Many husbands and wives argue about who is a better driver. Statistically speaking, the wives may be right. A report by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) lists figures that indicate that not only are women less frequently killed in car accidents, but also female drivers are far less likely to engage in dangerous driving behaviors that cause accidents in the first place.
However, other threats put women at increased danger when accidents do occur, so the risks to women are still significant.
How Many More Car Accidents are Caused by Men than by Women?
Data made available by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows that men are responsible for more than 32 percent more accidents than women. On average, men cause approximately six million accidents per year, whereas women cause an average of around four million collisions.
Are More Men Killed in Car Accidents than Women?
Men are killed in automobile accidents more frequently than women. In 2019, a total of 25,634 men died in car accidents, compared with 10,420 women that same year. However, the reasons behind such trends are complicated.
What Factors Influence the Frequency and Severity of Accidents among Either Sex?
The factors that indicate the exact causes of every accident are not available in the data, but a study of the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) by the U.S. Department of Transportation indicates that men are more likely to be associated with riskier driving behaviors such as speeding, driving under the influence, and failing to wear a seat belt. For some of these reasons and others, the severity of accidents involving male drivers are usually much more serious than those that involve female drivers.
Interestingly, however, women are more likely to be injured or killed in collisions of equal severity.
Why are Women More Likely to be Injured or Killed in a Car Accident?
Some factors that may influence the greater likelihood for women of injury or death may have to do with women’s generally smaller body size relative to men. Some women’s smaller frames may make women as a group more prone to injury or death in a car accident.
It may also have to do with how car restraints and other car features and safety gear are designed.
As people age, however, the difference in fatality risk becomes less pronounced.
Does a Difference in the Amount of Driving for Male and Female Drivers Matter?
Driving more frequently does provide more opportunity for an accident to occur. Therefore, the amount of driving a person engages in influences their chances of being involved in an accident. Because men drive more miles than women, men are more exposed to the risk of being in an accident.
Although women make up a greater percentage of drivers, men perform more actual driving. There are 105.7 million licensed female drivers and 104.3 million licensed male drivers, but men do more of the driving.
Statistically speaking, men tend to drive somewhere around 30 to 40 percent more miles per year than women.
This is because men hold more driving-related jobs. As an example, nearly 95 percent of truck drivers are men. Taxi drivers, mail carriers, and delivery drivers are also more likely to be men.
Are Men More Predisposed to Accidents in a Variety of Vehicles?
When it comes to the risks of accidents associated with being either a driver or a passenger, men are at higher risk than women in cars, large trucks, and motorcycles. Men are also at higher risk as bicyclists and pedestrians.
As with cars, men ride motorcycles more frequently than women do. Women make up only 14 percent of motorcycle owners in the United States. Even when including women as motorcycle passengers, women make up only 24 percent of all motorcycle riders. Still, deaths in motorcycle accidents are overwhelmingly made up of male riders. Ninety-one percent of motorcycle fatalities are suffered by men. This may be due to female motorcyclists being more likely than men to take a motorcycle training course or wear a helmet.
What Driving Behaviors by Men Make Them More Likely to Cause Accidents?
Men are more likely than women to exceed the speed limit, run red lights, avoid wearing a seat belt, and drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Men receive more traffic violations than women. They are more likely to drive aggressively or recklessly. Men are even more likely than women to drive while dangerously sleep deprived, according to the National Sleep Foundation.
How Does Age Factor into the Equation?
The IIHS statistics that show the greatest differences between men’s and women’s rates of motor vehicle accidents are most pronounced among drivers in their teens. The youngest drivers, between ages 16 and 19, also showed a marked difference between the sexes when it came to fatal accident rates. Among these newer drivers, the fatal accident rate among male drivers was approximately six per 100 million miles traveled. For female teen drivers, the rate was about three per 100 million miles traveled.
For drivers between the ages of 20 and 29, male drivers were involved in fatal accidents at a rate of approximately four per 100 million miles traveled, whereas female drivers in their 20s were associated with a fatal crash rate of almost two per 100 million miles traveled.
After age 30, however, the driver accident rates were much more in line for men and women, although male drivers were still associated with a greater number of fatal accidents across all age groups.
Middletown Car Accident Lawyers at Mikita & Roccanova Advocate for Victims of Car Accidents
If you were hurt in a car accident caused by another drivers negligence, you should be able to collect compensation for your injuries. The Middletown car accident lawyers at Mikita & Roccanova can help you understand your rights to collect damages for such losses as medical costs and lost wages caused by your accident. Call us at 732-705-3363 or contact us online today to schedule a free consultation. Located in Hazlet and Highland Park, New Jersey, we serve clients in Ocean County and Sussex County, and Pennsylvania.