In a study published this week by San Francisco-based Quality Planning Corporation, it appears that the drivers of hybrid vehicles are more likely to get a traffic ticket or into a collision than their gas-guzzling counterparts. This may seem odd, until you take a closer look at the data. For example, most hybrid drivers live in urban settings, and actually drive 25% more miles than non-hybrid drivers.
Theories abound: perhaps hybrid drivers find themselves distracted by their new instrument panels. Perhaps insurance companies are funding these studies so they can raise the rates for hybrid drivers, who typically pay less for insurance (though repairing accident damage to hybrids costs more than non-hybrids). Perhaps, and I am probably receiving hate mail for this as I type it, since a higher percentage of hybrid drivers tend to be women, their driving habits and styles may earn more traffic tickets and cause more accidents (for the record, I am a woman and have never caused an accident nor gotten a speeding ticket, so there).
Or, conspiracy theorists and chauvinists be damned, it's more simple than that: the more you drive, hybrid or not, male or female, the greater chance you have of getting a ticket or having an accident.
Source: Quality Planning Corp.
