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Do men park better than women?

It’s a widely accepted belief that men park better than women. Yet a recent survey in the USA shows that men are more likely to hit someone or something in a parking lot or block a lane waiting for someone to eventually pull out.

Contrary to many stereotypes, men are the real danger in parking lots. More men than women hit another car, a pole or a shopping cart. The only area where women beat the men was in who gets hit – 59 percent of women said they had been hit, while only 45 percent of men had.

In the survey, men admitted to being more aggressive in confrontations over parking in crowded parking lots – 27 percent used a hand gesture while driving away, while only 20 percent of women did.

One area in which men and women didn’t differ significantly was in the tactics they used to acquire a parking space. 38 percent admitted circling a parking lot at least twice (which is known as “vulture parking”), and 24 percent followed people with bags and waited for them to pack their car and leave.

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Is it fair to compare car insurance costs in other countries?

Is it fair to compare car insurance costs in other countries? Yes and no.

On the one hand, when you compare car insurance costs across the world, it’s tempting to reach the conclusion that car insurance in Ireland is very expensive. On the other hand, every country has its own set of insurance rules. For example, car insurance rates are low in some European countries because so long as you have the right papers and insurance in place, you only have to insure the car alone.

In Ireland we complain because insurance premium hikes are in double digits. Meanwhile, in Ontario consumers complained bitterly when car insurance rates increased an average of 0.60% in the second quarter of 2015.

The lucky residents of the state of Florida are almost unique in the world – their auto insurance premiums for Personal Injury Protection (PIP) are sliding downward. According to recent data, PIP premiums in Florida fell by over 13% following the implementation of a state law which was designed to lower premiums. Since PIP accounts for about a quarter of auto insurance costs overall, drivers in Florida have seen their premiums drop 3-4% since 2012 – compared to rises of over 30% in Ireland in the same period.

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Car insurance premiums predicted to fall when self-driving cars take over

Consulting giant KPMG has some great news for car owners: car insurance premiums will fall drastically – but only once self-driving cars become the norm.

In a recently published white paper, KPMG says that these autonomous cars will not only usher in an era of faster commutes, safer travel and greater independence, but will also dramatically reduce car insurance premiums.

Not everyone in the insurance industry is happy about the prospect of plummeting car insurance premiums. Although 68% of insurance executives polled by KPMG believe the legal system will find a solution for insurance issues, KPMG believes that the transformation will completely revolutionise the insurance industry.

According to KPMG’s predictions, all new cars sold will be autonomous within the next 10 years, and non-self-driving cars will be capable of being retrofitted with autonomous features by 2025. The report claims that accident frequency will drop by 80% over the next 25 years.