I also object to the idea that it’s a victimless crime. There is a victim: the woman, that the man allegedly cares about, who is made to feel undesirable.

In regards to insurance, when all other factors are held equal (age, gender, location, vehicle, etc) then vehicle miles traveled (VMT) is the best predictor of claims/accidents. For every mile you drive you are at risk of having an accident. Even if you’re a “good” driver, every time you drive you are exposed to hazardous road conditions and “bad” drivers.

NOW has supported cents-per-mile insurance (see the CentsPerMileNow Project) because women, on average, drive less than men. Women are therefore overpaying for car insurance. When you realize that car insurance is a $165 billion market, and that 2% of household income is spent on car insurance, that adds up quickly. Many women are high-mileage drivers, but as a national group women drive less than men.

This is why NOW has issued an action alert encouraging a vote for MileMeter at the Amazon Web Services Developer competition. Customers will buy miles of insurance coverage in advance and renew as needed — without tracking devices.

I hope you like the idea and vote for it! Especially since I’ve worked so hard to make it happen. At the very least, you might find the video informative, and some of the other companies listed in the competition are intriguing and inventive.

-Chris (of MileMeter)

“In each age group, men average more miles and proportionately more accidents than women. Insurers charge youth rates by sex as an estimate of the difference, but adult women charged the same as men are actually paying more per mile. This discrimination–and using driver sex–is ended by using each car’s odometer to pay by the mile.[1]”

Source: 1. Patrick Butler, NOW Foundation Insurance Project Director. “Automobile Insurance Pricing: Operating Cost versus Ownership Cost: The Implications for Women,” Proceedings, Women’s Travel Issues Second National Conference, Federal Highway Administration 1996.

NOW wants people to vote for MileMeter car insurance at some Amazon Web Services Developer competition. MileMeter’s point is to save consumers money by selling them car insurance based on mileage–so if you walk to work or take the train, you pay less for insurance than someone who’s driving more.

Regardless of the men-vs.-women accidents-per-mile-driven differential, men driving more miles on average and thus having more accidents is unfair from an insurance standpoint if adult women and men pay the same rate.

“Is this because men drive more often, and therefore end up in more accidents just because of more time on the road? Is it because men are just plain worse drivers? Is it because men’s aggressive driving style produces worse outcomes financially when there *is* an accident, whereas women’s more timid driving style may produce more minor accidents that cost much less? We don’t know. We do know, however, that overall, men cost insurance companies much more money than women. So arguing that women are worse drivers is *empirically* nonsensical.”

I said it badly, but this was my point. The stats don’t tell you the why the rates are higher/lower and also are not a good way to claim a specific gender (per Dr. T, women) are worse drivers. Even if it did, it would not give any indication of why.

Good breakdown on the article. The “11 secrets” article is just another “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” piece of crap that assumes women are the civilizing force on Neanderthal men and men should put up with womanly vapors because we’re so much more needy.

If post-second-wave women who live to be seniors drive better than the pre-2nd-wavers did at the same age, then we can probably conclude that that sexism was/is a primary cause. If they do worse or about the same, then not. It’s too early to tell, I think.

There might also be further complications - certain safety standards in the making of automobiles, or something in the design of streets might change affect the accident rates. So those will have to be controlled for.

As far as driving goes, in family the sterotype is just the opposite: whenever my mom sees someone driving poorly, she assumes it’s a guy (I’ve never seen my dad even take notice of a poor driver). Which is somewhat more accurate than the reverse, but still kind of unfair. Oh well.

It is far too statistic-y for me to comprehend on a Friday afternoon, but everyone else should feel free.

Thanks for the “obit”. Even the Sun-Times, the supposedly *progressive* Chicagoland newspaper was calling Hyde a statesman and a gentleman today.

Fuck. Just like when Nixon and Reagan died. Some fear of “speaking ill of the dead” goes into overdrive and reality is thrown out the window.

Hyde was a worthless piece of shit who should have had his affair investigated as thoroughly as he went after Clinton’s.

“Protector of women and children”* my ass. Didn’t care for his own children or those of his mistress so much.

I hope, in the future, people will understand that ANYONE that W gave a Presidential Medal of Freedom to was a traitor to true American values of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.

*Fucking read that quote in the Sun-Times. If I wanted to see that shit, I’d read the damn Tribune.

Back to your regularly scheduled fisking…