The Affirmative Action Myth – Why do women get cheaper car insurance?

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Certain stereotypes exist about Female drivers and these are usually brought up anytime Male drivers apply for car insurance. In these cases, level of resentment from males towards females gets close to the brim as there seems to exist a bias towards Women as they get cheaper car insurance. Is this because of the existing stereotypes such as Women being slow drivers, or even because the worst they get are scratches of paint scrapes? Or is it because they are just female and that settles that?

This is not just some baseless affirmative action. Actually some of the stereotypes mentioned above hold true in the real world. Statistically speaking, Women just drive safer than Men, are more conscious of road rules and regulation and are more likely to pass licensure exams. If you would compare percentage of car accidents of all women to the percentage of car accidents of all men, you would instantly notice that they are not significantly very wide. Are we saying then that there is a bias? No.  Even if we say that the volume of car accidents involving Women and Men are the same, the type of car accidents that men are involved in are serious and the damages to life and property are major. If this is the case, insurance companies have the higher probability of paying more in damages to  accidents by Men drivers rather than women.

Women are not usually involved in major crashes and are more likely to be found in petty skirmishes. Men account for 85% of the serious road offenses and are therefore seen as more likely to cost the company more.

Let us remember that insurance premiums are worked out on statistics and given these figures, it is easy to see why insurance companies afford the cheaper rates to women.  This goes without saying however that the gap in closing between the two categories and it is not too far off when we will see near equal fees.

In assessing insurance rates, each individual case however is unique. While there are general probabilities that men, old people with poor eyesight, teenagers are more likely to be involved in car accidents, there are also unique cases which might serve to lower insurance rates. For example, even if you are a woman but you already have a police record of being involved in an accident, you will have to pay higher insurance from then on. Or even if you are a man, but you have a lot of safety instruments in your car such as automatic air bags, anti theft alarm system, and you enrolled in an accredited driving school, you are more likely to get cheaper car insurance.