Hello – Joy here.
Since I started driving in 1973, I have heard women drivers are by far the worst on the road. While I’m not a feminist, this has always bothered me. So, to find answers, I did some research.
Here are some interesting facts:
- Women are involved in HALF as many accidents as men.
- The majority of accidents involving women happen at lower speeds and
result in less property damage or bodily injury. - Women drivers pass the written and practical driving exams the first
time more often than men.
There have been a few statistical changes in the past few years as women spend more time behind the wheel.
Younger women are found to be more aggressive drivers than in the past and there’s an increase in speeding violations, but they are still less than their male counterparts. Young mothers in mini-vans are far more easily distracted by their passengers and there’s an increase in minor violations. Business women and women driving SUVs show an increased tendency to tailgate and speed.
Even with these increases, women are still considered safer drivers than men, and their insurance is less expensive.
While the gap between male and female drivers is closing, women have never been or are they now the worst drivers.
I admit, I really enjoyed writing that last sentence.
Two True Stories:
I was riding in a car driven by a guy (NOT my husband), and a car cut us off and was driving badly. He smacked the steering wheel and said, “That’s got to be a woman driver. Let’s get her license plate number.” At the next red light, we caught up with the car, and his eyebrows rose when we both looked at the driver: a man about the same age as the driver in the car with me. Suddenly reporting the erratic driving wasn’t important.
This morning on the way to the office to write this blog post, I noticed a Pontiac that was all over Hwy 52. The driver was crossing lines and speeding – I was going just over 65 MPH,, and this car zoomed past me. I noticed she was looking intently into her review mirror and I assumed she was watching out for law enforcement. I was wrong. A couple of minutes later, we took the same exit and traffic plus a red light forced the driver to slow down. I watched the driver (a young woman) applying mascara and fussing with her bangs, while she talked into the blue tooth device sticking out of her ear. She nearly poked her eye out when the light turned green.
So there you have it – the facts and a bit of “fair & balanced” reporting.
Joy
Joy DeKok, Marketing Assistant to Jon DeKok
Independent Agent for DeKok Insurance Group
Better coverage at better prices.
P. S. There are many resources like this one on the Internet, but I’ll share just one recent study about men and women drivers done by MSN in 2011.
http://editorial.autos.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=788126
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Graphic purchased at Fotolia.com © Norman Pogson – Fotolia.com
