Think of the word sexism. What does it mean? Does it mean inequality or discrimination because of gender? Does it mean the unfair treatment of a person because of their gender? Does it mean being treated as inferior due to your gender? Can it mean the unfair treatment of women by men?

If you look it up for the exact definition, sexism comes with two explanations:

1.  Discrimination based on gender, especially discrimination against women.

2.  Attitudes, conditions, or behaviors that promote stereotyping of social roles based on gender.

Notice that regardless of where you search for it, it will usually say that sexism is discrimination toward women. As the reason for sexism being an issue came to light due to the unfair treatment of women originally, that’s a reasonable definition, but we are just as able to discriminate against men.

The Road Safety Authority have a campaign on their websites known as “He drives, she dies” which consists of one page that opens with the line:

Fact: Males account for 80% of the drivers in fatal collisions, compared to 20% for female drivers.

The campaign was launched with the help of Rose of Tralee 2007 Aoife Kelly who works at the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dún Laoghaire and has witnessed the senseless and tragic results of reckless driving every day. She states on the campaign page:

“Ladies, think before getting into a car with a guy who is prepared to risk your life and his,” she says. “Reckless driving is not impressive and people do not realise the consequences of such crazy behaviour until they attend a funeral of a family member, best friend, or a lost loved one.”

The advice she gives is fair and probably will come in helpful for many women who socialise with reckless male drivers, so her words may create some beneficial results.

I have a problem with the ad. The RSA chose to create the dialogue that is apparently meant to promote road safety and ensure less road deaths will occur.

“To think they have the cheek to talk about women drivers/when they’re the dangerous ones/and even worse it’s us girls that suffer for it/in Ireland most female road deaths/are caused by male drivers/so it’s time for all of us girls/to put our foot down/that means the next time a fella wants to take you for a spin/and you don’t trust his driving/don’t even think about getting in/because in too many collisions/he drives/she dies.”

The ad can be found on the site, here.

At first, the campaign page tells us that it is a fact that males account for 80% of the drivers in fatal collisions. This means that when accidents or collisions occur, usually a man is behind the wheel. This does not mean that the male driver caused the accident or collision, it means they were present as the driver. No blame is placed. So at first, it appears that the campaign is trying to give an unbiased, factual account to bring to light the problem with road deaths.

Then there’s the ad itself. What does this ad say? Does it give an objective account of the problem with the recorded road deaths, or does it have several different women with an annoyed tone in their voice, actually giving out about and pigeon-holing men? Do any of these women give us facts or true statistics? Do any of theses women say “males account for 80% of road deaths” or do they say “Most female road deaths are caused by male drivers”?

Caused. Not accounted for. Caused. As in “Women are killed by men, it is their fault”, not “These accidents/collisions occur; predominantly male drivers involved”. Two completely different pieces of information are given to us, both of which are and created and promoted by the RSA. One is subjective, one is objective. Surely there isn’t to be any kind of personal opinion to be included in a campaign that is meant to be issuing facts?

Following the radio ad on the page is the statistics, which begins with the headline “Facts”:

* 67% of female passengers killed from 1998 to 2007 were in a vehicle with a male driver.

* Males are the drivers in 80% of fatal collisions.

* 89.7% of alcohol related crashes involved male drivers.

* Males between the ages of 17 and 24 cause the most fatal collisions.

Who conducted the research for these facts? Where was the research carried out? Why are statistics that are over 3 years old being produced for a campaign that’s being circulated now? How do any of these facts benefit people?

The first three facts provided come across as evasive; the first states the women killed were in a vehicle with a male, but how does this prove that it was the male that caused the death?

The second states the same fact from the beginning; still, how does this prove they were the cause?

The third uses the term “involved”, not “caused by”.

And the fourth hits the nail on the head: Males between the ages of 17 and 24 cause the most fatal collisions.

Not “accounted for”, not “involved” not “present for”, “cause”. This is laying the blame, plain and simple, on the age group of 17-24 year old males, NOT on the entire gender. Not only does it state that the selected age group is responsible and actually causes the collisions, but it provides a bar chart with the highest group being “17 to 24 year old males” that dates from 1996-2004. These facts and statistics not only lay outright blame on an entire age-group, but are out of date and provide no evidence for road deaths causation for this year, which is when this campaign is currently in use.

To put it simply: the campaign is named “He drives, she dies” and provides us with evasive facts and expired statistics, but no solution. What is meant to be achieved by this campaign? From the way its facts are promoted and the overall tone of the ad, it just seems to be laying blame on the entire male gender and not providing us with any solution to the issue or any effective ways to combat the minority that had been recorded as involved in most collisions.

It states simply “He drives, she dies”, not “the age group of 17-24 year old males have been recorded as being involved in the most fatal collisions”. It lays out expired statistics and facts that aren’t specific to any given area and doesn’t give a direct source for the research, rather than providing beneficial information that can be used to prevent further death. It gives us an a dialogue that consists of a number of women griping about men on a whole, calling them “the dangerous ones” and actually stating “are caused by male drivers” rather than providing us with a mixed gender account of accidents and collisions that affected their lives and telling people on a whole to be careful when driving.

All in all, regardless of the so-called facts on the page, this campaign is completely sexist and doesn’t result in any beneficial change. Will it stop overzealous boy-racers? Will it stop women getting into a car with a man they aren’t sure is a good driver? Will it bring forth a wave of road safety and total lack of crashes and road deaths? No. All it does is alienate male drivers on a whole, so is that the aim of our Road Safety Authority? If their goal was to save lives with this campaign, then they have failed. If painting all men with one brush as dangerous and life-threatening drivers was the purpose of the campaign, then they have succeeded.

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