Are women better drivers?

A look at drivers in Canada*

We've all heard or seen the jokes about women drivers who can't park, drive away with the gas nozzle still attached to the car, or get themselves into crazy fender-benders. All you have to do is search the term "women drivers" to see snapshots-real or not-of women drivers in bad situations. On the flipside, search "men drivers" and it seems the worse you'll find are cartoons about men refusing to get directions.

What's the real deal?

Recently, in a good-natured effort to answer the question, Kanetix.ca looked at the group of drivers who obtained auto insurance quotes in 2009. The trends found might surprise you and offer some insight; but is it enough to squash the stereotype?

The top five most common tickets or traffic convictions

Whether male or female, the top five traffic tickets entered while getting an online auto insurance quote were:

1. Speeding - less than 45 km/h over posted limit
2. Failure to obey traffic sign/signal
3. "Other" minor conviction
4. Failure to wear a seatbelt
5. Failure to carry/produce proof of insurance

So we've all got a bit of a lead foot. What's more, for those who selected "Other minor conviction", you have to wonder how many of those were for speeding too.

But how do these infractions breakdown by gender?

For each ticket, we looked at what percentage of women drivers had the ticket and what percentage of the men. Remember, the lower the number the better and in every instance, the women have the men beat adding fuel to the "better driver" fire.

Ticket or Conviction	Women	Men
Speeding (less than 45 km/h over the limit)	9.2%	13.1%
Failure to obey traffic sign/signal	1.6%	2.5%
Other minor conviction	1.3%	2.2%
Failure to wear a seatbelt	0.4%	1.1%
Failure to carry/produce proof of insurance	0.3%	0.6%

So what, you say? Fewer tickets doesn't necessarily mean women are better drivers! Agreed, but what if we looked at the most common type of accident for both genders too-the dreaded at-fault where the driver struck an object or vehicle.

In 2009, the gender breakdown of the drivers involved in this type of accident mirrored exactly the gender breakdown of drivers getting quotes. What's it mean? Men and women were equally likely to have been in an accident where they stuck an object or some other vehicle.

Ladies and gentlemen. You're in the driver's seat

Regardless of which side you cheer for, when it comes to auto insurance premiums you are in the driver's seat. Whether you have a spotless driving record, a ticket or two, or even an accident, you shouldn't be paying unnecessarily high auto insurance premiums (and many people do.)

How can you avoid paying more than you have to for your insurance coverage? That's an easy one (especially compared to the question of who is a better driver.) All you have to do is compare quotes to ensure you are getting the best rates going.

Why not see for yourself now? Compare auto insurance quotes from competing insurers online at www.kanetix.ca to see if you could be saving money today on your auto insurance rates.

Looking for more interesting information about drivers in Canada?

• Read: A "crash" course for drivers in Canada
• Read: So you think you can drive?
• Read: Are teens becoming better drivers?

* Kanetix.ca thought it would be interesting to look at some of the driving habits found across the country. Before we get into the good stuff, Kanetix.ca offers online Alberta auto insurance quotes, Ontario auto insurance quotes, Quebec auto insurance quotes, New Brunswick auto insurance quotes, Prince Edward Island auto insurance quotes, and Nova Scotia auto insurance quotes. As a result, it is only drivers from these provinces whose aggregated data was used. The data comes to us from the collective group of drivers who, in 2009, completed online auto insurance quotes through Kanetix.ca.