The verdict is still out on whether men or women are the better drivers; a controversy that’s been going on since the invention of the automobile. Everyone has their own opinion, but actually statistics show that men are more likely to die in a motor vehicle accident than women. Why is this? Does this indicate women are really better drivers?

Actually there are a number of factors that affect this difference between the two sexes when it comes to death rates and accidents. Here are a few:

More Miles on the Road

Men do drive more so no matter how well they drive, they are still more likely to be in an accident just because they are in a vehicle more often. Actually, this appears to be panning out statistically because as more women obtain licenses and drive more miles, the number of women who die has steadily risen as well. Although this fact is true, it’s still men who die more in accidents than women do, even if you account for all the total miles driven by both.

Reckless Behavior

Younger men, especially, are more likely to drive recklessly, speed and drive while under the influence. Using alcohol naturally increases the chances of accident, especially fatal accidents. Once again, young men who feel invincible tend to ignore statistic and not consider they could become one of the fatalities.

Seat Belts

Men are less likely to wear their seatbelts than women are. This means even if they had the same number of accidents, there would still be more deaths in men driving due to the fact that seat belts have been proven to save lives.

Men and women don’t just have different amounts of accidents; they actually have different types of accidents. Minor accidents, usually at an intersection seem to generally involve more women. On the other hand, men are more likely to be involved in one car accidents that are not in traffic.

An obvious explanation for this is that although women might make carless mistakes, like driving through a red light, men are more likely to speed, drive recklessly or drive recklessly, or drive while under the influence. These latter types of driving tend to involve accidents more likely to be fatal. Even though the number of total accidents is almost equal for men and women, there are still more fatalities in accidents where a man is driving.

When it comes to older people, fewer differences are found between men and women drivers. Actually young women tend to exhibit driving behaviors that are similar to more mature drivers, while young men engage in reckless behavior. Because of this, rates of insurance for adult makes and females are often the same, but rates for men under the age of 25 are usually much higher than rates for females of the same age.

Although it may appear that gender can be a good indicator of driving habits, actually what matters more is the person. There are plenty of teenage boys who drive very safe, and many older women who have frequent accidents and display very risky behavior.