Men's Parking Skills Impress Women

How male drivers park their cars in tight spaces impress women, a new survey has revealed.

Car accessories retailer Halfords carried the survey on the driving habits of the opposite sex.

Almost one in two women confessed the thing they most loved about male drivers was that they knew what to do if there was a flat tire or if the car broke down.

The second best thing about men behind the wheel was, ''how they park in tight spaces'', (41 per cent ) closely followed by their skill at maneuvering and reversing (39 per cent).

Meanwhile 46 per cent of men admitted what they loved about women drivers was their knack of always packing food and drink for a journey and organizing lunch and coffee stops.

The second most admired thing by more than one in four of those questioned, was their willingness to ask for directions when lost.

Halfords carried out the survey of 2,000 motorists to see if stereotypes still existed between men and men drivers especially as women are increasingly taking control of the family cars.

Over four out of ten (43 per cent) online transactions on Halfords.com are now made by women while 35 per cent of customers using Halfords Wi-Fit service to replace the likes of bulbs, batteries and wiper blades are women.

The study, also highlighted some of the rather less than attractive habits male and female drivers saw in each other.

Tailgating, where vehicles drive too close to the rear bumper of the car in front, was identified by two thirds of women (66 per cent as the thing they most hated about men drivers.

A close second was driving too fast, (5 per cent) while using a mobile phone behind the wheel and road rage, were not far behind in third and fourth place.

More than a third of women found men drivers refusal to ask for directions when lost a major bug bear (33 per cent) while just under a third claimed male drivers ''picking their noses while stopped at traffic lights or junctions'' was the thing they hated most.

There were also plenty of things men objected to about women drivers.

First was the time women take to maneuver in or out of a parking space, which was cited by four in ten men as the most annoying thing about female motorists.

Almost as many complained about women drivers ''putting on make-up and doing their hair'' at stop lights and junctions.

More than a third of men added that they hated the length of time women took to drive off from traffic lights and junctions.

"We have seen an increase in women coming into our stores for car parts so we were a little surprised at how many stereotypes still abound in the driving world," the Daily Mail quoted Paul McClenaghan, Halfords Commercial Director as saying.

"However, it was encouraging to note that despite a fair few annoying habits noted by both men and women behind the wheel, there were many things both sexes admired about the opposite gender's driving.

Both sides mentioned willingness or unwillingness to ask for directions as cause for praise and criticism so it is probably no coincidence that Sat Navs are one of our biggest sellers in the run up to Christmas," McClenaghan added.