Male Vs. Female: Who Is The Best Driver?

Are male drivers better than females? Or is it the other way around? It’s a debate that has been raging for years.

Some comedians depict female drivers as less sensible and more prone to parking outside the lines. But male drivers aren’t always considered experts — especially not by insurance companies.

Males are prone to riskier roadway behaviors — including speeding — and they are involved in more accidents, hence they pay more for car insurance.

Let’s take a look at the actual statistics to settle the score and decide once and for all. Who’s the better, safer, more trusted group — male or female drivers?

Safe Driving Practices

Reports from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety show that women get fewer citations for unsafe driving.

Men were cited for reckless driving 3.41 times as often as women. While the differential in surveyed seatbelt use was small, with women in the front seat wearing seatbelts 88 percent of the time to men’s 84 percent, men were cited for a lack of proper seatbelt use three times as often as women.

Men also were ticketed for speeding 1.75 times more often than women and cited for failure to yield more frequently — 1.54 times as often.

Alcohol Use

Driving under the influence is a serious crime and a danger to society, and men are charged with this offense three times as often as women.

In car crashes resulting in fatalities, male drivers had a blood alcohol content level over 0.08 percent 38 percent of the time; women drivers’ BAC levels were over 0.08 percent only 20 percent of the time.

Crashes and Fatalities

It’s a fact — male drivers are more likely to die in a car accident. In 2012, 71 percent of all car accident deaths were males. Twenty-three percent of males who died in car accidents were speeding when they crashed, compared to only 14 percent of women in fatal car accidents.

The statistics don’t tell the whole story, as millions defy gender norms on both sides. Also, men drive more miles than women, on average.

Whether you belong to the group of male or female drivers, make sure you take your safety and the safety of your passengers and other motorists seriously every time you get behind the wheel.

And when you need help after an accident, flat tire, breakdown or simply locking your keys in your car, contact Stauffer’s Towing. We’re on call 24/7 to help both male and female drivers out of all types of situations.