An age-old question that remains hotly debated is whether men are better drivers than women. Auto insurance companies are among the best judges of driving abilities since their business depends upon evaluating accident risk. Recently, Yahoo Auto reported on insurance companies charging men more for auto insurance because they tend to become involved in more serious collisions. However, the insurers also recognize different types of risks that men take versus dangerous driving choices that women make.
Both men and women have certain obligations to other motorists on the road to ensure that they are behaving in a safe way. If you or a loved one is hurt by a driver’s careless choices, it may benefit you to contact an experienced accident lawyer for help pursuing a damage claim to potentially obtain compensation from the irresponsible driver.
Women Have More Fender-Benders
According to Yahoo, a 25-year-old male motorist in Oakland, California, who has not received any tickets will pay as much as $358 more to insure a vehicle compared with a woman who has the same driving profile. The gap between insurance costs for men and women narrows with age, but men end up paying thousands of dollars more in auto insurance costs over the course of their lives.
Insurance companies charge men more because men generally become involved in more serious and more costly accidents, while women generally have more minor collisions or fender-benders. One report by the University of Michigan indicated that women had more incidences of non-injury collisions than men in every age group over 25. Women generally are more likely to have their vehicles hit while they are making a turn at an intersection.
Men, on the other hand, are much more likely to drive aggressively, to drive above the speed limit, or to drive while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. These are very high-risk behaviors that may lead to more fatal crashes. This helps to explain why 71% of the motorists who die on America’s roads are men. Men are also more likely to end up with a crash that totals their vehicle and results in costly hospital bills.
While this discrepancy in the types of accidents caused by men versus women has persisted for decades, things may be slowly changing—and women may be becoming more of a menace behind the wheel. The reason for the potential shift is that technological developments have increased driver distractions. An AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety study recently revealed that girls in their teens were twice as likely as teenage boys to talk or text while behind the wheel. Since texting can increase the risk of a collision by as much as 23 times, this means many more teenage girls could find themselves getting hurt or killed, or injuring others.
Whenever a driver—male or female—makes a high-risk choice and causes a collision, victims have the right to seek compensation for losses. Call a Charleston accident lawyer as soon as possible for help pursuing a claim against a careless driver.