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Woman Driver Pioneer

5/30/2013

Dorothy Levitt's favourite photo of herself

Dorothy shows how it's done

I'm pleased to hear that the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography has added Dorothy Levitt to its latest edition today. (What took so long?)
   Dorothy Levitt was the first woman to compete in a motor race Britain (1903), although there were others racing in Europe, including the amazing Camille du Gast.
   Dorothy wanted to encourage more women to try the thrills of being a 'motoriste'. So, in 1909, she wrote a handbook for them entitled The Woman and the Car. In another first, she had photographs taken to illustrate the book, of herself driving and maintaining the car.
   She writes enthusiastically about other well-known women in the Ladies Automobile Club which had close to 400 members, observing:"there is no other country in the world in which women may be seen at the helm of a motorcar so frequently as in England. Whatever the cause – whether it be due to a greater sense of security from annoyance on public roads, or simply to superiority of pluck, the fact remains that women in England excel their sisters in other countries as greatly in motoring as in horsemanship."
   The handbook includes practical tips on maintaining your car, likely costs, how to dress and motoring manners, for example: when to use the siren, and should you tip a friend's garage steward more than you would the groom when you visit?
   There's no question Dorothy was a character. she raced with a snappy pomeranian pooch sitting next to her, even though he had a tendency to bite the marshalls. She was the first driver to think of using a mirror to look behind her, whipping out a hand mirror - and she carried a gun. She deserves to be remembered, as do so many rarely mentioned female pioneers in the worlds of motoring, racing and aviation.

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Bentley Girl

5/28/2013

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See my driving impressions of the Bentley Continental V8 Convertible on Beauty & the Dirt.

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Beauty & the Dirt

5/20/2013

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I'm very pleased to announce that I will be writing fortnightly motoring stories for the stylish website Beauty & The Dirt.

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Driving like a girl can save you money

5/20/2013

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See my full story Women Lose Advantage including a list of companies offering telematics to reduce insurance premiums.

Insurance organisation Drive like a Girl says it has handed back more than £51,000 to its first 500 customers in recognition of their good driving. The brand was established in January to help careful drivers beat the EU directive, which prevents insurers from selling cheaper cover to young women even though they represent a smaller risk than equivalent chaps. It promises to give money back after three months to anyone who has ‘driven like a girl’. The quality of driving is assessed using data sent back by a telematics box installed behind the dashboard at no extra cost when people buy policies.
In May, 85% of the 500 earliest customers are getting money back, with 60% receiving their own maximum discount at an average of £137 each. One in four customers received more than £150 back. Some 7%, mostly the youngest motorists, will get more than £250 as their three-month discount.
Twenty-one-year-old Gemma Taylor from Leeds heard about Drive like a Girl just after she passed her driving test in January via comparison site Moneysupermarket. She said: “It really didn’t worry me having a box in the car, as it enables me to have an affordable price for my car insurance against others that were on offer. What really tempted me was the three-month discount. By driving safely, I have now qualified for over £300 back which is fantastic.”

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