Women are better drivers than men | report

It's an age-old debate - who are the better drivers, men or women? Victoria Police statistics obtained by News Corp Australia shed light on the argument, revealing stark gender differences in reckless driver behaviour.

Male motorists accounted for 70 per cent of all speeding, mobile phone, seatbelt and drink-driving offences in the past three financial years, the figures reveal.

Men account for four out of five drink-drive fines, seven of every 10 speeding fines.

Some of the detail is jaw-dropping.

Of 20 idiots booked drinking booze while instructing a learner driver, 19 were men. What hope is there for those L-platers, after soaking up that kind of instruction?

While many men pride themselves on excellent skills behind the wheel, their ability to pull off the perfect parallel park is more than eroded by other poor behaviour.

Men, in particular, need to pull their socks up

Sadly, the driving habits gender gap is much more than fodder for battle-of-the-sexes debates at barbecues or the pub.

In the 12 months to Thursday, 64 women died on Victorian roads compared with 187 men.

Men, in particular, need to pull their socks up. The reality is risky drivers are a danger to themselves and all others on the roads.

No doubt some men will try to justify the figures by arguing men do more driving than women.

But previous studies have shown that, even taking into account that men take more trips and cover more kilometres than women, male drivers are over-represented in fines.

Some men also try to argue that police pick on blokes and let women get away with more behind the wheel.

But police ferociously deny this, saying they don't differentiate when enforcing the road rules. Law-breakers are law-breakers, regardless of gender.

Perhaps our road safety authorities need to consider gender-specific campaigns such as those adopted in other states.

Some years ago in NSW, for example, ads ran with the slogan "no one thinks big of you", with women waggling their pinky fingers at men.

Male or female, please drive safely

While it is important to remind young men of safety messages, specific campaigns should also be aimed at women.

There is a danger some young women don't relate to campaigns featuring men, and ignore vital safety messages that really should be absorbed by all drivers.

Reducing deaths and injuries on Victorian roads hinges on a significant change in behaviour of both sexes. Male or female, please drive safely.