New study claims that women are better drivers than men - and have fewer accidents

Andy Wells
·Freelance Writer
<em>A new study has claimed that women are the better drivers (Rex/posed by model)</em>
A new study has claimed that women are the better drivers (Rex/posed by model)

New research has seemingly settled the argument of whether men or women make better drivers once and for all.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Justice, the DVLA and Confused.com, women are the better drivers because they are safer on the road and have fewer accidents.

The data apparently shows women take longer to learn to drive than men but commit fewer offences, have fewer accidents and cost insurers less when they put in for a claim.

<em>Statistics show that men are almost four times more likely to commit a motoring offence than women (Rex/posed by models)</em>
Statistics show that men are almost four times more likely to commit a motoring offence than women (Rex/posed by models)

Out of 585,000 drivers in England and Wales taken to court in 2017 for breaking road laws, 79% were men.

Nearly one in four (23%) of all offences were men speeding compared to just one in 15 (7%) women.

Drink-driving offences saw men outweigh women by five to one while 65% of insurance claims in 2017 were made by men – 17% of which were for incidents where the claimant was at fault.

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Out of the 35% of claims made by women, just 9% of those were at fault.

The report’s authors say that the data explains why men pay more for their insurance – an average of £92 more than women for their annual policies.

Amanda Stretton, motoring editor at Confused.com, said: ‘As a female racing driver, I know women can hold their own when it comes to driving, and data suggests that they are in fact safer on the roads.

<em>The study found that men were the biggest culprits in the six most common driving offences (Rex/posed by model)</em>
The study found that men were the biggest culprits in the six most common driving offences (Rex/posed by model)

‘This is reflected in the fact that they are paying almost £100 less for their premiums. And this could be down to the fact that more men committed more motoring offences in comparison to women.

‘Not only this, but they also often own more expensive cars, which means claims are likely to be more expensive.’