Why Women Really are Safer Drivers

Why Women Really are Safer Drivers Shocking new research has shown that male drivers could be endangering the lives of themselves and others - by not drinking enough water. A recent survey has shown over a third of male drivers (37%) would drive for over three hours without stopping and nearly a third (31%) would chose to take their favourite CD as a priority on a long journey. In contrast, most women drivers (42%) cite a bottle of a water as their top priority on a long journey and over half (50.1%) would stop for refreshments after just two hours. Only 21% of women would drive for over three hours without taking a break. This research, commissioned by Volvic Natural Mineral Water, is released in the run up to the summer holidays - a time when more people than ever are likely to be on the roads and suggests that women are in fact safer drivers than men. Clinicians at Danone, Volvic's parent company, have evidence to suggest that 2% dehydration could lead to 20% decrease in performance and that even simple tasks become more difficult to perform and concentration is affected. This is clearly a problem and a danger to drivers and it seems men in particular fail to recognise this. Professor Ronald Maughan of Aberdeen's University Medical School said: "There are undoubtedly some negative subjective symptoms associated with even modest levels of dehydration. Self-ratings of alertness and ability to concentrate decline progressively when fluid intake is restricted to induce body mass deficits of even as little as 1.2% at the same time, ratings of tiredness and headache increase. "There are also some indications in the published literature that cognitive function, as assessed by decision-making and reaction time tests is also impaired at low levels of dehydration. This may be important when decisions have to be made or where judgement and skill are involved: driving a car is a good example of such a task." According to the Natural Mineral Water Information Service, Britons know how much water they need but are putting their health at risk because they are dehydrated. Only 1 person in 10 drinks as much water as health experts recommend to stay healthy and hydrated; despite the fact that around half of us (49%) know we should drink 8 glasses or more a day. Laurie Labesque, Senior Brand Manager at Danone, said: "As more people are out on the roads, drivers should know that being dehydrated not only puts their health at risk but could also affect their safety. The summer months, hot weather, air-conditioning in cars and excitement and frustration of traffic jams could lead to drivers becoming dehydrated and therefore their concentration will be affected. Drinking Volvic could improve the driver's ability and safety and we encourage all drivers to STOP,REVIVE, DRIVE." -Ends- For further information and images please contact Nicola Ware at Staniforth Communications on 0207 940 1184/ nicola.ware@staniforth.co.uk or Karina Aguirre at Staniforth Communications on 0207 940 7994/ karina.aguirre@staniforth.co.uk Notes to Editor 1. Professor Ronald Maughan writes for 'Nutrition in Practice' (Volume 3, Issue 1 March 2002) 2. The survey was carried out independently on behalf of Volvic Mineral Water by the Access Research Group. The survey was conducted among 1000 people across the UK 3. Further information on the Natural Mineral Water Information Service is available at www.naturalmineralwater.org ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/05/27/20020527BIT01070/wkr0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/05/27/20020527BIT01070/wkr0002.pdf