Are the ‘typical bad drivers’ really so bad?

No doubt you have heard someone make a stereotypical comment about another driver. One of the most common examples is the way that people sometimes make jokes about women being worse drivers than men. Another example is when people accuse Asian drivers of being more dangerous than drivers of other ethnic backgrounds.

What is amazing about these stereotypes is not just that they’re inaccurate, but that they’re so wrong that they often get things entirely backward. The groups that are stereotyped as being poor drivers break fewer traffic laws, make fewer mistakes and get into fewer accidents.

For instance, someone may say that women are worse drivers than men. However, when we look at the statistics, it’s clear that men cause more accidents than women. Or, people may say that the elderly are poor drivers. While there is a point where decreasing physical skills may make an elderly person an unsafe driver, the truth is that teens cause far more crashes than elderly drivers and have one of the highest fatal crash rates of any group.

This raises a lot of questions. Why do people come up with these stereotypes when they are so far off of the mark? Why do other people keep believing them? When you are sharing the road with other drivers, which ones should you really be wary of? Who is it that is actually most likely to injure you in a crash?

The only thing that is clear is this: When someone does injure you, no matter who it is, you may need to look into your options to seek compensation. A serious crash can leave you with lots of bills and unable to work, so take steps to protect your interests right away.