In America it is law that every person who drives an automobile must at all times have some sort of auto insurance. For the youth, ages 16 to 25, this can be a highly expensive matter due to many young people taking risks and aggressive driving tendencies. The controversy comes into play in regard to the gender factor of auto insurance for that age group. Legally, auto insurance companies in 43 states have the ability to discriminate between male and female in terms of charging them on auto insurance. Currently males between the ages of 16 to 25 generally pay about 6.8% more money for their insurance than females with an equal record regarding tickets and accidents. Some people say that the price is justified because of young male behavior but others argue that it is discriminatory and stereotypical.

There are many factors that support the separation of male and female insurance prices for the younger age group. Male drivers based off of studies have proven to be more dangerous drivers and actually hold 77% more fatal car accidents. “As for men being more likely to die than women, McCartt and Fischbeck said men take more risks, speed more, drink and drive more.” (Borenstein 1) Statistically males cost insurance companies more so they will charge more money for their services. Also, if women were put on the same impress chart as men, their prices would increase to match the 6.8% rather than male prices dropping. In reality this just causes more problems without ever fixing the original one. Also in favor of keeping the price difference is Mark Dodd who claims that, “In the United States of America, principles which are not prohibited by laws are considered to be permitted. This makes charging bigger rates of auto insurance to men below 25 neither legally discriminatory nor illegal.” (1) In other words it should not be illegal to discriminate between gender for auto insurance due to that it is approved by law and only effects a narrow age and gender group.

On the other side of the debate many people are claiming that males are being discriminated against because they are forced by the government to buy auto insurance at a higher rate than females, simply for being male. Saying that all men drive recklessly is stereotypical and does not apply to every single 16 to 25 year old male. Statistically males from the years 1975 to 2003 were reported in declining by 11% in overall car accidents while women increased 14%. Krummer a director of personal lines-auto for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America noted that, “We’re also seeing women driving more aggressively, picking up that bad habit from their male counterparts.” (Are Men Better Drivers than Women? 4)Women typically drive safer in comparison to the reckless driving habits of men; however, women make up for this with their increased cell phone exhaust and lack of confidence in some driving situations. Since the gap between male and female car accident numbers are beginning to accumulate smaller; many are encouraging a change on the modern system.

Despite the facts that men are typically more dangerous on the road, I glean that the difference in price for males and females between the ages of 16 to 25 completely discriminatory. Personally, I have been driving for over two and a half years and have never received a ticket or been in an accident. In no scheme is it justified that I pay more than a woman even with my perfectly clean record. In comparison, racial discrimination in terms of auto insurance is illegal because people can not control what race they are. However, for some reason it is completely fine to charge more money for gender despite that it is also uncontrollable. In my idea auto insurance needs to be enforced on an individualistic basis rather than based off of stereotypes. It is an outrage that car insurance companies are allowed to continue with these discriminatory attitudes toward young males.

“Are Men Better Drivers than Women? “. AOL Money & Finance. 22 Feb 2007 .

Dodd, Mark. “Is A Higher Auto Insurance Rate For Men Twenty Five And Below Discrimination? .” SmartCarQuote.com. 22 Feb 2007 .Borenstein, Seth. “Study: Women better drivers than men.” DenverPost.com. 22 Feb 2007 .