Home Office statistics have shown that the amount of women convicted for speeding in their car has increased by a quarter over the last five years. Traditionally men are speedier drivers with more convictions than women. When surveyed by the Department for Transport 13% of men questioned felt that it was safer to break the speed limit on rural roads because of the lack of cars around as opposed to only 2% of women. In addition 40% of men asked thought that fewer crashes take place on rural roads because they are quieter. Only 24% of women felt this to be true.
Times are changing though and the number of men found guilty of speeding has fallen with the number of women rising by 24% from 20,075 in 1998 to 24,920 in 2003. The number of male speeders declined by 14% to 115,078.
Andrew Howard the head of the AA Motoring Trust had this to say of the increase in female speeding convictions: “I think this is largely down to speed cameras. When speeding tickets were only given out by police officers I suspect you were more likely to get told off if you were a woman and more likely to get a court summons if you were a man. But cameras can’t discriminate.”
Women are also more likely to drive aggressively these days. Many more women admit to swearing, making hand gestures and cutting up road users whilst driving their car. The increase in aggressive behaviour amongst women may be due, in part, to the amount of cars on the roads today. It can sometimes feel like driving in rush hour is a survival of the fittest, so people take an aggressive stance as they feel they have no choice.
People who are convicted of speeding, male or female, will end up with points on their driving licence. When it comes to buying car insurance your points can be a major factor in not being able to get a good rate. If you have points for speeding you will be seen as a greater car insurance risk by insurers and your car insurance rates will be higher. Women can take heart though because male drivers still account for 88% of all serious driving-related convictions, down just one percentage point since 1998.