We already knew that men have a reputation for driving faster, but now Coyote, a pioneer in driver assistance, confirms this with its own research. In September, Coyote researchers collected data on the driving behavior of men and women in Flanders, Wallonia, and Brussels.
During this period, the average speed of women on highways in Flanders was 102 km/h, compared to 106 km/h for men. In Wallonia, it is 102 and 108 km/h, respectively. In Brussels, women drive slightly faster (99 km/h) than men (98 km/h), even though there are fewer opportunities to drive fast in the capital.
‘Ecological driving’
In terms of ecological driving – the intensity of acceleration and braking – the best performers are women in Brussels (98%), but Walloons and Flemish women are just behind, with a rate of 89%. Men in Wallonia, on the other hand, are the first to speed up, leading to an ecological driving behavior of only 79%, compared to 82% in Flanders and 86% in Brussels.
And there are even more regional differences. For example, men generally travel farther than women and at different times of the day. Men in Wallonia drive much more than women very early in the morning, during the 4 a.m. to 10 a.m. time slot.
The situation is the same in Flanders, but more pronounced from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. The slots where women are more present are from 4 to 6 p.m. in Wallonia on weekdays and on Wednesday afternoons. In Flanders, the gender gap seems more balanced, as only the Friday 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. time slot shows an overrepresentation of women.
‘Useful info for mobility players’
“It is necessary to understand the behavioral habits of all parties to better objectify the possible decisions and actions to be taken to improve safety on our roads,” concluded Vincent Hébert, director of Coyote Systems, emphasizing that one of Coyote’s objectives is “to analyze these data and put them at the service of the various mobility players.”
It’s not entirely clear whether this Coyote analysis is reliable – for example, methodology and specific data (period, time, route, etc.) are missing – and whether the sample is representative, but studies are showing that men in Belgium are responsible for a large share of road deaths (about 80%), which might suggest that the supposed behavioral differences between the sexes are correct…?
