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By: Kade Phillips, contributing writer at Kanetix.com.

There is no shortage of driver stereotypes. Seniors observe teenage motorists warily, expecting them to drive recklessly at too-high speeds. Teens watch their older counterparts and chuckle, believing them incapable of making quick decisions behind the wheel. Men watch women drivers and roll their eyes; women consider men and shake their heads disapprovingly. Do these stereotypes offer an accurate representation of each group's abilities and tendencies behind the wheel?

This article will explore who are the best and worst drivers among men, women, teens, and seniors. We'll provide a deeper glimpse into each group's habits on the road. You may discover that the assumptions you once held to be true are less than accurate.

Men Versus Women: Who Are The Better Drivers?

Traditionally, men have considered themselves to be more proficient behind the wheel than women. This belief may be due to stereotypes about women that have been cultivated among men for generations. However, the presumption about driving ability oversimplifies a potentially murky issue; and it is based more upon anecdotal evidence than data.

In 2003, the Insurance Institute For Highway Safety (IIHS) found that young male drivers were responsible for a higher percentage of crash-related fatalities than women. The trend shifted among the over-50 population; female drivers over 50 years of age were responsible for more crash deaths than men in the same age group.

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In 2006, a road risk analysis report was published by Carnegie Mellon University for the American Automobile Association (AAA). The report suggests other factors play an important role in determining accident and fatality incidence rates between the genders. For example, female octogenarians are more likely to perish on the road than male teenagers. However, the reason is due to their fragility rather than driving ability. Other contributing factors include the type of vehicle driven (e.g. SUV versus small sedan), number of average miles driven, and likelihood of distractions.

So, to the question of which gender is the better driver, there are far too many variables to know for certain. However, it's worth noting that men typically pay higher auto insurance rates than women. While both genders are involved in the same number of accidents per capita, the damage tends to be more extensive and severe in accidents involving men. Studies also show that male drivers are more likely than women to be involved in traffic violations.

Teens Versus Seniors: Recklessness And Response

The difference in likelihood of teens and seniors being involved in traffic accidents is less ambiguous than that of men and women. As you might expect, teens pose a significantly higher risk of road-related injury and death. This may be due to a penchant for racing, tendency toward distraction, or less-refined decision-making skills than older drivers.

In 2007, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released a report showing that teenage motorists represent a disproportionately higher percentage of traffic fatalities than all other age groups. For example, while drivers between the ages of 15 and 20 comprised only 8.5% of the driving population in 2007, they represented 12.7% of accident-related fatalities. Moreover, they represented 15.4% of all single-vehicle crashes.

For their part, senior drivers cope with limitations behind the wheel that are largely exclusive to their age group. These limitations include decreased response time, partial vision impairment, and a reduction in hearing ability. However, seniors tend to be aware of these constraints; they compensate by driving more slowly. They also tend to drive fewer miles per capita. While there is a marked increase in accident-related fatality rates among seniors as they age (e.g. from 65-69 to 70+), the percentage increase is lower than that for crashes. As such, the increase in fatalities is likely due to their fragility.

It is nearly impossible to identify which group (i.e. men, women, teens, and seniors) represents the best and worst drivers in the context of driving skill. Auto insurance premiums seem to favor female drivers between the ages of 50 and 65 due to that age group's lower proclivity toward risk-taking.



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