Jason Stephens | March 5, 2024 | Car Accidents
It is a debate almost as old as the car itself. Who is more dangerous behind the wheel — men or women? Men typically point to women and vice versa. But what do the statistics say?
Women Cause Fewer Fatal Car Crashes Than Men
The most important statistic, as reported by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), is that male passenger vehicle drivers are responsible for roughly three times as many fatal car accidents as female drivers. According to the statistics, in 2021, 14,498 male drivers died in car accidents, while only 5,735 female drivers died.
This isn’t a one-time fact, either. The numbers have remained reasonably consistent since 1975. While there is some fluctuation from year to year, the number of fatal car accidents with a woman driving has never been higher than 7,000, and the number of fatal car accidents with a man driving has never dipped below 10,000.
The closest the two sexes ever got to parity was in the early 2010s, when the ratio was roughly two to one.
These numbers become even more disparate when comparing large truck or motorcycle drivers. However, that likely has more to do with the disparity between how many men drive those vehicles compared to women than their skill in driving those vehicles.
Number of Drivers of Each Sex
One potential explanation for why men cause more fatal car accidents than women is that men are more likely to have a driver’s license than women. However, the facts don’t support this. According to the Federal Highway Administration, women comprise approximately 50.66% of all licensed drivers.
Drinking and Driving
One more likely explanation involves drunk driving. Men are substantially more likely to drink and drive than women, and impaired driving is one of the more common causes of fatal car accidents.
For example, according to the statistics provided by the IIHS, nearly 5,000 male drunk drivers died in car accidents in 2021, while only approximately a quarter of that number of female drunk drivers died in the same year.
Insurance Rates Support These Statistics
These car accident statistics may not matter much to the average person, but they are critically important to the car insurance industry. Car insurance companies set policy rates based on whether a person is likely to get into a collision. While some of those rates are based on the individual, they also consider demographic trends.
Based on that, it would seem likely that insurance companies would charge men more than women for car insurance, on average, and according to Forbes, that is the case.
The biggest disparity in rates is between teenage males and teenage females. On average, men are charged almost $1,000 more per year than women while they are teenagers, and that gap narrows as they get into their 20s and 30s.
Rates are approximately even until people reach their 70s. Then, once again, men are charged more. The total difference across a lifetime isn’t that significant, but it does represent the higher likelihood that men will cause serious or fatal accidents.
You Are Not Your Demographic
Although men drive more dangerously than women, that isn’t an excuse for people of either gender to ignore basic driving safety. You are not your demographic. You should always follow the rules of the road and do your best to avoid accidents. The fact that your gender typically drives more or less safely won’t help much if you are involved in a car accident.
Contact Our Personal Injury Law Firm in Fort Worth, TX
If you’ve been injured in an accident in Fort Worth and need legal help, contact our Fort Worth personal injury lawyers at Stephens Law Personal Injury | Wrongful Death | Truck Accidents to schedule a free consultation.
Stephens Law Personal Injury | Wrongful Death | Truck Accidents
1300 S University Dr # 300
Fort Worth, TX 76107
(817) 420-7000
Stephens Law Personal Injury | Wrongful Death | Truck Accidents
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Weatherford, TX 76086
(817) 409-7000