A new study conducted at the University of Michigan finds that women are catching up with men in terms of the number of miles driven on American roads. The study found that over the past half century the number of miles driven by men each year is up 33 percent. But for women the average number of miles driven has increased by 89 percent. The latest data shows that women drive on average about 10,000 miles a year whereas men log 15,000 miles behind the wheel. For 2013, women made up 51 percent of all licensed drivers. But the study found that at any given time, women are on average 41 percent of the drivers on the road. In 1963 they were 24 percent of all drivers on the road at a particular time.
Michael Sivak, a research professor at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute and author of the study, also points out that “the observed gender trends in driver licensing will likely have major implications on the extent and nature of vehicle demand, energy consumption and road safety. This is the case because, compared to males, females are more likely to purchase smaller, safer and more fuel-efficient vehicles than males. Females drive less and tend to have a lower fatality rate per distance driven.”