Is it True that Men are Riskier Drivers than Women?

Thursday, August 27th, 2009 at 2:57 am

Women have definitely gotten a reputation as bad drivers, but this may be more about cultural and society stigma than related to any truth. Women tend to respect the rules of the road more than men and are involved in many more accidents than women.

In 2004 The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that men were involved in more fatal accidents, more injury accidents and more accidents with property damage than women. If fact, they were involved in far more accidents in each category, not a marginally greater amount. This is the most definitive evidence available that women are actually not the bad drivers.

It’s not just the under-25 subset of men contributing to these statistics either. All men are statistically riskier drivers and prone to more accidents. They tend to drive faster, without their seatbelt and in violation of traffic laws more frequently. Men also drive more miles and hours over a lifetime, leading to more opportunities than women to have an accident.

Insurance companies are practically expert when it comes to statistics and probability, and insurance rates and premiums reflect this. Men will get a higher auto insurance quote in Maryland or elsewhere in the country because of the generally more aggressive and riskier nature of men. However, the more recent trend may suggest that women are also driving under more stress, having active lives that require more driving and thus possibly getting into more accidents. This trend is being watched carefully but at the moment men still hold the record on bad driving.

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