Study: Men Break More Traffic Laws, Drive More Dangerously Than Women

print reprint

San Francisco — Quality Planning Corp., an ISO company that validates policyholder information for auto insurers, has released proprietary findings that reveal dramatic differences in the number and type of traffic violations received by men versus women. The findings show that when it comes to traffic laws, women are far more observant of them than men, and that the laws violated more frequently by men are those laws designed to safeguard people and property.

Topping the list is the finding that men are cited for reckless driving 3.41 times more than women. Reckless driving is considered one of the most serious traffic offenses by courts because it implies a disregard for the rights and safety of persons or property.

Quality Planning analyzed 12 months' of 2007 policyholder information for U.S. drivers, comparing the number of moving and non-moving violations for both men and women. Overall, the data shows that men are much more likely to receive a traffic citation than women. This difference in driving behavior is consistent across all age groups.

Violations for which men scored at least 50% higher than women:

TYPE OF VIOLATION (RATIO M:F)

    * Reckless driving (3.41)
    * DUI (3.09)
    * Seatbelt violations (3.08)
    * Speeding (1.75)
    * Failure to yield (1.54)
    * Stop sign/signal violation (1.53)

"We were not surprised to see that men have slightly more—about plus-5%—violations that result in accidents than women," said Dr. Raj Bhat, president of Quality Planning. "And because men also are more likely to violate laws for speeding, passing and yielding, the resulting accidents caused by men lead to more expensive claims than those caused by women."

Also revealed in the study, women drivers were about 27% less likely than men to be found at fault when involved in an accident. This, again, underscores the finding that women are, on average, less aggressive and more law-abiding drivers—attributes that also translate to fewer accidents.