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Study Shows Women More Likely To Cause Traffic Accidents

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  • Study Shows Women More Likely To Cause Traffic Accidents

    Let The Arguments Fly: Study Shows Women More Likely To Cause Traffic Accidents

    Researchers find women are more likely to get into accidents with other women, even though females drive fewer miles than men.

    A University of Michigan study of 6.5 million car crashes will undoubtedly be the source of many tense discussions around the kitchen table if not Vegas comedy riffs, finding that an inordinate number of accidents happen when both drivers are women.

    Insert your own tired women-are-bad-drivers comment here. And if you post this story on your Facebook page, get ready for a commenta-palooza.

    Michael Sivak, the study's principal author and a research professor who studies human factors in car accidents, is hesitant to come out and say women are worse drivers than men. But since men drive more miles every day than women, the neighborhood sexist will have a field day with this little bit of data.

    Using the General Estimate System data from a nationally representative sample of police-reported crashes, the researchers expected to find that male-to-male crashes would account for 36.2% of accidents, female-to-female would make up 15.8% and male-to-female would make up 48% of crashes.

    Instead, they found female-to-female accidents made up 20.5% of all crashes, much higher than expected. Male-to-male crashes were lower than expected, at 31.9%, and male-to-female crashes were 47.6%.

    Why the discrepancy? The study doesn't offer any hard reasons. Women and men may have different experiences with different driving scenarios, have different abilities to handle those scenarios, and may feel like there are different expectations on their behavior.

    It's essentially a nature vs. nurture argument, saying gender stereotypes dominate driving behavior: In other words, men do most of the driving, and women, who ride along as passengers, are less experienced or confident -- thus prone to wrecks.

    But there could be another reason, the researchers say, so they're not ruling out any possibilities.Are men better drivers than women?

    Yes
    No
    They're equal
    Vote

    Intersections are particularly troublesome for women: They're often t-boned on the driver's side while trying to make a left turn, or are hit on the passenger side while trying to make a right-hand turn, the research shows.

    Those crashes could be caused by height differences, the study says, because women tend to be shorter than men and have a harder time seeing out the windows. This issue is becoming worse, not better, with modern cars, as designers have been creating higher in-car "belt-lines," the height of the door relative to the driver before the window glass begins.

    But besides being shorter, women may also have some brain differences that work against them. Some studies show men are better able to perceive time and speed and can more easily rotate 3-D figures in their brains, skills which are helpful enough to overcome other risky behaviors behind the wheel.

    Perhaps unsurprisingly, it's tough to get the usual third party experts to weigh in on this study. Consumer Reports said it would pass on AOL Autos request for comment. Ford Motor Co., whose executive in charge of environmental and safety engineering is a woman, also passed on commenting.

    A Ford spokesman did say that women order safety options on their cars at a much higher rate than men. Turns out that's a wise decision.

    Every academic study, even those peer reviewed, has supporters and detractors.

    Rather than looking at the national Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS)-- which most safety advocates use because it is based on police-reported data from the most severe and most documented kinds of crashes, those that resulted in a death -- it uses the National Household Travel Survey. That survey is conducted every decade or so, and asks drivers to keep a diary of their travel, which could be easily fudged.

    Sivak's research contradicts other studies like one in Britain that showed men take more risks and drive more powerful cars. That study also showed that although women also have their fair share of crashes, those accidents often happen at slower speeds, so they tend to be less severe.
    Let The Arguments Fly: Study Shows Women More Likely To Cause Traffic Accidents

  • #2
    The reason I posted the above is because some of us have had extensive arguments regarding insurance premiums being higher for males connected to related studies.

    I was wrong in that debate, according to the above article.

    WARNING: Bottom Line: The University of Michigan study shows that crashes involving female drivers running into female drivers is higher than expected given the number of miles women drive versus men. While the study is interesting, and gives chauvinists and comedians fresh fodder to bash women drivers, there is plenty of room to challenge the study's validity.

    Comment


    • #3
      Hey, Julie? Remember when I said something to this effect about a month ago and you blasted me for it?

      I told you so...
      Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

      Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by bigross86 View Post
        Hey, Julie? Remember when I said something to this effect about a month ago and you blasted me for it?

        I told you so...
        Yeah, yeah, but give me some credit, I'm attempting to correct the "error of my ways."

        Comment


        • #5
          Women can cause traffic accidents even if they weren't driving.

          I very often almost crash my car because I was looking at some chick in bikini.
          "Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Julie View Post
            Let The Arguments Fly: Study Shows Women More Likely To Cause Traffic Accidents
            No argument here. See it all the time.;)

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by 7thsfsniper View Post
              No argument here. See it all the time.;)
              NEXT !

              Comment


              • #8
                Soooooo Julie, hows your driving record? Can you defend your sisters?

                I would guess that as an exceptional Southern woman and an esteemed member of the WAB, you are are far separated from the make-up applying, cell phone jabbering, texting maniac, eating, drinking, changing clothes, digging in your purse, doing everything else but paying attention, female drivers that this survey brings to our attention.

                I would guess your driving record impeccable, perhaps far better than mine? I'll tell if you will.;)

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by 7thsfsniper View Post
                  Soooooo Julie, hows your driving record? Can you defend your sisters?

                  I would guess that as an exceptional Southern woman and an esteemed member of the WAB, you are are far separated from the make-up applying, cell phone jabbering, texting maniac, eating, drinking, changing clothes, digging in your purse, doing everything else but paying attention, female drivers that this survey brings to our attention.

                  I would guess your driving record impeccable, perhaps far better than mine? I'll tell if you will.;)
                  Awwww....I was hoping nobody would ask that.

                  I'm okay in the non-collision department....however....a few speeding and 3 rollstop tickets this past year....and one for crossing the yellow line one night while lighting a cigarette, but I didn't get a ticket for that, just a warning.

                  What about you? ;)

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                  • #10
                    jeeeeeeeeeeez a study was never needed

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      I learned driving a car pretty late (I was too happy with my bikes to really bother). And something I get reminded of repeatedly, by my wife and kids, is that it was my wife (she was still my girlfriend then) who actually taught me how to drive in her old Fiat Uno. That said, spatial orientation and not "freezing" at key (and very inopportune) moments are not her strong points - or those of a whole lot of women drivers. :)
                      Last edited by vsdoc; 07 Jul 11,, 13:07.

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                      • #12
                        Doc,is there a scientifical reason for their ''freezing''?

                        The phenomenon is almost universal among women at the wheel.
                        Those who know don't speak
                        He said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. Luke 22:36

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Mihais View Post
                          Doc,is there a scientifical reason for their ''freezing''?

                          The phenomenon is almost universal among women at the wheel.
                          They have too much going on in their brains I think. We are simpler creatures. Or simply decision-fatigue - like while shopping.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Instead, they found female-to-female accidents made up 20.5% of all crashes, much higher than expected. Male-to-male crashes were lower than expected, at 31.9%, and male-to-female crashes were 47.6%.
                            Weird!
                            That leaves female-to-male crashes at 0%.

                            How accurate is this study?

                            Edit: I am just being blunt
                            No such thing as a good tax - Churchill

                            To make mistakes is human. To blame someone else for your mistake, is strategic.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Doktor View Post
                              Weird!
                              That leaves female-to-male crashes at 0%.

                              How accurate is this study?

                              Edit: I am just being blunt
                              I think they do not bother to go into the forensic whodunit nitty-gritty of crasher and crashee. And leave the reast to our jaundiced imagination.

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