Why Do Women Pay Less Than Men?

By Author: Norris Rios
Total Articles: 572
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Many years ago, there was an early version of James Bond called Bulldog Drummond. Like Bond, he was a Brit and he had true grit when fighting an international criminal and his moll. The movies were less successful but the books are truly memorable. One of the best is The Female of the Species, the title being the unfinished version of . . .is more deadly than the male — a line from a poem by another Brit called Rudyard Kipling. When Drummond finally kills his arch enemy, the battle is resumed by his moll and she proves a deadly opponent. Indeed, throughout literature, the women who step on to the dark side always prove to be more complete villains than their male equivalents. It's as if our horror of women doing bad stuff makes anyone good at it seem doubly frightening. Curiously, women drivers have always inspired a mixture of fear and derision. Men seem convinced women drivers are either uselessly timid or homicidal maniacs with little left between. Yet insurance companies who get to see all the traffic accident statistics across the US have a rather different opinion. The reality is women drivers are safer than men. ...
... They are involved in fewer accidents and, when an accident does occur, there are fewer people seriously injured and the vehicles are not as badly damaged. When it comes to setting premiums, you reward the people who drive more slowly and follow the rules of the road, and penalize the drivers who drive at reckless speeds and crash into anything that gets in the way.

There are several theories about differences between the sexes. Some say men have better spacial awareness. This allows them better control over moving objects at speed. Some say women do what they are told and so apply the speed limit and the laws on safety. Whatever the reason, three times more men than women are killed on the roads every year. Men aged under 25 are the most likely to die. They are the ones most likely to buy high-powered vehicles and want to show off. They are also likely to drive while under the influence of alcohol or drugs late at night when it is most dangerous. It's a sad picture but insurance companies deal with the world as they find it. Premiums are high where the risk of claims is high. That means young male drivers pay the highest premiums of anyone on the road. Their only strategy is to prove they are the exception to the rule. They should buy low-powered family saloons and drive as little as possible. There must be no tickets for speeding or any other moving violation. There must be no claims. The men who prove they are as safe as the women earn the same lower premiums. As for the women, they will always get cheap car insurance premiums. The biggest savings comes from the insurance companies offering special women-only policies. It is worth shopping around to find the really cheap car insurance policies in the age range of 30 to 45. Assuming low mileage at conventional times of the day, the lowest rates will be offered to this group. Then as age increases, the premiums will edge slowly up again, reaching a maximum after the age of 75.