Women Only Car Insurance

It’s the same old argument; men are superior drivers to women. That’s fine but where is the documented evidence? Well, with the up rise in more and more women only car insurers, maybe the evidence is there, but in favour of the women!

We all know that gender impacts your driving habits, men drive faster with little regard for other motorists while women tend to take things a little slower, being more hesitant. David Snyder, an insurance executive, acknowledges that car insurance companies do actually take into account a driver’s gender when determining your policy price.

“The weight in pricing varies from company to company and by claims experience over time, but, for example, with all other factors being equal, a female between the ages of 18 and 25 would pay less than her male counterpart because as a rule younger women drivers have fewer accident and moving violations than males in the same age group.” says Mr. Snyder, vice president and assistant general council of the IAI.

Of course as David stated, young drivers are the target group. In fact, Carolyn Gorman, vice president of the Insurance Information Institute, says that the only time gender is an issue is with young male drivers. Young men between the ages of 16 to 25 typically pay more than females because “many young men are more likely to show daredevil tendencies in their driving because of factors such as emotional immaturity and misplaced feelings of immortality”, Gorman told us.

Just looking around the streets in your daily life you would most likely agree with the industry experts opinion of ‘men drive more aggressively and display their aggression in a more direct manner, further more males tend to break the law more often and tend to take more risks’. But is this true? Let’s take a look at some male vs. female statistics…

These figures were compiled by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (the IIHS) and clearly show that each years more men than women die each year in motor vehicle crashes, figures that were explained by several insurance industry observers such as Russ Rader of IIHS.

“Men typically drive more miles than women and engage more often in risky driving practices including not using a safety belt.. and speeding” according to Rader

On the other hand though, the IIHS reported that from 1975 to 2003 female deaths in motor vehicle crashes increased 14% compared to an 11% decrease in male motorists during the same period.

“We’re also seeing women driving more aggressively, picking up bad habits from their male counterparts” points out Daniel Kummer of the Property Casualty Insurers Association. Kummer also believes that there are more women drivers, because more females hold down jobs than over 25 years ago. “All these factors lead to more deaths among women drivers and their auto insurance costs are rising in direct proportion to their accident and death rates from crashes”.

“Reckless driving used to be the province of male drivers as opposed to women,” says Carolyn Gorman (III), “we’re seeing more and more examples these days of women driving aggressively and exhibiting road rage, which represent poor behaviour behind the wheel.”

“If trends continue as the data suggest, you could start seeing a closing of the gap of car insurance rates between male and female drivers, but for the time being at least, the gap will still remain much as it is today.”

So there you have it ladies, for the immediate future you’re in a position to save some cash because us blokes are bad drivers – OK I said it, you’re better than us, but don’t get too cocky, that’s what made us bad drivers to begin with and you’re not far behind.

Go on, enjoy your cheaper rates – you’ve earned them.