Women are firmly in the driving seat

Statistics show men have more accidents and make more and higher levels of insurance claims than women

A feature article by an Alumbo member, Apr 10, 2008

Summary:
"My wife had a nasty accident with the car this morning - she backed it out of the garage, completely forgetting that the night before, she had backed it in."

Women drivers have long had to suffer the jokes and remarks about bad parking and fender benders; but it's perhaps time the tables were turned and women begin to ask why is it that women bare the brunt of the mocking, when statistics show men have more accidents and make more and higher levels of insurance claims than women?

Yes, it's true. Men can joke all they like, but the truth of the matter is that women are better drivers than men. Statistically, men are much more likely to have a car accident than women; but even when women do have an accident, it is unlikely to cost as much to 'fix' as one caused by a man. This is why car insurance for women is much cheaper, and also why, in many cases, if you are a male driver, adding a woman to your policy can actually bring the cost down.

But of course, its not just driving where the sexes differ - men and women are quite simply poles apart in the way they think and act; but its seems that the scale of the difference between the sexes can really be seen in their driving habits. According to The Social Issues Research Centre, which carried out a study entitled 'Sex Differences in Driving and Insurance Risk', the scale of this difference between the sexes when it comes to driving is "very substantial".

It found that men have more thrill-seeking tendencies and are far more aggressive than women when driving, and as a result men have twice as many crashes, which of course means more claims. Men are also much more likely to be convicted for things like dangerous driving and drink-driving. It also discovered that men also have their first accident earlier on in their driving careers than women do, and are more likely to be the ones at fault.

Of course, women still have accidents, but the type of accidents they have are quite different from the ones men have � while men are more likely to be involved in crashes on bends, in the dark, or when overtaking, women are more likely to have accidents at junctions. And this all, in fact, fits in nicely with the typical stereotype that men drive too fast and women have no spatial awareness.

But no matter how you look at it, women are still statistically safer than men on the roads, so it is not surprising that so many car insurance companies find it in their hearts to offer cheaper car insurance for women and reflect the fact that they are less likely to make a claim on their policy. In fact, some companies, such as Sheila's Wheels and Diamond were set up specifically with women drivers in mind.

So, it might just be time to give women a break and take a leaf out of their driver's book. It could see your premiums go right down; but better still, add a woman onto your policy, and with her 'safer driving', it might just save you a pretty packet!

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