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If there was a car accident in a movie before 1980, the most likely cause was a woman at the wheel. Dangerous on the road, unable to use turn signals and generators of scratches and teleporting columns, half of the women in Spain affirm —in a survey carried out by Midas— to have been the object of sexist comments while driving. If, according to data from the DGT, there are 11.6 million women with a card, this means that 5.8 million have had to listen to phrases out of place. All, however, are well aware of reality.
Although no screenwriter would dream of using this cliché in 2022, its origins have some legitimacy. Post-war, very few women had access to a car, their training came from lower-quality sources—such as their husbands rather than teachers—and they had less opportunity to practice on a daily basis.
Since 2011, insurers have been prohibited from considering sex as a risk factor in policies, a ruling by the European Court of Justice. However, until then, women had cheaper rates, given that, despite reporting more accidents than men, these were much less severe and involved less cost for the companies.
The accident figures in Spain support this reality. Between 2008 and 2019 there were 23,284 deaths due to traffic accidents. Of these, 18,005 were men (77.3%), and the remaining 5,279 were women.
The curious thing about these data is that this proportion has remained unchanged since the Mutual Foundation contemplates in the report: in 2008 it was 78.4% compared to 21.6%. However, between 2008 and 2020, it went from 23.6 million drivers to 27.1 million, an increase of 15%. In this period, one million more drivers emerged (+10.4%), while twice as many women got their license, going from 9.6 million to 11.6 million, 21.6% more. And yet, the mortality rate has not changed.
“Although it is true that there are more male drivers than female drivers, this may be an indication that men are more prone to risky behavior behind the wheel,” said the director of Fundación Mutua, Lorenzo Cooklin. Going further: “women have a more cautious attitude when driving”.
The Midas survey seems to echo the same thing: 60.3% of women say they have never received a sanction, while 69.8% of men state the opposite. The most frequent fines for men are speeding (40.3%) and not respecting road signs (12.3%).
This same survey shows figures that are worrying in a world in which gender jokes no longer have a place: 40% of people say they pay attention, albeit unconsciously, to the sex of the driver when witnessing an incident. Half of the men think that women drive worse. 17% of those surveyed consider that women are not prepared for professional driving, going so far as to affirm that there are vehicles that are “not very appropriate” for them, such as trucks (7.3%), tow trucks (6.8%) or the car itself (5.9%).
However, they also claim to face barriers in driving. 26% feel insecure at the wheel and 12.5% say they do not have their own vehicle. For this reason, initiatives such as #EllasConducen have been born, in which the NGO Help in Action finances the card for women at risk of social exclusion.
More urban risk
One of the findings of the study on road accidents is to show that cities are more dangerous than a decade ago. Although mortality has been reduced by 42% in the period considered, accidents on urban roads have increased by 35.3%, going from 49,330 in 2008 to 66,740 in 2019.
As opposed, interurban highways were reduced by 14.8%, from 43,831 to 37,339. However, these types of roads continue to be the deadliest, with 75% of deaths occurring on these roads.
In the study, one can immediately appreciate the effect of the entry into force of the card by points (2006) and the change in the severity of traffic offenses (2007), when hospitalized people were reduced by more than a third, passing from 16,000 to 10,000 cases. Most of these were male, which increased from 12,000 to 7,000. In the case of women, they went from 4,000 to 3,000, showing their lower propensity for accidents.
Although the mortality of passenger cars has been reduced by 11 points, going from 48% to 37%, the victims of “vulnerable” groups —pedestrians, cyclists and motorcycles— have increased: pedestrians went from 16% to 22%, and motorcyclists from 16% to 24%. In fact, 2019 was the first year in history in which this group exceeded half of the fatalities. In that same exercise, one of every four deaths was a biker. The evolution of mortality on two wheels has been particularly negative, growing by 45.3% between 2014 and 2019.
According to the report, the social cost of accidents in Spain between 2008 and 2019 amounted to 66,483 million euros.
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