Study Shows Gender Differences in Risky Driving

If “men are from Mars and women are from Venus,” then the roads on which Martians tread are likely extremely treacherous. The findings of a new study conducted by Quality Planning, the ISO company that validates policyholder information for auto insurers, suggests a noticeable difference in the number and type of traffic violations received by men versus women.

Specifically, the data indicates that men possess a greater propensity toward certain risky driving behaviors, such as speeding, failure to yield and so forth.

Drawing upon traffic code violations data for a one-year period, from 2007 to 2008, the study examined male and female perspectives on the laws of the road. Quality Planning analyzed 12 months of 2007 policyholder information for U.S. drivers, comparing the number of moving and non-moving violations for both sexes. Overall, the data indicates that men are much more likely to receive a traffic citation than women, and that this difference in driving behavior is consistent across all age groups.

According to Quality Planning, when it comes to traffic laws, women are more observant of them than men, and that the laws violated more frequently by men are those laws designed to safeguard people and property. The study found that men are cited for reckless driving 3.41 times more than women. Reckless driving is considered one of the most serious traffic offenses by courts, as it implies a disregard for the rights and safety of persons or property.

“We were not surprised to see that men have slightly more — about +5 percent — violations that result in accidents than women,” said Dr. Raj Bhat, president of Quality Planning. “Men are more likely to violate laws for speeding, passing, and yielding. The resulting accidents caused by males therefore lead to more expensive claims than those caused by women.”

Interestingly, women drivers were also about 27 percent less likely than men to be found at fault when involved in an accident. Again, this underscores the finding that women are on average less aggressive and more law-abiding drivers, attributes that can also translate to fewer accidents.