WARREN Guys get ticketed in higher numbers

Driving fast has 'always been a guy thing,' the police chief says.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
and STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Men are the worse drivers.
The numbers prove it.
And young men are the worst of the worst, at least in this city, according to traffic records in the Warren Police Department.
Chief John Mandopoulos has a theory:
"They are trying to outrun the women," he said. "I drive slow because no women are chasing me."
The records show 277 men were ticketed for traffic violations during the past two months, and 141 women received tickets.
Out of the 418 traffic violations, 220 tickets were given for speed. And, yes, men again had the heavier foot.
Driving fast has "always been a guy thing," Mandopoulos said.
"It seems that men like to play the radio loud and go fast."
None of this comes as a surprise to Jack Lally, owner of Town and Country Driving School in Warren, which counsels about 1,000 people a year on the rules of the road.
"The male thinks he has a lot more skill than he really does," Lally said. "They will throttle down heavy on the back-up, they are less attentive, and they will try to beat the lights."
Men show off
Women, in his experience, are more relaxed in the driver's seat.
He's not surprised that men remain worse speeders than women, even as they get older.
"Your average woman drives an SUV and your average man gets himself a powerful car," he said.
Women have the bad rap, but men tend to be worse drivers, agreed Lt. Jerry Thompson of the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
Thompson, who left the Southington OSP post in July after nearly 10 years to become commander of the Lisbon post in Columbiana County, teaches traffic enforcement at MTC Training Centre, a police academy in McKinley Heights.
"A young man in the presence of his significant other wants to show off," said Thompson.
"It is also the same when he is with his buds."
Woman are just more cautions, and young ladies just seem to be more mature, he said.
"Boys have the ego."