The battle of the sexes has for some time taken to the roads. Disgruntled males complain that despite their supposedly natural superiority behind the wheel, they are suffering a great injustice put upon them by the insurance industry, which offers women a better deal on premiums.
As if to rub salt into the wounds, a recent ruling by the British Advertising Standards Agency stated that women are apparently better drivers than men. The ASA's comments came after complaints were made about an advertising campaign run by Admiral Insurance Services' Diamond Car Insurance.
A poster features a man having his hair coloured at a salon, and states: "Some men will try anything to get cheaper car insurance." It continues: "Diamond only do car insurance for women because women are better drivers."
The advertisement was seen as a terrible slur on male drivers who take their superiority behind the wheel of any mechanised vehicle as a biological fact.
However, the British advertising industry's self-regulatory body ruled last October that the claim was fair and accurate, proving what women suspected - and men dreaded - all along.
In its defence, Admiral offered insurance statistics which, the company claimed, showed women are better drivers because they make fewer, smaller claims. It also provided 108 sample quotes from 12 competitors' websites which, it said, supported the claim through lower insurance premiums for women.
The ruling was supported by an AA survey published in 1998, which claimed men drive faster and break the law more often than women, and are more likely to be killed.
However, Conor Faughnan of the AA says the difference in premiums is not so much to do with women being better drivers than men. "It is much more to do with actuarial issues."
While wishing to avoid becoming embroiled in any gender battles, Faughnan says that on a very general basis, women would seem to do less mileage and have more sedentary jobs than men, and these contribute to the weightings in their premiums.
His views are supported by Michael Kemp of the Irish Insurance Federation, who says women drivers' claims risk is determined - as with all categories - by objective analysis of claims experience.
According to a report carried out for the IIF, a man under 20-years of age is 1.6 times riskier than a woman under 20 when it comes to comprehensive insurance.
Away from the contentious issue of gender superiority behind the wheel, it would seem to be well established that women pay lower premiums than men.
An independent survey carried out in January by Catalyst Market Research and commissioned by the AA, found that comprehensive cover prices for a 28-year-old female ranged from €632 to €1,046.
For a male of the same age the prices started at €938 and rose to €1,583.
The study involved Catalyst contacting six major insurance companies, including the AA, in a "mystery shopping" exercise.
All were told that the potential client was Dublin-based, held a sedentary occupation, a full clean licence and had maximum no claims bonus.
The car in question was a two-year-old 1.3 litre Toyota Yaris.
While the survey was carried out only four months ago, it is worth noting that even in this short time all price trends in the industry have been upwards.
However, despite the apparently lower premiums women do appear to contribute more than their fair share.
However, according to the Motor Insurance Advisory Board's interim report, the insurance industry makes profits of €927 (£730) each on female drivers aged 19 to 20, making women the second most profitable category after young males.
While the gender data in the report only dates up to 1997, Mick Murphy, national organiser of the Motor Insurance Justice Action Group, says they indicate that from age 51 favourable margins on female policyholders are consistently higher.
The variance is greatest over age 70 where profits on females are £166 per policy compared to £29 for males, a variance of £137 or 472 per cent.
As for the battle of the sexes, there is a small silver lining for men, amid all the criticism. The 1998 AA survey found that women drivers were twice as likely to have accidents at junctions than men.
However, neither the British Advertising Standards Agency nor the AA are likely to bring an end to the battle of the sexes on Irish roads.