John McCririck Gets Thumbs Down From Women
Racing pundit John McCririck is a man that women don't want to come to their rescue if the car breaks down, according to a special Valentine's Day survey by Direct Line Rescue, the country's fastest growing breakdown recovery service.
The poll, conducted by MORI, asked 1,237 women across Great Britain to pick from a list of famous men and choose who would be their favourite roadside rescuer if their car broke down. John McCririck came last, scoring less than 1% of the votes.
The favourite roadside rescuer was Sir Sean Connery, who was a winner with 20% of women, followed by George Clooney who scored with 12% of the women surveyed. Teen heart-throbs Robbie Williams and Ricky Martin came half way down on the list, with just 10% and 5% respectively.
In its own research, Direct Line Rescue also found that women were more likely than men to use its services, accounting for 53% of breakdown calls in 1999. The most frequent cause of lady drivers breaking down was electrical problems, which caused 40% of breakdowns. A further 13% were the result of engine problems - but running out of fuel and being locked out only scored 3% each!
Around the country, Scottish lady drivers were the least likely to break down: 46% of Direct Line Rescue's call outs north of the border were accounted for by women drivers. But the South East had the highest call out rate, with lady motorists achieving the top call out rate of 55%.
Annette Court, managing director, motor, for Direct Line, said, "With our research showing that Scottish women are the least likely in the UK to break down, it looks like Sir Sean Connery will have a harder job finding ladies to rescue in his home country".
The results in full were:0>| Sir Sean Connery |  20% |
| George Clooney | 12% |
| Pierce Brosnan | 11% |
| Brad Pitt | 10% |
| Robbie Williams | 10% |
| Ricky Martin | 5% |
| Tom Jones | 4% |
| David Beckham | 4% |
| Tony Blair | 2% |
| Ali G | 2% |
| Lawrence Llewellyn-Bowen | 1% |
| John McCririck | less than 1% |
| None of these | 21% |
Technical details
The poll of 1,237 women around Great Britain was carried out by MORI between January 27th and 1st February 2000.
