Gender Statistics: Do Men and Women Crash Their Cars Differently?

While the idea isn’t always politically correct, numerous studies have been performed that illustrate the differences between men and women—the ways they think, the ways they communicate, the ways they form relationships—you name it.

While there are always exceptions to the rules, there definitely seem to be trends within each of the genders. Yet another difference that’s been discovered is how men and women crash their cars differently.

An interesting study from 2014 which you may have missed came from Kansas State University. “Gender differences of young drivers on injury severity outcome of highway crashes” evaluated data from all motor vehicle crashes in Kansas involving 15-24-year-olds between 2007 and 2011. Combine their findings with other statistics which have been accumulated, and you’ll see fascinating trends.

Statistical Differences Between Car Accidents Caused by Men and Women

Based on the study published in the Journal of Safety Research, here are some major correlations discovered between gender and car accidents:

• Young women are more likely to be involved in car accidents involving pedestrians and intersections, while men tend to crash in rural areas off the road.
• Women crash more often during work hours Monday through Friday while men crash after sunset, primarily on weekends.
• Women are 28% more likely to drive on a restricted license but 66% more likely to wear a seat belt.
• Teenage men are far more likely to be involved in a fatal car accident than teenage women (two out of three crashes), as their accidents are much more severe. However, young women sustain worse injuries than young men in accidents of equal severity.
• Men generally drive more miles than women and engage in riskier practices, such as driving while intoxicated and speeding on slick surfaces. Men are also more likely to commit felonies, like a hit-and-run.
• Women’s car accidents involve T-bone (right-angle) crashes, while men’s accidents involve rear-end collisions.

Perhaps the differences are because men tend to engage in more reckless driving when they think they won’t get caught (at night), while female drivers tend to get distracted during heavy traffic in daily rush hour commutes.

Do you think there’s any insight we can take from this study? Share your reactions!

News Sources: Kansas State University, Crossroads Teen Driving, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medecine via PubMed Central, and Journal of Safety Research via ScienceDirect