In accordance with widely-shared stereotypes, men are better drivers than women, but both scientific research and auto insurance policies do not prove this to be true. If men indeed were better drivers, would they have to pay more than women for their car insurance - the policy practised by many insurance agencies? The truth is that women's car insurance rates are lower than those of men because men are more prone of getting into an accident.

Shawn Kolar, a sophomore biologist from St. George, thinks that men still are better drivers, but their susceptibility to accidents can be explained by the fact that men are more spontaneous and faster drivers than women. Mindy Dalpias, who studies sophomore elementary education in North Ogden, notes that men are prone to getting involved in more hardcore accidents and, therefore, have pay more for their insurance, because they are less attentive than women and prefer to take more risks while driving.

Connie James, an official at State Farm Insurance, says that insurance companies base their rates on thorough statistical research which indicates that men usually have more accidents than women, are more often involved in serious accidents, and take more risks at the wheel. However, she also adds that to increase insurance rates for men is a discriminatory policy which is not always fare.

According to some studies, men have a 77 percent more probability to die in an auto accident than women. Statistics also show that within the period of 1999-2004, men were responsible for almost 120,000 deadly accidents, while women caused only slightly more than 40,000 of them.

In addition to gender, other criteria to estimate insurance rates include the type of the car, the age of a driver, and the number of "tickets" the applicant has had in his or her records while being a student driver. James says that State Farm will even not cover you if you have more than three tickets.

However, some insurance agencies, such as Prudential Financial, do not discriminate against the driver's gender, but base their rates on his or her age, martial status, experience, and a driving history. The more experience the driver has - the lower insurance rates he or she gets. The age and martial status count, too, because statistics reveal that married people over 25 years of age are less prone to getting into an accident, which makes insurance rates for this category lower.

Tona Kastelen