News: Car insurer proposes women-only "PinkZones" for British motorways

NEARLY 100 years after fighting to get women the vote, what would Emmeline Pankhurst, leader of the Suffragette movement, made of proposals for bright pink, female-only motorway lanes?

Sheilas’ Wheels, the “female focused” car insurer, has proposed the implementation of ‘PinkZones’ to British motorways. Handily identifiable in the universally female-friendly shade of luminous pink, the lanes would only be for drivers blessed with two X chromosomes. The insurer also called for female-only fly-overs so women can assert not only their metaphorical but also literal hierarchy over male drivers.

A spokesperson told driving.co.uk the proposal itself was a “bit of fun” but that it had a serious purpose: to “highlight the differences in the way men and women drive, and to identify ways in which road safety could be improved for women, who are more likely to be injured in crashes”. It is hoping the campaign will lead to the creation of a safer road network for female drivers.

“A discussion about how best to achieve this is long overdue,” it said.

The insurer highlighted Department for Transport figures from 2012 showing that men had been involved in 114,190 traffic accidents compared to just 70,470 for women, yet 53% of women involved in a traffic accident are badly injured, compared to just 38% of men. Deaths on motorways for both sexes rose to 100, up from 88 in 2012, marking the first increase in nearly a decade, the insurer said.

Sheilas’ Wheels claims PinkZones would be easy and, at a cost of £880m, cost effective to roll out.

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