Women do things differently on the road

This was shown by an analysis by the Austrian Transport Club (VCÖ) in the run-up to Women’s Day. In the past three years, two and a half times as many men have died in traffic accidents as women, it said in a release on Thursday.

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But women are safer on the road not only for themselves, but also for other road users.

“Safer overall”

Men cause twice as many personal injury road accidents as women and are six times more likely to be involved in road accidents while drunk. “Overall, women’s mobility behavior is safer than that of men, both for the women themselves and for other road users,” said VCÖ expert Katharina Jaschinsky. The mobility organization’s analysis is based on data from Statistics Austria.

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Between 2021 and the end of November 2023, 304 women in this country lost their lives in traffic accidents. The number of men who died in accidents was 806, two and a half times as high. However, there are differences between the means of transport.

Twice as many men who died in accidents

Twice as many men as women had accidents as car passengers, as the VCÖ announced. Of the women who had a fatal accident, the proportion of female passengers was around a third, twice as high as the proportion of men who had a fatal accident as car passengers. In this context, there is also a lot of catching up to do when it comes to vehicle safety: crash test dummies are modeled on the male anatomy. That’s why women in a car would be around 70 percent more likely to be injured in the event of a car accident. The VCÖ appealed that the use of female crash test dummies should be made mandatory at EU level.

In Austria, three and a half times as many men as women died on e-bikes, three times as many on mopeds and twice as many on bicycles.

• On the subject: “Negative peak” in cycling accidents: every second fall is self-inflicted

The gap on the motorcycle is blatant

The difference is lowest for pedestrians. Around 15 percent more men died than women. The gap on motorcycles is striking: in the past three years, 15 times as many men have lost their lives in accidents as women. Significantly more boys and men are also driving drunk: between 2020 and 2022, six times as many men as women were involved in traffic accidents as drunk drivers.

Drunk driving and speeding are crimes that occur more frequently among men than among women. “This is also shown by a look at the central traffic register in Flensburg (Germany, note) or in the database of an Austrian training institute. The reasons for this are manifold. In the traffic psychological personality profile, men are often more willing to take risks than women. This is also related to gender stereotypes,” said Bettina Schützhofer, managing director of the traffic psychology institute “safe on the road”.

Women walk more often

It is also safer for other road users when women are behind the wheel. Between 2020 and 2022, men caused 64,238 traffic accidents with personal injuries, while women caused only half as many at 30,105, reported the VCÖ.

There are also large gender differences in mobility behavior, even if everyone covers approximately the same number of journeys: overall, women walk more often, drive a car less often and ride a motorcycle significantly less. Women also use public transport slightly more often.

The reasons why women travel are also different: they have to cover significantly more distances in connection with looking after and accompanying children. Jaschinsky criticizes that this fact is not taken into account enough in traffic planning. A safe cycling infrastructure is particularly important for accompanying journeys with children. During the day, a lack of public transport connections is often a problem, especially outside of large cities. This affects working women twice: four times as many women as men work part-time. According to the VCÖ analysis, public transport connections in the regions are often coordinated with the classic commute times for full-time jobs.

The VCÖ is therefore calling, among other things, for more train and bus connections during the day and at off-peak times. The proportion of women in transport planning should also be increased.

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