Are Men Better Drivers than Women?

Argue all you want, but you'd be hard-pressed to find documented proof that men are superior to women as drivers. However, gender certainly does impact driving habits and car insurance industry observers believe that the gender issue plays into policy. That's a point driven home by David Snyder, Vice President of the American Insurance Association in Washington D.C., who acknowledges that most car insurance companies take into account a driver's gender in determining policy pricing.

"The weight in pricing varies from company to company and by claims experience over time, but, for example, with all other factors being equal, a female between the ages of 18 and 25 would pay less than her male counterpart because as a rule younger women drivers have fewer accidents and moving violations than males in the same age group,” says Snyder. Young males, between the ages of 16 to 25, typically pay more than females in their age group due to higher rates of catastrophic accidents.

Many auto insurance industry experts would agree with the theory that males, especially young men, tend to drive more aggressively than women and display their aggression in a direct manner, rather than indirectly. Furthermore, statistics compiled by various state highway patrol departments show that male drivers are more likely than women to break the law.

"Men typically drive more miles than women and engage more often in risky driving practices including not using a safety belt… and speeding," according to Rader, spokesman for AIA, in Arlington, VA. "This is due to the fact that men typically drive more miles and exhibit often risky driving practices such as driving while intoxicated, not wearing a seatbelt and speeding," said Lehman. On the flip-side, AIA also reported that from 1975 to 2003, female deaths in motor vehicle crashes increased 14 percent compared to an 11 percent decline for male motorists during that same period.

“We're also seeing women driving more aggressively, picking up that bad habit from their male counterparts," points out Kummer, Director of Personal Lines-Auto for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI), an insurance trade organization based in Illinois. Kummer believes that there are more women drivers because more females hold down jobs today than a quarter-century ago. "All these factors lead to more deaths among women drivers and their auto insurance costs are rising in direct proportion to their accident and death rates from crashes." If trends continue as the data suggest, we could definitely see a closing of the gap of car insurance rates between male and female drivers.

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