Reader’s Question:

I know I totaled my car a few years ago, and that’s why my auto insurance premium was higher compared to others. Then this jerk at the office said that women are more prone to auto-accidents, and that we ought to pay a higher auto insurance premium. Are we really more prone to accidents than men?

Milly

Richmond, Virginia

In the old days, the usual driver of any vehicle was a man. It was rare for women to be behind the wheel. Thus, there’s a lot more attention on a lady driver when she gets into accidents rather than men. It’s just numbers: because so many men were driving in the old days, no one was surprised when they got into an accident. When the rare lady driver gets into an accident, it’s immediately highlighted that the driver is female. That’s where the bias all started in the first place.

That was decades ago. Sure, some auto-insurance companies factor in gender when computing the premium you’re going to pay. But generally speaking, women nowadays aren’t more prone to accidents than men. In fact, younger men are more prone to accidents than younger women. If anything, it’s the younger men who pay a higher premium than younger women. As they age, however, the statistics smooth out until both genders have more or less the same accident rating.

You can slap this little tidbit of information in the face of your co-worker. That’ll teach him a lesson or two. Who knows? Maybe his manly, macho ego will get deflated a little.