New Study: Men Most at Risk Driving
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University have compiled an extensive study of car related traffic deaths and found some surprising new trends. No doubt, the No. 1 statistic you’ll hear on the news tonight is that women are far less likely to die in a car accident than men. How much less? Men are 77% more likely to die in a crash.
Besides the startling fact that 80-year-old women are the most likely group to die in car accidents — even more than teenage boys, who came in No. 2 — we enjoyed the researchers’ candor. In describing why vans are among the safest vehicles on the road, one of the researchers explains, “It's a combination of they're safe and the people who drive them are dull.”
There are a few other interesting factoids sprinkled throughout the original AP story, including:
- Drivers between 40 and 50 years old tie for the lowest risk of dying in an accident.
- The death rate on motorcycles is nearly 32 times higher than for cars.
- The deadliest hour is 2 a.m.
- The fewest deaths per mile driven are at 8 a.m.
- 4-year-olds have the lowest death risk.
- New England is the safest region for drivers.
[Risk of Death Higher for Male Drivers, New Times Live via Jalopnik]
Previous
Subscribe to our feed
Email us your tips!
These studies are good and all, but from personal experience, I say women are worse drivers, because nearly all of the wrecks I've been in, it was because of a woman not paying attention to the road. One situation that stands out in my mind is when I was trying to turn down my road to get home after school, a girl in what looked like a Chevrolet Tahoe, tried to pass me WHILE I was making the turn, thank goodness I didn't get hit. Another one that stands out is when I saw a teenage girl in her car, literally in the middle of the road, at a stop sign which is at a 3-way intersection, painting her toenails and talking on a cellphone, no idea when she left the spot. I'm not denying that guys are worse drivers, because I've nearly been rearended by guys who are leadfoots, I'm not sexist either.
They do studies like this to disprove people's personal experiences like yours.
I've seen plenty of men reading a newspaper on the steering wheel for example and plenty of both sexes doing something stupid.
The study is also about deaths, not accidents in general. so while a woman on a cell phone might rear-end you, a man driving drunk at 2 a.m. on a Saturday night is more likely to die in a crash.
What do they mean by "4-year-olds have the lowest death risk."
I do not recall any state allows 4-year-old kids to have driver's permit.
Do they mean they are the least likely to get killed in a crash while traveling with their parents? Or least likely to be hit by a vehicle?
The four year old thang is about the kid being in the back site in a child seat. Thats why a four year old kid has the lowest death rate. Logic can be used.