Women may be more likely to file auto insurance claims due to accidents than previously thought, as the number of female drivers involved in crashes is substantially higher than researchers at the University of Michigan initially believed, a new study shows.The study, conducted by UMs Transportation Research Institute, was based on 6.5 million car accidents reported between 1988 and 2007. The researchers used the General Estimate System to pre-determine what they thought they would find from that sample based on the ratio of male to female drivers.According to researchers, because men make up roughly 60 percent of all driving, and women make up 40 percent, they expected to discover a proportionate ratio of accidents based on those figures.Female-to-female accidents were expected to make up roughly 16 percent of all accidents, while male-to-male crashes were projected to account for 36 percent of all crashes.However, the study showed accidents involving two female drivers made up more than 20 percent of all accidents and crashes involving two male motorists made up just 32 percent.Researchers unsure of reason for resultsMichael Sivak, one of the two researchers who conducted the study, stated there isnt a clear explanation as to why the results came out this way.”The results indicate that in certain crash scenarios, male-to-male crashes tend to be underrepresented and female-to-female crashes tend to be overrepresented,” said Sivak. “This pattern of results could be due to either differential gender exposure to the different scenarios, differential gender capabilities to handle specific scenarios or differential expectations of actions by other drivers based on their gender.”He added preventing auto accidents from occurring is based on a variety of factors, including not only psychomotor ability, but also interactions and patterns of traffic and past experiences which influence future driving methods.A separate study conducted by the Sivak and his partner, Brandon Schoettle, found driving in different states may also have an impact on the frequency of fatal car accidents.”There is a wide variability across the 50 states in the percentage of all drivers involved in fatal crashes who were out-of-state drivers, with a minimum of 5 percent in California to a maximum of 41.2 percent in Wyoming,” the study concluded.
