluzo]

I think it  important that we DO drive sometimes .   I know I shirk it if I can .

We used to have our own car each but we now spend half the year in france so one car just sat there -   We then bought a Zafira to transport all our stuff backward and forward ( son had my car OH's daughter had his ) and I was OK with  that  . We now have a Picasso Grand which is just a little bit wider - and im terrified of tiny Brit parking

spaces and invisable huge bollards ( we  have them on our drive ) so I dont drive unless I absolutly have to . Funnily enough I drive everyday in France -not far - just to the shops and stuff .

[krusty]

When I saw the title of this thread I thought of TheQueen , Magie Thatcher [8-)]

[Llantony]

I agree about the French.. We just had an accident and I had to do all the phoning and sort out the assistance to get us home. I don't know what my husband would have done as he can't understand French on the phone.

I am nervous of driving on motorways and haven't driven much at all in France but a friend said when we got here 'Don't stop driving, I know of so many women who've been widowed, or have seriously ill husbands and who are stranded as they don't drive'.

[AnOther]

I suppose if push came to shove, metaphorically speaking of course, there is always the 'sans permis' option [I]

As my old grandad used to say, a 2nd class ride is better than a 1st class walk [:D]

[Albert the InfoGipsy]

[quote][quote user="Albert the InfoGipsy"]My wife does most of the driving apart from returning from events that involve alcohol.[/quote]Err does that mean that she is the one who routinely gets s**tfaced or that you insist on driving when you are [Www]
[/quote]

It means that she drinks in moderation and I never touch the stuff.

[Salty Sam]

[quote user="AnOther"]She is an excellent driver and I've told her so, [/quote]

Yes, she probably is a better driver.

When I use to teach the art of off-road driving, women were by far the best pupils for the simple reason - they listened to what was said, and there was no arrogant macho ego to deflate!

[AnOther]

[quote user="Salty Sam"]Yes, she probably is a better driver.[/quote]A rather sweeping assumption, I'd leave it at different, not necessarily implying better or worse.

I'm sure that we all know both good and bad drivers of both genders and in any case, if you asked 100 people the question; what is a 'good' driver, you'd get 100 different answers.

Re off-roading; For some men mere possession of an off-road vehicle marks them out as overly macho or egotistical so comparing their skills or attitudes to their wives or other female students is not really representative. Women probably listened better because for the most part it would be totally new experience for them about which, beyond knowing how to drive on the road, they may not have much of a clue so would need to be taught pretty well from scratch. That's not a put down ladies, whilst you personally may be a potential Paris - Dakar rally contender, how many other women do you know who would have the nerve, or desire come to that, to even venture past a farmers gate in a 4x4 ?

Sam, are you male or female I wonder ?

[Polly]

[quote user="Âme"]Agreed: it's a good idea, if possible, for both partners to be able to drive, especially if they live in a rural area.  I would say the same about being able to communicate in French. [Www] 

[/quote]

I agree! You might have heard the true story about the Englishman in the Lot who died after having a heart attack at home. His wife called the ambulance straight away, and they were in the area very quickly but they couldn't find the house in time as she was incapable of saying where it was or describing how it looked or anything.

Could YOU get tell an ambulance how to get to your house? How about if it's dark and landmarks aren't easily visible? Have a think... maybe as the festive season is upon us it would be a wise precaution to take. If there are likely to be non-French speakers in your house why not keep a set of clear easy-to-read instructions pinned up somewhere obvious (or even stuck to all of your phones?)

[AnOther]

Good point Polly and for the linguistically challenged in an emergency 112 is probably the best number to call.

116 is also a useful one to know about.

[Ladoix]

This is a constant thing in our house.

I have held my licence for 26 years, have an advanced driving certificate, done a skid pan course for ice driving and worked as a prefessional coach driver inthe French Alpes for several years (doing ski transfers as well). Yet, my husband drives us all the time and has the gall to say I don't drive his VW camionette safely.

Oh yes, did I forget to mention, I'm female, a petite 5ft 2" and blonde!!!! And yes, it did worry lot of clients that I used to pick up from Geneva airport in a 55 seater coach - they never believed I was the bus driver till I actually got behind the wheel and set off. Long live women drivers I say!!

[Frederick]

I have been told some of the huge trucks in Australian open cast coal mines are driven by women . These things are so big you can walk under them . The women drop their children off at school...then ...on with the overalls ..up the ladder into the cab and off to move hundreds of tons of coal .I have been told they take better care of the trucks than the men.dont knock them about so much .

[cooperlola]

[quote user="AnOther"]

how many other women do you know who would have the nerve, or desire come to that, to even venture past a farmers gate in a 4x4 ?

[/quote]I know lots.  Because women usually get the job of towing the kids' ponies round the showgrounds of the UK, it's they who do most of the every day off-roading in my (limited, I guess) experience.  The fact that they ferry the kids themselves round in them during the week doesn't necessarily mean they never go off road.  It's me who has the horses (and it is more often than not the women who do) and my o/h would never tow so it was always me who did most of the real Landy driving whilst he just used it to go to the station.[:P] And he can't reverse a Landy and horse trailer for toffee![:D]

[AnOther]

I'd venture that you're the exception Coops and if you mix in those circles then yes, you're naturally likely to brush jodhpurs with like minded and similarly talented ladies, but in terms of what percentage of women drivers tow anything let alone a horse box, you're probably in a single figure minority.

[quote user="Ladoix"]I have held my licence for 26 years, have an

advanced driving certificate, done a skid pan course for ice driving

and worked as a prefessional coach driver in the French Alpes for

several years (doing ski transfers as well).[/quote]Not a criticism by

any means and good for you however it's a classic mistake to automatically equate

training with being a 'good' driver. Whilst training may make a person

more aware of how they should drive there can be no guarantee that will

always drive that way.

There have been several instances in UK in recent years for instance

where even highly trained police drivers have been involved in serious and sometimes fatal

accidents, and not necessarily whilst on emergency calls or in pursuit either.

What is the basis of your OH's criticism I wonder ?

[cooperlola]

Well, Erns, I've been around dobbins for 40 years and I've rarely seen a bloke drive the box or tow the trailer - it's women's work - unless he's the competitor himself!  Even racehorse trainers, eventers and showjumpers often employ women to drive their dobbins around as they are thought to be kinder and more considerate drivers - hence the livestock arrives in a better frame of mind at their destination.  It's sexist I know, but there it is.

[Hoddy]

Going back to Salty Sam's original point - it's well known in schools that girls are easier to teach than boys. My last school spent money on training staff how to adapt their lessons to boys' in order to try to narrow the gap in achievement between boys and girls, particularly at GCSE level. Maybe Sam's experience is just a continuation of the same phenomenon.

Hoddy

[Polly]

This thread is getting very boring... far too much macho male stuff. Off you go and play with each other. Oh, and get your iPods out and see if they will communicate on 112 and 116 with their latest language app.

Bises et bonnes fêtes à toutes et à tous

[AnOther]

I guess I missed the section in forum etiquette where it said members were obliged to read anything.

Merry Christmas [:D]

[NormanH]

How boring that this has degenerated into the male/female stereotypical slagging match.The real question is the stupidity of aging people going to live deep in the countryside of a place where they (or one of them) has a feeble grasp of the language.

If BOTH of your wouldn't be capable of living without the other, don't even think about it, because one day one of you (possibly the apparently fit one) will be unfit.

Live in a town, or better still stay where you can speak the language, and have paid into the system all your lives (often cited on this Forum)