Gender Differences in Traffic Accident Risk Perception

Abstract

Excessive optimism has often been implicated in the disproportionate involvement of young males in traffic crashes. In this study, male and female students (ages 18–24) were asked to judge their relative driving safety, skill, and accident likelihood. They also rated 15 risky driving behaviors in terms of frequency, seriousness, accident potential, and apprehension likelihood. Driving experience/history data were also collected. Substantial optimism was evident in both sexes, but males tended to be more optimistic, especially when judging their driving skill. Males and females held similar perceptions concerning the frequencies and apprehension likelihoods of the risky behaviors, but males perceived the behaviors as less serious and less likely to result in accidents. Regression analyses showed that considerably more variance in optimism could be explained for males than females.