11 Feb Bad boys and men pay more for insurance
When it comes to driving convictions in Maine, the data underscores why the insurance industry charges men more for auto coverage than it does for women. Looking at the most recently available statistics in Maine (2011) on the Bureau of Motor Vehicles web site, young women are half as likely as young men to be convicted of vehicle-related infractions. What kind of violations are we talking about? Here are the top five categories for driving convictions in Maine.
|
2011 Convictions |
Under 24 yrs old | 25 – 44 years old | 45-64 years old | Over 64 years old | ||||
|
MAINE |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
M |
F |
| Speeding |
5,728 |
2,929 |
8,267 |
5,611 |
4,650 |
3,083 |
755 |
371 |
| Invalid Insp. sticker |
1,864 |
743 |
4,369 |
2,192 |
1,841 |
883 |
161 |
55 |
| No seat belt |
1,447 |
623 |
2,611 |
1,027 |
1,312 |
409 |
222 |
62 |
| OUI |
634 |
198 |
1,383 |
542 |
784 |
290 |
82 |
9 |
| Failure to produce Evidence of Ins. |
640 |
332 |
1,131 |
850 |
311 |
178 |
10 |
2 |
| All vehicle convictions |
15,971 |
7,626 |
25,413 |
13,930 |
12,211 |
6,310 |
1,655 |
666 |
A surprising insight from this data is the high number of convictions for driving without a seat belt. Clearly, more men than women of all ages seem to consider seat belts optional or a nuisance. Maine law was amended to make the failure to use a seat belt a primary driving offense. It is interesting and good news to see the level of enforcement for this simple requirement that makes such a huge difference in the cost and suffering when an accident occurs.
According to the federal Centers for Disease Control, seat belts reduce serious crash-related injuries and deaths by about 50 percent.
Now there are certainly other factors that come into play besides gender and age when considering motor vehicle convictions. More men than women drive for a living though that’s not to diminish the hours spent behind the wheel of mothers who taxi their kids to all those activities. Some,such as me, also would argue that my wife gets more breaks than I do when pulled over for whatever reason but that’s probably just sour grapes on my part. But there is no denying, men are more likely to violate the law than women.
Despite the difference in the rate of convictions between men and women, the most accurate indicator of a good risk is a driver’s credit score. People who pay their bills on time and manage to minimize their debts are more likely to get lower rates than those who do not.
We’d suggest all drivers take extra care when behind the wheel, wear your seat belts, pay your bills on time and prove you are the exception to the conviction statistics.
Photo by kevin_cease