Are men Better Drivers than Women?
Men naturally think they are better than women at almost everything, from sports to fishing. This of course also includes driving. This debate has raged on since the first car was produced and both sexes hit the road. The question is, are men better drivers than women in 2016? The real answer is a bit tricky and needs further explanation and some stats to back up the perceptions out there. Read on and find out some interesting facts. Get your car insured for less in just 5 minutes with goodtogoinsurance online.
Who gets into more auto accidents, Men or Women?
According to data released by the National Highway Safety Administration or NHTSA, men get into more car accidents than women. This means the overall volume of incidents can be charged to men. Wait a bit though before you make a conclusion as to what sex is better at driving because this data can be a bit misleading. Men drive much more than women and thus are exposed to more potential collisions. The comprehensive study by the NHTSA found males drive around 40% more each year. This means they are on the road more of the time and have a greater probability because of this to get into a collision. The interesting part of this study is there are way more licensed females on the road, 1 million more than men. How many times have you looked over and spotted a couple in the car with the man sitting in the passenger seat? Not very often right. Men usually take control of the wheel on family outings, dates, etc., and thus are the culprits to blame when incidents occur.
According to the Federal Highway Administration, men drive about 16,500 miles annually and women much less, around 10,140. This correlates with just over 6.1 million accidents caused by men annually and 4.4 responsible for women. When you look at the stat of accidents per mile driven, the info shows men are less likely to get involved in an incident, but only by a small margin.
Men Take more Risks when Driving
Young men under the age of 25 are the most dangerous drivers on the road. They do risky things like speed, tailgating, not putting on their seat belts, racing and drive intoxicated to name a few things. Another high-risk age group are male drivers those between 21-34. Although they make up just eleven percent of the USA’s population, they are guilty of one-third of all DUIs. Lawmakers have stepped up in recent years and have passed legislation lowering the legal blood alcohol limits to .08 in many states. This has had some success in reducing crashes, but the numbers of deaths by young male motorists is still way too high. This age group gives the older, more responsible drivers a bad name. One super bad thing male drivers do more than their female counterparts is intoxicated driving. In the past few years, DUIs have dropped by a third, but it is still a huge problem nationwide. This selfish behavior not only can kill the motorist who is drunk but often kills innocent people. On average, about 900 people die due to vehicular deaths related to intoxication and the majority of this motorist are male.
The Perception Still Exists
Despite the evidence that both sexes get into about the same amount of vehicle incidents, the perception is still out there that men are better drivers. It seems to be true that men can do certain things like parallel park better and drive in icy or extreme weather with greater skill, but women are safer on the road and don’t drive as aggressively. They also don’t get into nearly as many DUI crashes.
With the future of transportation moving to driverless cars, I guess the question of, are men better drivers than women may never get solved. The debate will undoubtedly rage on forever, however. If you need cheap car coverage, then check out good to go insurance. The quote is free, and you will be given up to 10 price rates to compare. Get started now and lower your premiums.