Women do crash differently

Diamond research also says more men’s cars catch fire

Research by women's car insurance specialist, Diamond has found women have accidents in car parks, bumps on roundabouts and prangs at traffic lights while men are more likely to have a head on collision, drive their car up or down an embankment or hit a crash barrier.

Diamond studied data from over two million accidents over five years and found a marked difference between the types of accidents men and women have.

Slow speed

Sian Lewis, managing director of Diamond, said: "Women tend to be in more accidents at slower speeds, where cars are close together, while men have more high-speed accidents where it is easy to lose control.

"Our research suggests the way men and women drive is different. Possibly men drive faster and more aggressively than women, while women are more easily distracted than men behind the wheel of car."

Claims

Claims differ too. Women are more likely to have their car broken into and have something inside stolen. Men are more likely to have their car stolen outright.

Men's cars are also more likely to catch fire than women's and they're more likely to drive through a flood. Men are also more likely than women to claim for fuel contamination.

Lewis said: "It's very strange that men's cars are more likely to catch fire than women's. I can't explain why that would happen. But one reason why women are more likely to have their car broken into is perhaps because they're more likely to leave expensive items like their handbag or sunglasses on show than men."