Beware of female, young drivers - study dissects driving politeness

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Beware of female and young drivers, the owners of old bangers and those in control of expensive vehicles.

A new Queensland University study has found that these are the least likely to give other drivers a break if it means losing a minute or two.

And while the study's authors regard the results of their survey of about 1000 commuters as evidence that manners still exist on Australian roads, six out of 10 drivers still refuse to pause to allow others to slip in ahead of them.

The study, by PhD student Redzo Mujcic and Economics Professor Paul Frijters, was conducted at Brisbane intersections where drivers could either let others in, or force them to yield.

It found that men were more likely to stop than women, although both were about twice as likely to allow someone of the opposite gender to move ahead of them. About half of all older drivers stopped, but about two-thirds of younger motorists kept driving. And the road's middle class was the most considerate.

Drivers of cheap cars were least likely to stop, with the drivers of the really expensive cars only barely more likely to allow others ahead of them.

The cars that stopped most were of "intermediate" value.

The study also reported that drivers were about twice as likely to stop if there was someone in the passenger seat of the car, and like was more likely to yield to like.

Four-wheel-drives, for example, were more likely to stop for other 4WDs, while "low-status" cars were unlikely to stop for high status cars.

The study said the findings were evidence for widespread altruism in Australian society.

"With more than one-third of the random commuters willing to forgo some precious seconds to do someone else a favour, politeness is clearly not yet dead in Australia." it said.

"However, this politeness seems to be more easily brought on if someone else is watching and if the person being done a favour is of the opposite gender and driving a similar car to ourselves."