I asked my nine-year-old son whether he believes I am a better driver than his mum. With a big grin on his face and after I assured him it was not a trick question, he said I am... but for all the wrong reasons.

I drive faster, am more audacious and in general I make every trip in the car more exciting and thrilling through my driving antics, he said.

My 12-year-old daughter was more diplomatic. She said that I take more risks and get agitated in traffic whereas her mum seems to complicate issues unnecessarily and will never take risks. I obviously rejected her claim that I would even drive the wrong way down a one-way street to avoid traffic.

I asked this question in an attempt to answer the eternal question of which of the sexes are the more dangerous drivers? What spurred me on the subject was an article I came across last week about Saudi Arabia where women are banned from getting behind the wheel of a car. I was curious to know whether there were fewer traffic accidents in a country with only male drivers.

Well the statistics prove otherwise. According to Change.org, the world’s fastest-growing platform for social change, which is campaigning to overturn the ban on women drivers in Saudi Arabia, between 1971 and 1997; 564,762 people died or were injured in road traffic accidents in Saudi, a figure equivalent to 3.5 per cent of the total population. During this period 66,914 people died on the roads due to road accidents, amounting to one person killed and four injured every hour.

“Over 65 per cent of accidents occur because of vehicles travelling at excess speed and/or drivers disobeying traffic signals. Of deaths, 81 per cent are due to road traffic accidents and 20 per cent of hospital beds are occupied by traffic accidents victims. Also, 79.2 per cent of patients admitted to Riyadh Armed Forces Hospital with spinal injuries had sustained their injuries in motor vehicle accidents.

Other sources claim the equivalent of 4.7 per cent of the Saudi population had suffered death or injury in traffic accidents, while the figure does not exceed 1.7 per cent in Australia, England or America. These statistics say it all. With women nowhere to be seen behind the steering wheel, traffic accidents are still high.

In fact, general global statistics seem to suggest that men are worse drivers than women and are involved in more fatal accidents, but then men drive more on average and are known to take more risks. The same statistics I read indicate that women are involved in more minor accidents, men are over three times more likely to be killed in car accidents due to negligent driving and that men are more likely to take risks when driving and this risk factor leads to accidents. My daughter was right after all.

The statistics also show that fewer women will drive under the influence, will not wear seatbelts and fewer still will not stick to the speed limit. Further statistics showed that male drivers have a 77 per cent higher risk of dying in a car accident than women, based on the miles driven.

Obviously, Saudi Arabia’s decision to ban female drivers is based more on their culture and religion rather than an evaluation of women’s driving skills. Furthermore, I believe that good driving is down to the individual and definitely not down to gender.

The fact remains that in this day and age, it is unthinkable that a country bans women from driving. Maybe driving is the least thing on the mind of a Saudi woman. “Saudi women can’t vote and make up just five per cent of the Saudi workforce. Saudi women and girls must wear the hijab in public”.

But now women seem to be standing up for their rights in Saudi Arabia and this month will be challenging the ban after Manal Al-Sharif, a Saudi computer technician and mother, was arrested and jailed for driving her own car. Let us hope that this is the start of another revolution in favour of women’s rights.