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New research suggests women may be better drivers than men after all.
It reveals that men are twice as likely as women to have a motoring conviction,
with male teenagers four times as likely as female teenagers to have one.
Diamond, a direct insurer specialising in car insurance for women, looked
at the motoring convictions over the last year to see which ones are the
most common and if there is a difference between the sexes. While speeding
is by far the most common conviction for both men and women, only 6.1%
of women have been caught speeding in the last year compared with 11.6%
of men.
Diamond's managing director, Sian Lewis, said: "I'm not really surprised
so many more men are caught speeding than women. Male drivers tend to
be more aggressive than women, and are more likely to be involved in a
serious accident."
Diamond's research also reveals there are differences between the sexes
when it comes to breaking other laws:
- Men are twice as likely as women to drive through a red light.
- Men are three times more likely than women to be convicted of careless
driving.
- Men are four times more likely than women to drive without insurance.
- Men are six times more likely than women to be caught drink driving.
Diamond has also produced a table of the ten most common motoring offences
committed in the last year. It reveals that speeding accounts for more
convictions than the next nine most common added together.
| Position |
Motoring Conviction |
Percentage of drivers with conviction |
| 1st |
Speeding |
8.98% |
| 2nd |
Offence at a traffic signal |
0.67% |
| 3rd |
Drink driving |
0.27% |
| 4th |
Careless driving |
0.26% |
| 5th |
Driving without insurance |
0.21% |
| 6th |
Offence at a pedestrian crossing |
0.12% |
| 7th |
Driving a defective vehicle |
0.10% |
| 8th |
Driving without a licence |
0.06% |
| 9th |
Dangerous driving |
0.04% |
| 10th |
Failing to stop following an accident |
0.04% |
Sian Lewis, continued: "There are now 4,500 speed cameras on our
roads so it is no wonder that speeding is the most commonly broken law.
Now there are reports that the government is considering reducing the
number of points a motorist caught speeding receives from three to two.
This suggests they consider it less severe than other convictions."
Diamond also looked at the percentage of motorists in different age groups
that have received a motoring conviction in the last year. It found that
motorists aged 26-40 were the most likely to break the law, while surprisingly
teenage motorists were the least likely.
| Age Group |
Women |
Men |
Overall |
| 17-19 |
1.25% |
4.56% |
2.77% |
| 20-25 |
7.24% |
16.13% |
11.71% |
| 26-39 |
9.24% |
17.19% |
13.55% |
| 40-59 |
6.16% |
10.84% |
8.64% |
| 60+ |
3.88% |
6.77% |
5.74% |
| Overall |
7.07% |
14.31% |
10.86% |
Issue date: 13-09-04
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