Male Driving: A Testosterone Thing
Funny how we are constantly fighting off and belittling our fellow women about their driving skills or lack there of, without first taking an inside look to our driving and reckless behavior on the road. Most of us read statistics and articles on this particular issue and go “I’m better than average” inside our heads, letting a snug smirk take over our mouths. Plus, the inevitable “women suck at driving, anyway” involuntarily or not pops up in our head too. Surveys agree: men are statistically likelier than women to be involved in a car accident than women, be it them who cause it or become the victim of one. Guess what experts blame this street man-chaos on? Good old manly testosterone.
Although testosterone is something you might have more likely related to sexual circumstances, generic Viagra, hairy bodies and strength, experts point their fingers at it for causing men’s likelihood of being involved in car accident fatality. Men are constantly accused of reckless driving in terms of speeding and adventurous driving technique. However, a little less known among the male community is the fact that men are also likelier to be victims of car accidents. They get more run over and affected by car accidents than women, some experts say.
But why should we pay attention to what a bunch of numbnut experts have to say. Chuck Hurley, VP for the National Safety Council’s transportation-safety group, was quoted saying testosterone is perhaps the most dangerous drug on the road; not alcohol as most would immediately think. And that is because we never think of testosterone as a negative element in our daily lives.
However, this gender characteristic determining hormone is more to blame for than for how much facial hair you have or not. Practically every area of risk and age group says men experience much higher rates of injury and death while on the road than their female counterparts, Chuck said. Chuck knows what he’s saying guys. After all, men – statistically speaking – do spend more hours behind the wheel. Hence, the higher body county of raging T-Hormone brotherhood members.
Authorities like the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety affirm over half of motor-vehicle deaths were male; they are talking about over two thirds, not 51 vs 49%. Differences are significant guys. The Highway Safety people estimate 71 % of driver deaths and 90 % of motorcyclist deaths are men, in addition to twice as much more male pedestrians getting run over than female walkers.
And statistics seem to have pinpointed the causes for us to fail at road safety and health. We are significantly likelier to speed more, leave our seatbelts unbuckled and shamefully enough, drive while under the influence. Actually, men have a greater percentage (almost twice as much as women) for drunk driving death casualties. Seriously, the brotherhood is not looking great in terms of driving intelligence. Taken a hint yet?
