Insurance Providers

SAN FRANCISCO, CA
The ISO company that validates policyholder information for auto insurers, Quality Planning, has made known proprietary findings that show dramatic differences as regards the number and type of traffic violations received by men as opposed to women. The findings indicate that, with regard to traffic laws, women are much better at observing them than men, and that those laws designed to safeguard people and property are the laws that are more frequently violated by men.

At the top of the list are the findings that men are cited for reckless driving 3.41 times more often than women. One of the more serious traffic offenses considered by the courts is reckless driving since it suggests a disregard for the rights and safety of persons or property.
Twelve months’ of information on U.S. drivers were analyzed by Quality Planning using 2007 policyholder information, comparing the number of moving and nonmoving violations in the case of both men and women. In general results indicate that the data show that men are much more likely to receive a traffic ticket than are women, and that this is a difference in driving behavior that is consistent regardless of age group.

Below are the violations for which men scored at least 50 percent higher than women:

TYPE OF VIOLATION:
Ratio Male:Female
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

Dr. Raj Bhat, the president of Quality Planning, says that the company is not surprised to see that it is the men who have slightly more, about an additional 5 percent, in violations that result in accidents than do the women, and that since men are more likely to violate laws for covering speeding, passing, and yielding the right-of-way, the resulting accidents that are being caused by men are leading to more expensive claims than those caused by women.

The findings indicate interestingly that women drivers are also about 27 percent less likely than men to be found at fault when they are involved in an accident. This again stresses the finding that women are on the average less aggressive and more law-abiding drivers, being attributes that also translate into fewer accidents.

Study methodology
The study was made of traffic code violations data covering a one-year period from 2007 and 2008. The grouping of violations was by type and gender of the driver, while the percentage of violations for male and female drivers were estimated. Finally, in order to identify the difference in gender for each type of violation, the ratio of percentage of violations by male and female drivers was calculated. Findings indicate for example that men were about 3.4 times more likely than women to be given a ticket for reckless driving.