That age-old stereotype about dangerous women drivers is shattered in a big new traffic analysis: Male drivers have a 77 percent higher risk of dying in a car accident than women, based on miles driven. These findings are from Traffic STATS, a searchable risk analysis of road fatality statistics by Carnegie Mellon for the American Automobile Association.
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The findings
•Driver age at highest risk of death: 82.
A cautious 82-year-old woman is 60 percent more likely to die on the highway than a risk-taking 16-year-old boy, because the former is so frail. •Driver age with lowest risk of death: 40 and 50, a tie.
After octogenarians, next among high-risk drivers are young males, ages 16 to 23. Their fatality rates are four times higher than average. "They do stupider things,†said study co-author Paul Fischbeck, a Carnegie Mellon professor.
•Most dangerous vehicle: motorcycle.
<span style='font-size:15pt;line-height:100%'> The death rate on motorcycles was nearly 32 times higher than for cars.</span>
•Safest vehicle: school bus.
School buses have a death rate that is one-50th that of average passenger vehicles. Larger vans are the safest private vehicles, with a death rate less than half the national average for cars.
•Safest driving day: Wednesday
The fewest deaths per mile driven are at 8 a.m., mostly because the roads are so clogged with traffic. The most dangerous day is Saturday.
<span style='font-size:15pt;line-height:100%'>What to avoid
Men, ages 21 to 24, who drive motorcycles between midnight and 4 a.m. in the South. Fatality risk: 45,000 times higher than normal.</span>
Where to be
A 4-year-old girl in a van or bus, stuck in a Wednesday morning rush hour in New England in February.
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Story continues below advertisement
The findings
•Driver age at highest risk of death: 82.
A cautious 82-year-old woman is 60 percent more likely to die on the highway than a risk-taking 16-year-old boy, because the former is so frail. •Driver age with lowest risk of death: 40 and 50, a tie.
After octogenarians, next among high-risk drivers are young males, ages 16 to 23. Their fatality rates are four times higher than average. "They do stupider things,†said study co-author Paul Fischbeck, a Carnegie Mellon professor.
•Most dangerous vehicle: motorcycle.
<span style='font-size:15pt;line-height:100%'> The death rate on motorcycles was nearly 32 times higher than for cars.</span>
•Safest vehicle: school bus.
School buses have a death rate that is one-50th that of average passenger vehicles. Larger vans are the safest private vehicles, with a death rate less than half the national average for cars.
•Safest driving day: Wednesday
The fewest deaths per mile driven are at 8 a.m., mostly because the roads are so clogged with traffic. The most dangerous day is Saturday.
<span style='font-size:15pt;line-height:100%'>What to avoid
Men, ages 21 to 24, who drive motorcycles between midnight and 4 a.m. in the South. Fatality risk: 45,000 times higher than normal.</span>
Where to be
A 4-year-old girl in a van or bus, stuck in a Wednesday morning rush hour in New England in February.
