Why did Road Warrior demean women?

Crash-tested 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour photographed at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Vehicle Research Center.  (Wikipedia)

Editor's note: A reader continues to be shocked by all of the errors appearing in the Road Warrior column, and he's begun sending his e-mails to Jennifer A. Borg, vice president and general counsel of North Jersey Media Group, as well as to Staff Writer John Cichowski. The following e-mail, which has been edited for space, is in response to a recent column reporting that women drivers are now in the majority. The statistics-loving Cichowski apparently can't add or subtract.

Jennifer/John,

Once again, the Road Warrior provides misleading, incomplete, or false information that is mistakenly reported and then confuses or misleads readers with a review that miscomprehends and contradicts the facts.

It does not promote the integrity of The Record and offends informative readers.

Once again, Road Warrior column mentions past outrageous examples of female drivers and cluelessly wonders why they were not "funny" anymore to him and others and why he no longer was receiving more examples.  Perhaps, the Road Warrior is not familiar with the power of the women's movement, which began long before he was publishing his "funny" examples, that looks unkindly on these demeaning antics.  Road Warrior then proceeds to encourage his small minded and petty readers to submit nonsensical, prejudicial, and offensive comments about female drivers so that he can publish them in this column.

Unless the Road Warrior is planning to do a regular series on readers comments, including those that are nonsensical, prejudicial and offensive, about male drivers, along with similar comments about female drivers, I would suggest the Road Warrior be refrained from publishing his continuing, not funny, nonsense exclusively about women drivers.

Highlights of his misleading/false statements are noted below.  An inability to correctly state and comprehends facts from published studies continues to plague the Road Warrior..

1.  False statement - Based on Michigan's Transportation Institute recent study "Women now hold more licenses by 0.6 percent - roughly 89.2 million [women] to 87.4 million [men]"

CORRECT FACTS - The study indicated that women now hold [in 2010] more licenses by 0.6 percent (50.3% vs. 49.7%) - roughly 105.7 million women to 104.3 million men.

Sadly, the Road Warrior's reported figures from this study are actually based on 1995 when men with driver's licenses slightly outnumbered women, 89.2 million MEN to 87.4 million WOMEN.

2. Mathematically challenged false statement - "Gap [for women vs. men drivers in NJ] is greater, 0.8 percent, meaning 50.9 or 3,048,209 licensed female drivers compared with
49.1% or 2,941,141 male licensees."

CORRECT FACTS - NJ gap is 1.8% (50.9% vs. 49.1%). 50.9 minus 49.1 equals 1.8. Road Warrior frequently fails his readers with mathematically challenged, confusing reporting.

3.  False statement - "Last year in NJ, for example, male driver deaths outnumbered female driving fatalities by 3-to-1"

CORRECT FACTS - Actually last year, male driver deaths (291) outnumbered female driving fatalities (71) by more than 4-to-1 as per the NJ State police.  I assume the Road Warrior simply miscomprehended the data from the NJ State police report for 2011 that indicated the number of male drivers (648) involved in ALL types of fatal crashes, which also involves passengers, bicyclists, and pedestrians, outnumbered female drivers (215) involved in ALL types of fatal crashes by 3-to-1.  

4.  False statement - "Statistically, [women] - especially women younger than 65 - are much more likely to be injured or die in severe crashes than licensed drivers in the male minority"

CORRECT FACTS -   Statistically, transportation industry and insurance studies still continue to show that men are much more likely to be injured or die in severe crashes than licensed drivers in the women majority, especially women younger than 65.

However, it has been shown that for a similar crash severity, women are more likely to be injured and die. 

5.  Misleading outdated false statement - Quoting from an IIHS study - "Since 1975, deaths among female passenger vehicle drivers have increased while male passenger-vehicle drivers have changed little" said an insurance institute study. "The increase in female driver deaths can be explained [because] more women are licensed now."

CORRECT FACTS - Those quotes are from an IIHS study for data between 1975 and  2007.  Updated analysis from an IIHS study for data between 1975 and 2010, shows a "35 percent increase in deaths of female passenger vehicle drivers since 1975.  Deaths of male passenger vehicle drivers declined 30 percent during the same time period."

Even with an increase in female driver deaths and decrease in male driver deaths since 1975, the updated statements still do not support Road Warrior's false contention in item 4 since male driver deaths (11,066) still outnumber female deaths (4,913) by more than 2 to1.

6. Condescending misleading conclusion - "Now that they're the majority, women have an ideal opportunity to use their newfound [you're kidding, right??] independence to reverse antiquated notions once and for all."

CORRECT CONCLUSION -  All of these studies continue to reinforce the long held independence women have been achieving since the1970's with car transportation and reverse antiquated notions about them.  Now that they're the majority, women have even more economic power to reverse antiquated efforts in the auto industry to meet their needs. 

Publishing accurate data from respected studies, without quoting ill-informed readers, will also help reverse antiquated notions.

Here's hoping to change and better fact checking, corrections, reviewing (Googling?), and screening of reader's inappropriate comments in the Road Warrior columns by Record's editors, columnists, & reporters, for more reliable, accurate, and common sense info prior to publication.