Male Drivers More Agressive, Causing greater number of accidents

Accident Patterns Between Male and Female Drivers

The differences between men and women with regard to their driving behavior and accident rates have consistently been found over a considerable period of time in the United States as well as in many other countries. Aggressive driving is a major factor that accounts for the increased occurrence of accidents.

Among the 16-25 age group, young men are nearly three times more likely to be killed or injured on the roads than young women. Globally, more than 40% of all road traffic deaths occur among the 0–25 age group. Males account for 75% of all road traffic fatalities among those under 25 years of age and are more likely to drive at excessive speeds. Teenage male drivers are at least five times more likely to be involved in a crash than drivers aged 30 years and older. In addition, young male drivers have been found to use seat-belts less frequently than other groups. There are many psychological factors that may explain the above statistics.

Cars represent defensible personal space and there are striking sex differences in how men and women use personal space and react to violations of it. Males habitually require more space than females in their everyday life and carry around with them a larger interpersonal bubble. They are also more sensitive to violations in interpersonal space than women and react more immediately and directly to such violations.

Women on the other hand are found to be more empathetic and do not react as quickly and assertively as men when violations occur. Most female drivers tend to drive more defensively and speed much less than male drivers do.

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