Men vs. Women: Who Really Are the Safest Drivers?
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September 17, 2009
| By:
Jonathon
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Comments (
1
)As it turns out...women. But it's a close race.
To figure out whether men or women have "safest-driver" bragging rights, we looked at almost 2 million consumers who requested auto insurance quotes at InsWeb.com since January 1, 2009. Of those 2 million, 52 percent were men and 48 percent were women--a solid sampling of each.
We then compared the percentages of men and women who reported driving infractions in three categories: DUIs, all other types of moving violations (such as speeding tickets), and at-fault accidents.
The numbers shook out as follows:
| Men | Women | |
|---|---|---|
| Percent who reported at least one DUI | 0.93% | 0.48% |
| Percent who reported at least one moving violation | 7.41% | 6.57% |
| Percent who reported at least one at-fault accident | 4.00% | 4.29% |
| Total | 12.34% | 11.34% |
Men were almost twice as likely to have a DUI on their record, and were almost a full percentage point more likely to have a moving violation. On the other hand, women were slightly more likely to have an at-fault accident.
Overall, men were a full percentage point more likely to have some kind of infraction. That equates to almost 20,000 more men than women reporting incidents on thier records.
Conclusion? According to this data, women do appear to be safer drivers.
This data also supports the reasoning behind the fact that women tend to pay lower auto insurance rates than men. When comparing a random man with a random woman, you simply can't know who will be the safer driver. But when you look at a large sample, men are probably better off riding shotgun.
Want to see further evidence of this? Check out our Quick Quote tool.
It uses an algorithm based on actual insurance rates that are filed with each state to estimate a rate for any driver and any vehicle.
Enter a person of any age, any marital status, any zip code, and any vehicle--then compare the rates for a man and a woman. If you can find a combination that provides a higher "best" or "median" rate for a woman than for a man, post it here. We haven't found one yet.
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I am a 24 year old female and I honestly think that men are the best drivers. If you pay attention in the the paper or on the news a lot of car wrecks you see is a woman's fault. I don't understand but for some reason males car insurance is higher than females. I swear almost every time I see someone wrecked at the side of the rode or in the big long line of traffic it is always a female driving.