# Who gets into more car accidents? Men or Women? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 31, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-into-more-car-accidents-men-or-women/576664 "2011-03-31T18:54:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jlspeed29](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/779978/32.png) [@jlspeed29](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jlspeed29)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-into-more-car-accidents-men-or-women/576664/1 "2011-03-31T18:54:42Z")
Ive found some answers on wiki answers …but not much else Do women or men get into more car accidents? Is this data reflected in insurance prices? > **[Who has more car accidents men or women? - Answers](https://www.answers.com/Q/Who_has_more_car_accidents_men_or_women)** > > Women have on average 5.7 accidents per million miles driven > while men have 5.2 accidents per million miles driven. Therefore, > women are more likely to have a car accident than males. > Men also drive a lot more often then women, some experts say > they... states: Women 5.7 accidents/million Men 5.2 accidents/million true or false? doesnt seem like much of a difference …1/2 a million between the two… ---
**Author:** ![SanDiegoTim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@SanDiegoTim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanDiegoTim)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-into-more-car-accidents-men-or-women/576664/2 "2011-03-31T19:05:05Z")
I’d like to see the same numbers just looking at drivers 25 and above. With so many younger males getting into accidents I suspect there’s more of a differential. ---
**Author:** ![jlspeed29](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/779978/32.png) [@jlspeed29](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jlspeed29)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-into-more-car-accidents-men-or-women/576664/3 "2011-03-31T19:08:02Z")
yea…we would have to take out the younger idiots… ahh… i remember those days…impervious to death…or so I thought ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-into-more-car-accidents-men-or-women/576664/4 "2011-03-31T19:09:32Z")
> [@SanDiegoTim](#): > > I’d like to see the same numbers just looking at drivers 25 and above. With so many younger males getting into accidents I suspect there’s more of a differential. The result posted is a little strange. Young males usually have to pay more in insurance because of their accident rate and the types of accidents they tend to have. I have never heard that gets more than offset as males get to be older drivers but that is what those results suggest. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-into-more-car-accidents-men-or-women/576664/5 "2011-03-31T19:14:54Z")
Other things that should be considered, Who does more driving? Who has more elderly drivers? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-into-more-car-accidents-men-or-women/576664/6 "2011-03-31T19:24:56Z")
IIRC, women tend to have more minor accidents than men, but men have more major accidents than women. And women are typically more risk averse than men, so are less likely to make the worst mistakes like driving drunk. And men also generally drive more than women. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-into-more-car-accidents-men-or-women/576664/7 "2011-03-31T19:26:02Z")
You should also differentiate between at-fault accidents and others. ---
**Author:** ![jlspeed29](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/779978/32.png) [@jlspeed29](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jlspeed29)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-into-more-car-accidents-men-or-women/576664/8 "2011-03-31T19:27:22Z")
Ive read that too… the answer in my OP is accidents per million miles driven… my apologies for not stating that clearly ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-into-more-car-accidents-men-or-women/576664/9 "2011-03-31T19:27:29Z")
> [@jlspeed29](#): > > doesnt seem like much of a difference ..1/2 a million between the two… Clearly you are not cut out to be an actuary. Those people get paid to split hairs until they achieve nuclear fission. 🙂 Anyway, I’m sure that insurance companies do adjust their rates based on gender and the number and severity of accidents when they quote rates. The numbers you have seem decent enough to me, but they obviously don’t reflect the severity. If the women are denting their bumpers while the men are totaling their cars in high-speed collisions, the rates might be higher for men anyway. And I would definitely not use those statistics to argue whether men or women are better drivers. As BuckGodot points out, we don’t know who’s doing more driving, whether the type of driving is different and how ages affect the results. ---
**Author:** ![jlspeed29](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/779978/32.png) [@jlspeed29](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jlspeed29)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-into-more-car-accidents-men-or-women/576664/10 "2011-03-31T19:33:12Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > Clearly you are not cut out to be an actuary. Those people get paid to split hairs until they achieve nuclear fission. 🙂 Im not..but 5.7 is only 1.096% more than 5.2…doesnt seem like much .. and the measure is accidents per million miles driven so that kind of levels the playing field to some degree ---
**Author:** ![thelabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@thelabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelabdude)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-into-more-car-accidents-men-or-women/576664/11 "2011-03-31T19:57:20Z")
(5.7-5.2)/5.2\*100= 9.6% I am sure that is smaller than some of the other things factored into insurance rates. The insurance companies have gobs of data, well paid actuaries, and computers. They should know who costs them the most. Relatively small accidents can be very expensive. Some lady rear ended my wife just hard enough to destroy the 5 mph bumper. It was thousands. ---
**Author:** ![jlspeed29](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/779978/32.png) [@jlspeed29](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jlspeed29)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-into-more-car-accidents-men-or-women/576664/12 "2011-03-31T20:14:13Z")
im an idiot…i forgot to change (1.096) to %…9.6% is a definitely a material difference ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-into-more-car-accidents-men-or-women/576664/13 "2011-03-31T21:08:47Z")
> [@jlspeed29](#): > > im an idiot..i forgot to change (1.096) to %…9.6% is a definitely a material difference Regardless of the percentages, it’s still 500,000 more accidents per million miles driven. Even if the average cost is only $1,000–which is way too low–that’s a lot of money. ---
**Author:** ![code\_grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@code\_grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/code_grey)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-into-more-car-accidents-men-or-women/576664/14 "2011-04-01T01:57:32Z")
yeah, yeah, yeah, everybody loves averages. Especially if they support a particular agenda. But what does the distribution look like? Where are the stats for various subpopulations e.g. Latino males, valley girl blondes, Amish goodwives etc? I think the Latino bit is especially relevant - what would the male average look like with them eliminated from the counting? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-into-more-car-accidents-men-or-women/576664/15 "2011-04-01T02:04:51Z")
> [@code\_grey](#): > > yeah, yeah, yeah, everybody loves averages. Especially if they support a particular agenda. > > But what does the distribution look like? Where are the stats for various subpopulations e.g. Latino males, valley girl blondes, Amish goodwives etc? I think the Latino bit is especially relevant - what would the male average look like with them eliminated from the counting? Oh please. It is a proven fact that men get into more driving accidents than women. In Saudi Arabia alone, the accident rate for men is over 100x more than women. ---
**Author:** ![code\_grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@code\_grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/code_grey)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-into-more-car-accidents-men-or-women/576664/16 "2011-04-01T15:13:08Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Oh please. It is a proven fact that men get into more driving accidents than women. In Saudi Arabia alone, the accident rate for men is over 100x more than women. LOL the Saudi part. Do they even issue driving licenses to women? Incidentally, a lot of those “Saudi” male drivers are really South Asians. Word on the street is, if you learn to drive on the anything-goes streets of South Asia, you being accident prone should not be surprising, even if you are not as DWI prone as American Latinos. ---
**Author:** ![code\_grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@code\_grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/code_grey)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-into-more-car-accidents-men-or-women/576664/17 "2011-04-01T15:47:50Z")
update on Saudi, women and driving: [404 - Page Not Found](http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1012.html) , bolding mine > [@](#): > > American men employed in Saudi Arabia should obtain a local driver’s license with the Department of Traffic Police. **Women are not allowed to drive or ride bicycles on public roads.** > > Traffic accidents are a significant hazard in Saudi Arabia. Driving habits are generally poor, and accidents involving vehicles driven by minors are not uncommon. In the event of a traffic accident resulting in personal injury, all persons involved (if not in the hospital) may be taken to the local police station. Drivers are likely to be held for several days until responsibility is determined and any reparations paid. In many cases, all drivers involved in the accident are held in custody regardless of fault. Those involved in an accident should immediately contact their sponsor and the U.S. Embassy or nearest U.S. Consulate. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-into-more-car-accidents-men-or-women/576664/18 "2011-04-01T17:23:06Z")
NHTSA Stats indicate that 70% of all traffic fatalities are male. [http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Common/ViewTextOrExcel.aspx](http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Common/ViewTextOrExcel.aspx) I’m not sure if this indicates that men tend to have more severe accidents or drive more miles than women or some combination, but 23,726 men to 10,070 women is a pretty big differential. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-into-more-car-accidents-men-or-women/576664/19 "2011-04-01T17:39:25Z")
Men drive IIRC 90% more miles than women. ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-into-more-car-accidents-men-or-women/576664/20 "2011-04-01T19:03:22Z")
> [@jlspeed29](#): > > Who gets into more car accidents? Men or Women? > true or false? > … Men. Absolutely! Men have lots more accidents than women. Men have nearly twice as many accidents. That is what counts. That is what the hospitals, the insurance companies, the fatality rates, the body shops care about - men are the best customers because bottom line: men have many more accidents than females. As far as trying to lie/change the question into a bogus question with statistics by using a “miles driven” qualifier, that is a devious tactic to give misleading information at best. It is a complete fallacy to say that accidents are a function of miles driven. First of all,the question was not who gets the most accidents per mile. Secondly, who cares what the “per mile” accident rate is? Certainly insurance companies dont care. The primary concern of the insurance company is the probability of a male of a female getting into a car accident. The secondary concern of an insurance company is which sex will get into a serious car accident with a lot of damage, and again, males have twice as many serious heavy damage accidents. You will not get any discount from an insurance company if you get into 10 accidents, but try to discount your bad driving by telling the insurance company that you drove a lot of miles in order to get into 10 accidents. Ditto for speeding tickets - the court does not give a darn if you drive 5 or 50 miles a day if you are getting a speeding ticket every week. Lastly, even if you wanted to look at accidents per miles driven, it is not a straight line projection. One cannot just extrapolate by multiplying fictional miles. In other words, females might not get into “any” additional accidents if they drove twice as many miles as they currently do. Accidents can be more common on short trips instead of long trips. The current disproportionate “type” of driving currently being done by females might be composed more of short trips where lots of accidents happen. Person X who drives double the miles of person Y per month, may or may not get into twice as many accidents. . [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-gets-into-more-car-accidents-men-or-women/576664.md?page=2)