• Many women would rather seek help than change their tires
• This leads to unnecessary expenses in paying a mechanic
Image: COURTESY
Sometime last year, I wrote of a conversation I had with a female friend about the struggles she goes through in Nairobi traffic.
Catcalling, bullying by matatu drivers and insults were just some of the challenges she has come to embrace as part of being a female driver.
The struggle is real and it doesn't end there; women also sweat to get to grips with the technical aspects of their vehicles.
Many are the times female drivers have been advised to get a man who would come through for them should they suffer a puncture.
I don't advocate the same rather. I believe female drivers should get down and dirty with a wheel spanner and jack to change their punctured tires.
Female readers of this column will say it is easier said than done. Of course it is, especially when the tire hasn't been changed in a while and the nuts are extra tightened and will thus require superhuman energy to loosen.
However, many female drivers never even get to the first stage of fetching the wheel spanner and jack from the trunk in the event of a punctured tire.
The first thought is often to dial the mechanic's number or that of a male friend or colleague. In the first case, this means unnecessary expenses in form of labour fees for the mechanic.
Whereas many female drivers are familiar with how to open the bonnet, understanding the various car fluids is another story.
It is no surprise that most cars that are often at the risk of mechanical breakdowns are owned by women because they do not understand the need and frequency of coolants, brake fluids, engine oil and power steering.
Many do not know the brake pads need to be replaced until it is too late and a lot of damage has been done. Consequently, this is just the leeway for an unscrupulous mechanic to extort such drivers in the pursuit of an extra buck.
To avoid losing a lot of money in this way, female drivers should enlighten themselves on the various fluids required and the frequency with which the same should be replaced.
It may also seem unfair to say that women drivers struggle the most with inflating their car tires but this is what I have noted according to my observations.
Most would prefer to pull up at a petrol station and ask the attendant to help inflate their car tires simply because they either don't want to soil themselves or do not know how to use the pump.
Others, if they cannot locate an attendant on standby, will prefer to keep driving with a low-pressured tire until they find help. This leads to the first challenge described in this column.
If what a man can do, a woman can do better, then overcoming these struggles should be a walk in the park for any female driver.