Women Safer Drivers than Men

We all know the stereotype: women are worse drivers than men. However, a new study says that stereotype may be wrong.
“Among the many findings of a city traffic study released on Monday was that 80 percent of all crashes in a five-year period in which pedestrians were seriously injured or killed involved men who were driving,” writes the New York Times.
The New York City Pedestrian Safety Study “examines over 7,000 records of crashes that have caused serious injuries or fatalities to pedestrians, and identifies underlying causes.” One of those findings was that men were more likely to be driving in accidents involving pedestrians.
The myth of the bad woman driver isn’t the only myth the study has toppled. “Long portrayed as reckless drivers, taxis were not to blame in most accidents. In fact, 79 percent of crashes that kill or seriously injure pedestrians involve private vehicles — not taxis, trucks and buses,” explains NBC New York.
Still, that men were driving in eight out of ten accidents involving pedestrians seems to be the most interesting find. As it turns out, as a whole, men are more likely to get into accidents than women — and not just in New York City. The New York Times says that men “get into more than their share of bad car crashes, and that the male propensity for aggression and risk taking, fueled by testosterone, is to blame. Men, experts say, are more likely to drink and take drugs while driving, to avoid wearing seat belts, to speed and even to choose a smaller gap to turn through across oncoming traffic.”
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