Are women safer drivers than men?

Research shows women are safer drivers than men. They are less likely to die on the roads, take risks, drink drive or break the road rules. Yet this doesn’t mean their motor insurance is necessarily cheaper. In fact, men and women with the same details pay the same for a green slip.

More men die in road accidents

Women make up over half of the Australian population (50.4%) and 45% of drivers licence holders. Yet men are well overrepresented in all road deaths.

In the year to April 2024:

• 77% of road deaths were male and 23% were female.
• 79% were male drivers and 21% were female drivers.
• 95% of motorcycling deaths were men.

Slightly more men than women died as passengers in vehicles that crashed.

More men have serious injuries

During 2021, nearly 40,000 people were seriously injured in road accidents in Australia. Just under two thirds (65%) were men and over one third (35%) were women.

As their share of injuries is greater than their share of deaths, women are more prone to be seriously injured than die in road accidents. They don’t need to be driving, because 60% of passengers who were seriously injured were women.

Overall, more men than women die or suffer serious injuries in road accidents.

Trends in death and injury rates

We checked whether the balance between male and female road trauma has shifted over time.

In fact, injury rates per 100,000 population over 10 years to 2021 show female injuries remain around half of male ones. Males have continued to make up two thirds of serious injuries.

Serious injury rates

Female death rates per 100,000 population over 10 years to 2021 fluctuated more than injury rates.

Death rates

Can different death and injury rates for men and women be partly explained by age?

The influence of age on road trauma

Young people pay more for their green slips because they take more risks on the road than older people. In the year to April 2024, nearly 80% of deaths in the 17-25 age group were males. 

However, the age group with the most deaths (or injuries) was 40-64, then 26-39 for both men and women. It’s just the raw numbers for each are smaller for women.

Do men have more road accidents because they spend more time driving?

Men spend more time driving

Budget Direct carried out a survey during 2023 on commuting habits in Australia.

It found the same percentages of men and women drive to work every day (61%) or sometimes work at home (38%). Over 70% of women and 65% of men went by car. However, the length of commute differed:

• Women did a lot more short trips, 0-15 mins.
• Men and women were equally likely to travel 15-30 mins.
• Men were more likely than women to take longer trips.
• More men had a 45-60 mins commute.

Other research has shown men are more likely to drive from the outer suburbs for work. They work as machinery operators and drivers, technicians or tradespeople, all with the longest average commutes.

If men drive longer distances than women, they are considered more at risk. Everyone has to state how far they drive in a year when getting a quote for a green slip.

Are women safer drivers because they are less willing to take risks?

Men take more risks than women

One UK study found men pose a higher per-kilometre risk to others than women:

• The per-km risk posed by male drivers of cars and vans was double that of women.
• The per-km risk posed by male motorcycle riders was over 10 times higher than women. 

They were also most likely to drive dangerous vehicles. Only 1.6% of truck drivers in Australia are women.

However, a large European 2018 study of male and female drivers found it didn’t matter that men drive further than women, but the fact they took more risks while driving. Women were less likely to take risks and less likely to have traffic offences, regardless of how far they drove.

In a Chinese study, men scored higher on risky, angry and high-speed driving styles, while women scored higher on dissociative, anxious and patient driving styles. Female styles of driving were not necessarily considered to be safer.

Do women choose safer cars?

Are women safer drivers because they choose safer cars? It depends on who you ask. In 2022, 56 female motoring journalists from 40 countries were asked to vote for the best cars in the world. They named:

• Peugeot 308 (world’s best car and best urban car)
• Kia Sportage (best family SUV)
• BMW iX (best large SUV)
• Ford Mach-E (best family Car)
• Jeep Wrangler 4xe (best 4×4)

Automakers say they don’t design specifically for women. In fact, it appears few even have female designers. Currently, Audi, BMW, Bugatti, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Volkswagen and Volvo all have male designers.

A UK insurance broker analysed how many quotes they gave in a year for cars owned by women. From a list of 469 cars, the top 10 female cars included three Volkswagens and one van:

1. Ford Fiesta
2. Vauxhall Corsa
3. VW Polo
4. Fiat 500
5. VW Golf
6. BMW Mini
7. VW Transporter
8. Ford Focus
9. Renault Clio
10. Vauxhall Astra.

The greenslips.com.au Calculator always asks about your vehicle as some are considered lower risk than others. However, your driving habits are just as important and safer drivers usually pay less

Distracting habits while driving

Men and women drivers tend to do other things while driving. These are distractions, which stop them from giving full attention to their driving. However, men are only slightly more likely to have distracting habits: 

• 45% of men (44% of women) admit to doing something dangerous while driving.
• 8% of men (6% of women) replied to an email
• 15% of men (12% of women) smoked
• But 41% of men (44% of women) ate a meal while driving.

The times when women do take more risks than men is, for example, when reaching back to deal with children or putting on make up while driving.

Overall, men see fewer risks and are willing to take them. They believe they are skilled drivers, feel safer behind the wheel and driving makes them feel good about themselves. However, women tend to anticipate more negative consequences and felt less pleasure in taking these risks.

Men are more likely to drink drive

In France, 84% of fatal road accidents and 93% of drink-driving crashes are said to be caused by men. Nearly all French drivers (90%) routinely speed and a quarter of men aged 25-34 have driven while drunk.

In Australia, the biggest drink drivers are not always men. Half of regional females, 16-25, said they drink drove in the past 6 months – the highest self-reported rate of all men and women.

Young men, 16-25, were more likely than others to agree that it’s OK to drive home on quiet roads if “you’re a bit over the limit”. They were also less likely to think they would get caught. (Perhaps they were also less likely to report they had been drink driving in the past 6 months.)

However, younger men had the highest and women the lowest proportion of alcohol-related crashes:

1. Regional males, 26-39 – 17.8%
2. Regional males, 16-25 – 17.4%
3. Metro males, 26-39 – 10.1%

Given all these statistics, is comprehensive vehicle insurance cheaper for women?

Comprehensive car insurance for safer drivers

In Europe, insurers are not allowed to base their pricing on gender. Insurers in Australia are not restricted by any sexual discrimination laws. While some women pay less in car insurance, other aspects of their driving history may equally increase their premiums. For example, if a woman has made several claims, she’s more of a risk than a man who has made none.

Men make more motor insurance (not CTP greenslips) claims because they crash more often (54% in the last decade, according to AAMI). However, women are more likely than men (52%) to claim for minor injuries.

According to one price comparison site, male drivers in October 2023 paid $1,578 per year for their car insurance while female drivers paid $1,358.

However, Money magazine compared comprehensive insurance premiums for AAMI, Allianz, GIO and QBE and said the difference was marginal.

Green slips cost the same for men and women

It appears there is little if any gender discrimination in the price of greenslips.

greenslips.com.au compared a 45-year old male and female, good and bad driver of a Toyota Hilux or Mazda CX5. (The bad driver has one or more demerits.)

There was no evidence gender changed the prices. As at 1 September 2024, men and women paid the same, as long as information about their vehicle and driving history was the same.

Women generally make more claims than men on their CTP greenslips:

• The typical CTP greenslip claimant is female (54%) and aged 25-39 (30%).
• In South Australia, the average CTP claimant (55%) is female, 25 to 54, with a minor injury.
• In Queensland in 2020-21, women made more CTP claims than men in nearly all age groups.

In fact, there is much more to pricing greenslips than gender.

Factors that affect your greenslip price

Gender does not seem to affect NSW CTP prices and is not considered in other states and territories.

Your greenslip prices depend on many factors, including where you live, type and age of vehicle, distance travelled, and ages of vehicle owner and youngest driver. Prices also depend on your driving history, including at-fault accidents, traffic offences, and any licence suspensions.

While women may generally be safer drivers, it’s not enough to reduce the road toll. The men tragically lost or injured are their fathers, sons, friends or partners. What could be done to encourage men to drive more safely?

Calculate your green slip now.