Who Drives Better – Men or Women? Portland Personal Injury Attorneys Answer

Who are better drivers – men or women? Dealing with car accident victims everyday, our Portland personal injury attorneys see the reality of this question, but thought others might be interested in the studies and conclusions.

Considerable research has been done on the topic, and gentlemen, there’s simply no point in dancing around the conclusions. From coast to coast, and in all conditions, the studies show that women are indeed safer and surer behind the wheel than men.

Study in New York Shows Men are More Aggressive Drivers

In cases where a pedestrian has been injured by a driver in New York City, an amazing 80% of those accidents are caused by men. This study was carried out over five years, and the conclusions reached were that men are far more aggressive behind the wheel than are women. Men also have a tendency to take more risks. To add insult to injury, so to speak, the same study showed that men under the age of 64 were more likely to be the ones being struck by the cars than women of any age group, showing men are more inclined to take dangerous risks whether walking or driving!

Insurance Companies Like Women Drivers – Less Accidents

When a Portland personal injury attorney is dealing with an insurance company with regards to a car accident in which someone was killed, the odds are more than three to one the person killed will be a man. In fact, men are 77% more likely to die in an accident. And it’s not just fatal accidents where the statistics, and therefore the insurance companies, favor the woman driver. From clean driving slates to multiple offenses, women have the better record. For example:

• 68% of women drivers have never received a driving citation of any kind. With men, the figure is 64%.
• Only 30% of women drivers have received from one to three tickets, compared to 33% of male drivers.
• The pattern continues with multiple-time offenders. While only 3% of male drivers have four or more tickets, the figure for women is just 2%.

Studies like the above have resulted in women consistently getting lower premiums on their car insurance than men of the same age, driving the same types of cars.

Men More Likely to Violate Driving Laws

It’s not just that men break more traffic laws than women. The fact is they are 50% more likely to engage in the extremely dangerous violations that cause the most serious accidents. These include such perilous practices as:

• DUI
• Driving without a seat belt
• Running stop signs and red lights
• Speeding and reckless driving
• Failure to yield

The situation gets even worse in the summer, when men file a full 16% more accident claims than women. The reasoning behind the increase is that men are evidently easily distracted by the more revealing summer fashions and are more inclined to run off the road, into a pedestrian or into the back of another car while admiring scantily clad ladies.

Aggressive Driving Attributed to Testosterone Levels

Men have more testosterone than women, while the fairer sex has much higher levels of estrogen. The indisputable facts are that testosterone fuels aggression and impulsive, risk-taking behavior. Estrogen, on the other hand, lends itself to longer attention spans and an ability to focus on important matters—like traffic—even when distracted.

The ability to focus for longer periods of time gives women a better ability not just to learn the rules of the road, but to obey them as well. Unfortunately from a male perspective, getting rid of testosterone will not inhibit aggressive tendencies. Recent studies show a deficiency of that hormone can also trigger aggression.

Car Accidents for Woman ARE Getting More Common

Women drivers of the world, be aware! While the statistics favor you at the moment in the “Who’s Better?” debate, the gap is closing rapidly. In fact, men appear to be getting better, while women are heading in the opposite direction. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says the number of women killed in auto accidents rose by a full 14% from 1975 to 2003, while in the same period, the number of men killed declined by 11%.

Oregon women are equally as likely to require the services of a Portland personal injury attorney as is a man, because women are actually involved in as many car crashes as men. It’s true that accidents involving men to tend to be more severe, but statistics now point to the fact that, with more women driving longer distances than ever before, they are becoming more aggressive and therefore more likely to be involved in an injury-related accident.

Whether male or female, if you’ve been injured in an Oregon car accident and are not sure how to deal with the insurance companies or the other driver, don’t hesitate. Contact a good Portland personal injury lawyer, who can explain your rights and help you with your claim.