Personal Injury Lawyers > Personal Injury Blog > Auto Accidents > Survey: Teen Female Drivers More Likely to Speed than Males

Personal Injury Blog

Survey: Teen Female Drivers More Likely to Speed than Males

Traditionally, male motorists between the ages of 16 and 19 have been at a higher risk of being involved in crashes, compared to teen female drivers. Boys of this age are traditionally found to be more likely to speed and drive under the influence. A study by auto insurer Allstate Insurance Company, however, has found that the number of young women, who admitted that they drive at excessive speeds, is actually more than the number of young men who reported such behavior.

Those statistics are very surprising, considering that conventional thinking holds that young men are more likely to drive at excessive speeds and engage in aggressive driving behavior. California car accident lawyers have been more likely to come up against accidents caused by reckless young male drivers, than female drivers of the same age. However, the Allstate survey suggests that when it comes to reckless driving, the gap between boys and girls is fast closing.

According to the survey, 40% teen girls admitted that they often drive 10 mph above speed limits, compared to 36 % of boys who admitted to driving above speed limits. The Allstate survey also asked motorists to characterize their own driving behavior. For those who believe female motorists are more sober and responsible behind the wheel, there were surprises here too. 16 % of the girls characterized their own driving behavior as “aggressive.” That was an increase from 9% during the last survey in 2005. When it came to practices like texting while driving, girls seem to beat boys again, with more than 50% of the girls admitting to texting while driving, compared to 36% of the boys.

Moreover, those statistics could actually be lower than reality. The survey depended heavily on teen motorists to self-report their own behaviors, and it’s important to consider that at least a few of the female teens might have been hesitant about actually admitting to speeding or aggressive driving practices. So the actual number of teen female drivers in the survey who drive aggressively, may be higher than reported.

Allstate admits that it is surprised at the findings, but California car accident attorneys won’t be completely surprised. The pressure on women to not only compete with men but outperform them in every aspect of life, is tremendous. Women are outperforming men in every area, from science to sports. In this context, it is natural for girls to develop a feeling of assertiveness. This need to assert oneself could likely be transferred to driving practices behind the wheel. Young teen girls are still trying to find their way about in the world, and are more likely to think that aggressive driving or speeding is “tough” behavior.

There is no doubt that these trends are alarming. Teen motorist safety is an important issue, and it’s obvious from the study, that there need to be more efforts made to target female teen motorists. Parents have a major role to play in this.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of car accidents. Please visit our website at http://www.robertreeveslaw.com/. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us at contact@robertreeveslaw.com.

The Reeves Law Group is not representing any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

---