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Bringing scientific facts to the long argued subject of who are better drivers, men or women—we dig into the latest stats.
This insight is one of the conclusions from customer-incident data released by stolen-vehicle-recovery and fleet intelligence company Netstar, a subsidiary of Altron.
Netstar explained that the new data calculates registered vehicle impact incidences, harsh braking, harsh acceleration, and harsh cornering as a percentage of total male and female Netstar customers.
When all the figures were totalled the company pointed out that on every metric, women performed better than men. This being a fatal blow to the argument for men.
With women winning this round, let us look at Netstar’s findings:
- Registered vehicle impacts (e.g. hitting potholes, kerbs, or other vehicles) by women represented 1,3% of the total number of Netstar’s female customer base during the period measured, compared to 1,4% for men.
- In terms of harsh braking, registered incidents represent 16,9% of female members and 22,8% of male members.
- The numbers for harsh acceleration are 4,5% for women and 10% for men.
- For harsh cornering, the figures are 13,2% for women versus 18,8% for men.
Netstar Chief Technology Officer Cliff de Wit said, “The findings indicate that our female customers drove better than our male during the four months that we measured.”
He added that the data was gathered using Netstar telematics – a combination of vehicle sensors, GPS, and telecommunications technology. According to the company, the data provides direct, real-time information to help insurers understand client driving behaviour, which allows them to set relevant premiums and incentivise safe and more sustainable driving.
Supporting the Netstar data a recent survey regarding road fatalities in the UK found a large gender imbalance in terms of driving performance and the risk posed by male drivers.
The study, by Injury Prevention, a publication of the Society for Advancement of Violence and Injury Research (SAVIR), revealed that there were more fatalities per billion kilometres travelled among men than there were among women. This was true for all vehicle types – cars, vans, lorries, motorcycles, buses, and bicycles.
“Despite the outcome of such studies, we encourage drivers of all gender identities to drive safely and to use their telematics data to improve their performance and protect lives”, concluded de Wit.
Do you agree with the above? Let us know in the comment section below.
