Men disobey traffic rules more often than women. This is the result of the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) after evaluating the statistics for 2020. According to this, for example, 78 percent of all speeding violations are attributable to male drivers, with the proportion of female driving license holders on the reporting date being 42.6 percent. In this respect, the data collected can largely be considered meaningful.
The trend observed in speeding violations is also reflected in other traffic offences. Men make up almost 87 percent of alcohol offenders, women only 13 percent. According to KBA statistics, 88 percent of male drivers are responsible for disregarding regulations when overtaking, meeting and driving past.
The Goslar Institute for consumer-friendly insurance, which is managed by HUK-Coburg, emphasizes that men are also not exactly exemplary when it comes to safety distance, with almost 82 percent of rule violations. And when it comes to gripping the mobile phone when it is forbidden, men are also clearly ahead of women at around 74 percent at around 26 percent. With the relatively high number of red light violations, it is mainly men who stand out. Women make up only 32 percent here. Such and other violations can quickly lead to accidents.
So are men the worse drivers or do they have to be seen as more willing to take risks and more aggressive on the road? A 2020 study by the insurers’ accident research institute (UDV) on aggressiveness at the steering wheel came to the conclusion that it mainly occurs in men and shows a special perception of the environment. One’s own misconduct is often attributed and justified to supposedly unreasonable obstructions by other road users or restrictions by regulations. Almost 30 percent of those questioned told the UDV that they “had to” push if a car was parked in front of them. So the other person is indirectly to blame.
In a representative survey on the mood on German roads commissioned by the German insurance industry, around one in seven respondents admitted that hesitating is part of their personal driving style. Even more said they were intentionally tailgating to drive other drivers out of the fast lane. According to UDV estimates, aggressiveness on Germany’s roads is likely to increase overall, not least because of the increasingly dense traffic. (awm)