We don't feel the need for speed.

Today I have read the statistic that 82% of speeding offences and 97% of dangerous driving offences are committed by men. The former may even be higher as men supposedly tell DVLA that the wife was driving to avoid a ban.

I use my intuition to react to most news as - being female - it is highly honed. Intuitively, therefore, this does not ruffle me. I mainly attribute it to the fact that most traffic cops are men, and nothing annoys a bloke more than to see another bloke who makes more money zooming by in a faster car.

The Association of British Drivers has responded to the report by pointing out that most women drive about all day with their kiddies in the back so are bound to drive slower. I am more swayed by their argument that it must be because all sales reps are men, a rather convoluted path of reasoning.

The writer of the report itself helpfully points out that women are "more compliant in their behaviour" - a fact my boyfriend will be pleased and amazed to discover. I will get the iron ready.

There may be many reasons for the data, but unless they publish alongside it the statistics for how many drivers hog the middle lane on the motorway, knock over bollards and smash off their wing mirrors during simple driving manoeuvres, the debate about which gender drives better will not be resolved. Just to stir up the argument further, apparently women require 51 hours of tuition before passing their test as opposed to 36 hours for men (this is from the print version of the same article). I can only put my hands up and say that we are just too busy thinking about puppies to drive properly.

I have an odd suspicion that many men will react to this report with smug self-satisfaction rather than the shame and regret that we all hope for. Personally I have taken it as an insult to the speed I drive and I shall be winding up the throttle to try and even out the figures.

The thing I find most bizarre in the whole debate is the fact that The Times adorned this article with a picture of a woman driving around a blow-up man-doll. Are they blaming HIM for the speeding?

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