Men who don't ask for directions waste $3,000
New study finds that the average male driver drives 276 miles lost every year. That's a big carbon footprint for time badly spent!
Wed, Sep 01 2010 at 5:48 AM EST
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Where do I turn? (Photo: ASurroca/Flickr) Do you already own a fuel-efficient car — that you vigilantly hypermile to save gas and money? Then I hope you know where you’re going, because driving lost in a greener car is still a big waste of fuel. In fact, you can lose about $3,000 over your lifetime by refusing to ask for directions!
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When I first read about this study, I had this feeling some men would find perfectly “logical” reasons why they should not ask for directions despite clear financial and environmental reasons for doing so. I wasn’t disappointed. GOOD’s web editor Andrew Price came through for me by claiming that even when he doesn’t know where he’s going, he’s not actually lost. How’s that? “It’s reductive to think there are just two states: ‘lost’ and ‘not lost,’ ” is the rationale Andrew comes up with:
When I have opted to feel out directions rather than ask or try to get somewhere on memory and intuition, it’s usually because I had a good idea of where I was going without knowing exactly whether the next turn is supposed to be before or after the underpass.
If you run across Andrew on his 276-mile, lost-but-not-lost “memory and intuition” detour this year, please point him in the right direction. Funny stereotypes aside, women drivers who don't ask for directions will obviously also end up wasting just as much time, money, and gas as their male counterparts. Ask for directions -- or if you have a GPS, use it!
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Comments
David
10/27/2010 15:19 PM
What is utterly ignored by this article is that the original also posted numbers for women drivers. This isn't a 276 mile descrepancy between men and women. The wasted miles driven by women is 256 per year. This means that a woman (on average) will drive 92% of the wasted miles a man will.
Additionally, according to the US Dept of Transportation, across all age groups the average woman drives only 61% of the miles the average man does. Given that this study was only looking at total.... More
Anonymous
Today 15:12 PM
HOWEVER males drive on average 37% more miles
but this does not explain all of it. If we compare, for example, in Florida, 341 women died so if we added this 37%, only 541 males should have died but instead we find 236 more males who were killed to result in 778 males so your "males drive more" does not hold water. Also remember, more women are killed while males are driving then males are by wonen drivers.
Again, most fatal accidents are caused by the nuts behind the wheel..... More
John O'Connell
Today 15:48 PM
>>> "Also remember, more women are killed while males are driving then males are by women drivers."
The numbers I quoted about males driving more miles per year, would of course naturally lead to more casualties while males were driving, that's exactly the point.
Your Florida numbers don't state whether the casualties you quoted were the drivers, passengers pedestrians or cyclists, where other factors other than 'who drives' best come into play. Florida itself as a state may not be.... More
Charlotte
09/02/2010 15:17 PM
Utter hogwash, you chauvenist pigs who claim that it's women who make the bonehead maneuvers or are more likely to be in accidents. Check the statistics. Men are much worse drivers than women. AND far more likely to cause fatalities, to boot, since they have their genitalia invested in their driving and feel that not cutting in front, not beating the other car in the adjacent lane, are somehow affronts to their very questionable manhood.
Kathy
Today 03:47 AM
If we want to talk about the worst drivers, one has only to look at who dies in accidents most often. In one state, in 2006 there were 29,722 male drivers killed while 12,747 women were, almost 2.5 males for each woman.
As far males dying in car accidents, one of the most common why is for a male teenage driver with a car load of other males in the car and often the result is a car load of dead males because the driver has to show off and prove he is a "man" because he has to prove he has.... More
John O'Connell
Today 15:54 PM
Total of 42469 deaths in ONE STATE in ONE YEAR? Are you sure? I'm checking my records now and I can't find anything like that. (I'm in the Insurance Business)
Which state, which year, please.
Kathy
09/05/2010 04:42 AM
The "one state: was intended for the Florida post that stated 778 males were killed that year in Florida. The 42,469 deaths were for the whole United States. Still the most common factor for deaths related to cars including walking is that they are male more then twice as often as they are not.
John O'Connell
Today 15:57 PM
Last year, (2009) there were 33,963 road fatalities IN THE ENTIRE USA, so 42469 in just one State doesn't compute.
See:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-04-12-traffic-deaths_N.htm
John O'Connell
09/03/2010 06:45 AM
It is 'sort-of' true (in terms of statistics) than males have more accidents that females behind the wheel ... BUT you have to examine the numbers carefully to see the real picture. On average males are involved (not 'the cause of') about 34% more accidents (in Europe, data from 2001 to 2008, so quite wide ranging)
HOWEVER males drive on average 37% more miles than females, so naturally more road-time will lead to more exposure. If you consider "involvment in accidents per mile" then.... More
Kathy
09/03/2010 03:16 AM
In Michigan in 2009 the majority (54.6%) of occupants injured in traffic crashes in 2009 were women while the majority (66.3%) of occupants killed in traffic crashes in 2009 were male. I think that we find a higher number of male deaths while women are injured more is due to the fact that it is the male who is by far the weaker sex and thus they do not survive as often although the males may have the same injuries that women often are able to survive.
I do think the higher death.... More
John
09/02/2010 12:20 PM
And it forgot to add that women waste BILLIONS of dollars whenever they open their mouth to say something incredibly stupid.
Jon
09/02/2010 11:32 AM
I can't deny that there are men who get lost and don't ask for directions. I'll even go along with the 276 miles and $3,000 from the study. However, it seems to me that an article presenting hard numbers such as these really misses the mark if you aren't going to provide hard numbers for the miles and money that female drivers waste. Leaving it that women are "more likely" to stop and ask for directions could mean they waste 275 miles a year, or maybe only 75 miles. I do think that men are less.... More
Jeff
09/03/2010 09:41 AM
In my case, my wife absolutely will not stop for directions. I, on the other hand, will stop and ask. In fact, if she is driving and is lost, she will not pull over when I offer to go in someplace to ask.
SZB
09/02/2010 11:15 AM
Someone with a PhD. should have calculated or at least discussed the impact of GPSs on their numbers. This is really pointless to discuss the study without including data or predictions on how this number is going to change because of widespread use of GPSs. Remember men tend to be gadget freaks, so they are going to have GPSs. And for all you Luddites who are going to comment “I will never buy a GPS”, you might not, but most people will and thus the averages will go significantly down.... More
Matt
09/02/2010 11:09 AM
to say that women are more likely to ask directions doesn't mean they don't get lost. They just ask sooner than males. Also, they are terrible drivers.
really?
09/02/2010 10:42 AM
Only 3,000 over a lifetime? I'll take my getting lost, and it's not because I'm too proud to ask for direction (I do when I truly need them). I just enjoy driving and the experience of it all, seeing new places. I'm not in a hurry to get anywhere. I wish the Sunday drive concept was still popular, before anyone got too worried about this. Getting lost is half the fun. Oh and by the way I'm not recounting the days of my youth. I'm only 20 and I'm just lamenting over what I missed...
Nate
09/02/2010 10:26 AM
Glad to see the PhD is being put to good use rewriting bogus news articles.
elizabeth
09/02/2010 07:57 AM
it is always about money
interesting
Spunky Damonkey
09/02/2010 07:38 AM
What about all the extra accidents that are caused by women drivers? 8 times out of 10 when I see a "Bonehead" maneuver, it's a woman... Even my Wife agrees.
Ben
09/02/2010 09:08 AM
I say the same thing to my wife... except I add that the only group worse than women drivers are mini-van drivers. They are by far the worst class of drivers. They turn without looking, fly across four lanes of traffic to go 55 in the fast lane on the highway, all the while with kids buckled in. Every time there is a accident and one of the vehicles involved has rolled or been crushed its a mini-van. Worst drivers in the world.
Barky McBarkbark
09/02/2010 10:36 AM
And who exactly is most likely to drive a mini-van??
Flamilocks
09/02/2010 10:45 AM
I don't know any female drivers of mini-vans, surprisingly. The only people I know are male college students and quite a few of male professors. Must be a regional thing.
Kathy
09/05/2010 04:55 AM
"Every time there is a accident and one of the vehicles involved has rolled or been crushed its a mini-van. Worst drivers in the world."
"I don't know any female drivers of mini-vans,"
Does not sound like a regional thing to me, it sounds like a male thing. That is why there are over twice as many males dying than women.
Dr Bill Toth
09/02/2010 07:32 AM
of man hours, cash, and more. The best way to get from point A to point B in business is to ask for direction from a coach or mentor.
Live with Intention,
DrBillToth.com/blog
John O'Connell
09/02/2010 14:34 PM
The best way to get a cheap plug for your blog is to find a tiny link between your 'services' and any article you can find at random...
PAPilot
09/02/2010 07:10 AM
Men do not get lost. Clearly this article is just made up.
Paul
09/02/2010 05:49 AM
I am a man and I always stop and ask for directions as soon as I know I am lost. To put in in Spock's terms, to do so is only logical. I hate wasting both time and gas. You also get stressed out and may get even more lost. No one is keeping score on my manliness because I happened to get lost and did the smart thing by asking for directions. And if I am, then I don't care about that person's opinion of me anyway.
Blondie
09/02/2010 03:14 AM
Who is dumb now? ;-P
Ken
09/02/2010 01:36 AM
I live half way in between Fort Wayne and Indianapolis. When my wife wants to go to either of these two cities, she will always turn the wrong way for the one she wants.
While many men will not ask for directions, many will but often if there are only women around, they will be given the wrong directions or be given a blank stare and told they do not know anyway. I do believe men have a much better sense of directions and that compensates to a great extent.
I do also.... More
Raven
09/02/2010 04:17 AM
Yet not all women are complete airheads either. Some of us DO know where we are going, and if not.. that is why they invented maps.
Brian
09/02/2010 00:56 AM
Pointless news story
Morgan
09/01/2010 23:33 PM
Now I do not necessarily agree this whole article is true, but I do notice that most, if not all, comments posted before this were by men. So what does that say, is the article true and men are defending themselves, or was the writer way far off the mark? This seems like an interesting debate.
JJ
09/02/2010 00:50 AM
Sounds like urban legend to me. And the figures quoted sound very contrived.
I'll try to find a location on my own if I can but it truly eludes my best efforts (rare) then I have no problem asking for help. My individualism and self reliance are not so important that I'd let them cost me a disproportionate amount of time and money just to gratify my ego.
Johnson 1044
09/01/2010 22:40 PM
Obviously no man has ever been lost so clearly this article is fabricated.
JRS
09/01/2010 22:35 PM
Are there still people on the plamet that dont own a GPS?
Matt
09/01/2010 22:45 PM
I sure as hell don't! If you can't find out where to go without GPS you shouldn't be allowed to drive.
Anonymous
09/02/2010 09:18 AM
On the contrary ... if you don't own a GPS, you shouldn't be allowed to drive. I am sick and tired of people driving slowly, maybe trying to look at a map while driving, any time that they go somewhere new. They are oblivious to others on the road. They don't realize their turn is coming up, then they hit their brakes and signal at the last second or don't bother signaling at all. It's 2010, accept it. We have technology. Use it! Drive with certainty and confidence.
ryan seacrest
09/02/2010 08:46 AM
Matt, Try navigating Europe without a GPS. Maybe you should get out of your little town.
greg
09/02/2010 05:58 AM
If you are so smart that you don't need a GPS, then why aren't you in charge of the planet yet? Come to my crazily laid out town and I will watch you get lost, you idiot.
Jack Musick
09/01/2010 23:14 PM
You can't just figure out EVERYTHING like that, and if you can, you'll be wasting the gas and time that this article is talking about. I drive so much for my job to so many different places. It'd be inefficient for my boss (mileage) and our work to just "figure out" how to get to new client's sites.
John
09/01/2010 22:33 PM
I wonder how much my wife has wasted on umpteen pairs of shoes she's only worn a few times?
Dude
09/01/2010 21:02 PM
Men. So where do directions come from? It blows my mind.
