There’s nothing worse than returning to your car after a hard day at work to find a parking fine stuck to the window, or being pulled over for failing to notice a buses-only sign. Not surprisingly, rather than face paying out some ladies use their womanly wiles to avoid a hefty fine or penalty points.
Men might mock women’s driving skills but when it comes to slipping out of speeding fines and worming our way round irate traffic wardens, you have to admit that women have got men licked.
Feminism may have come along way but when it comes down fine dodging, one in four of us would bat our eyelashes or reveal a bit too much cleavage if we thought it would get us off the hook with a traffic warden or policeman, according to a recent YouGov survey for car insurance firm Diva.
Women might statistically be the safest behind the wheel but they display considerably less self-control than men when it comes to getting themselves out of sticky situations with the authorities. However, it seems to be the younger female drivers who are most likely to flash a bit of cleavage or flirt with the officer. In the survey of 2,181 women drivers, car insurance provider Diva found that 34 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds said they would consider giving a traffic warden the come on to avoid a hefty fine.
Younger women might be brazen behind the wheel but it seems mature motorists have more driving decorum, with 61 per cent of over 45-year-olds refusing to even consider flirting if caught flouting the law. However Diva believes your flirting prowess is less to do with your age and much more to do with where you come from, as bold Northern ladies are even more likely to turn on the charms when caught for speeding or a parking ticket than their more demure southern counterparts according to the survey. The brazen women of Yorkshire displayed the most temptress tendencies with 25 per cent saying they’d turn on the charm if faced with potential penalty points, while a more timid seven per cent of Londoners admitted to already having had a go at charming their way out of trouble.
Head of Diva Kaye Sutcliffe says: “Diva is car insurance designed specifically for women and we wanted to delve into a diva’s mind and see what makes us girls tick. At Diva we think women are better drivers, which is why we have negotiated such excellent rates for women. But I’m not sure guys realise just how shrewd women are when it comes to getting themselves out of trouble. Flirting is just one more device divas deploy to get what they want behind the wheel.” So who knows? Maybe a beaming smile and puppy dog eyes could save you from that next parking ticket or penalty points!