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Original poster

Do women... 'give up driving'?? Is this sexist... Don't hear re men giving up driving.

163 replies

IamtheDevilsAvocado · 09/12/2019 20:07

Met with some old school pals that I'd not seen for years.... We met in large town ...
Everyone... (Apart from me) said they 'no longer drove'... They all live in small market towns and still work...we all got our licenses late teens...

So... Is this unusual 5 women... 4 had not driven 'for years'...
I was a bit flabberghasted...they're all feminists /workers....

OP posts:
MsVestibule · 09/12/2019 20:08

I have never heard of this! How old are they?

littlepaddypaws · 09/12/2019 20:09

of course men give up driving various reasons. your friends have stopped driving for what ever reason, sexist really ? fgs.

OoohTheStatsDontLie · 09/12/2019 20:10

Why had they given up? Because the man drives whenever they go anywhere?

LagunaBubbles · 09/12/2019 20:11

Well people give up driving for all sorts of reasons, not just women!

KylieKoKo · 09/12/2019 20:11

My mum has given up driving because she hates it and doesn't need to where she is. She only ever did it out of necessity

HavelockVetinari · 09/12/2019 20:11

Huh? Never heard of that, except for my aunt who is a bit odd anyway...

Fucket · 09/12/2019 20:11

My brother-in-law has given up driving. He last drove in 2011 and he was pretty out of practice then (I’ve never been so scared). He lives in London so no point. I lived abroad in a city with a fantastic bicycle network and public transport I didn’t drive then either. I wouldn’t drive now if I didn’t have to.

Original poster
IamtheDevilsAvocado · 09/12/2019 20:11

Late 40s...

Yes of course all sorts of people will eventually give up driving... But in your 40s..

I mean sexist in the respect that they are then expecting their men folk to chauffeur them around Grin

OP posts:
housemdwaswrong · 09/12/2019 20:12

You sure as hell don't live near me. No chance of giving up driving and getting to work. I've not heard of it. I have heard of widowed elderly women learning to drive though :)

MsVestibule · 09/12/2019 20:14

I was expecting you to say you were in your 80s!! I'm the same age as you and not a single one of my friends/colleagues/acquaintances has done this. Did they explain why they no longer drive?

BlouseAndSkirt · 09/12/2019 20:14

I do not know any woman who has stopped driving unless they have become medically unfit to do so, or else live in London and like many Londoners switched to public transport and bike.

Sirzy · 09/12/2019 20:15

My dad gave up driving in his 40s for medical reasons.

My BIL in his 30s because he didn’t enjoy it and my sister does.

Ponoka7 · 09/12/2019 20:16

Are you sure it isn't peri menopause, symptom related, anxiety etc?

Or income related?

Loopytiles · 09/12/2019 20:16

I passed test late teens, but never owned a car, lived in large cities on a budget. When moved to London commuter belt after DC had refresher lessons and bought a car.

I think there is sexism from some men. My dad was a horrible backseat driver to my mum, and me. My DH isn’t great on that either Angry

Floralnomad · 09/12/2019 20:16

I find that really peculiar , I’m early 50s and all the women I know of my age still drive .

Queenoftheashes · 09/12/2019 20:16

What about Prince Philip ? Grin

MayFayner · 09/12/2019 20:18

One woman I know (40s) has sold her car and “given up driving”. She and her husband are extremely environmentally conscious and he works in a regulatory field related to energy conservation.

They live in a town and get public transport if they’re going elsewhere.

Could it be for those kinds of reasons?

AlwaysDancing1234 · 09/12/2019 20:18

Yep my MIL gave up driving because FIL always insisted on driving everywhere and it’s been years now so I doubt she’d be able to drive at all now.

DownstairsMixUp · 09/12/2019 20:18

Never heard of it. Would love to give up driving tho, absolutely hate it.

MsAwesomeDragon · 09/12/2019 20:19

My dh "gave up driving" in his twenties. His friend was killed in a car accident (friend was entirely at fault even though he was a pedestrian). Dh didn't ever want to be in the position of being a driver who has killed someone through no fault of his own. So he stopped driving and has used public transport or got me to drive ever since.

I don't know any woman who has given up driving though. All my female friends drive in order to get to work on time after doing childcare drop off. I do know people who have had to give up driving for medical reasons, but those have been fairly evenly distributed between the 2 sexes.

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 09/12/2019 20:19

FIL recently retired from bus driving. He actively avoids driving anywhere now unless absolutely necessary.
DH hates been driven so our default when together is him driving- unless he wants a beer!

Pinnacular · 09/12/2019 20:21

I gave up in my 30s for medical reasons. I get pretty annoyed having to justify why I don't drive and can't 'just learn'. There's an awful lot of assumption that I just gave it up because I didn't want to anymore. My life would certainly be easier if I was still driving!

ALadyofLetters · 09/12/2019 20:22

My friend wrote a thesis on this. It used to be very common that women stopped driving. If the male spouse died first (as they are statistically more likely to do), the wife is left isolated is lonely as she ages.

RufusthebewiIderedreindeer · 09/12/2019 20:23

I only know one woman that ‘gave up’ driving and that was for medical reasons

One woman never learned

Just about everyone either drives their own car or drives the family car

Swirlygirl · 09/12/2019 20:23

I’d happily give up driving in the dark! I hate it.

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