Women Are Safer Drivers

By Author: Marcus Stalder
Total Articles: 491
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No matter how many jokes you hear (or tell), the statistical evidence is absolutely clear. The boring truth is that women are involved in fewer accidents and, when they are unlucky, the damage to vehicles is less serious and people are not as badly injured. Women are safer drivers! Why is this the case? The best explanation is the way they are brought up. Whenever a daughter looks as if she might take a risk, her parents immediately run over, warning her of danger, picking her up protectively, and wrapping her in bubble wrap. From the cradle they are taught how to live their lives as if there was death lurking round every corner. Boys, on the other hand, are allowed to run, climb and jump as if there was nothing more natural in the world than the possibility they might break an arm or leg due to some tomfoolery. So, when it comes to getting behind the wheel of a car or truck, boys have the confidence that being surrounded by all this metal will protect them from harm should they crash, while girls worry about how they will explain even the slightest scratch to their parents. It's the difference between, "Of course my truck can ...
... get through that gap" and "I think we should stop before we get into trouble".

Look at every record, whether it's the number of moving violation tickets issued, the number of people taken to emergency rooms following accidents, or claims made to insurance companies, it's the same story. Women drive within the law and so are driving more slowly if there's an accident. As a result, insurance companies reward women by giving them lower premium rates. The question raised and answered in a recent European Court case is whether this unfairly discriminates against men. The court has ordered European insurers to stop relying on gender as a key variable when calculating risk. It's discriminatory to charge men more just because they are men (even though the evidence shows them to be more dangerous drivers).

So how should we react? People cannot control their biological sex. You come out of the womb and have to live with your genes. So it's probably unfair to penalize a group of people over something they cannot control. But everyone can control how they drive. It's not necessary to have testosterone injections to enable you to drive recklessly. Anyone can do it if that's how they want to drive. So the fair way to assess the risk of accidents and so set the premium rates is to look at the evidence about driving safety. Those who never have an accident should be rewarded with lower premiums when the auto insurance quotes come in. But if people have left a trail of wreckage in their wake, they should be hit with higher premiums. Auto insurance companies should use price to offer direct incentives to all drivers on safety. Setting rates should have nothing to do with gender. It should be all about every individual's driving record. Except, changing from the traditional approach means women suddenly paying more. That's an exciting political prospect.