Poll labels women aggressive drivers

LANSING (AP) - Women are just as likely as men to admit they're angry and frustrated behind the wheel, and they're more likely than men to tailgate, block lanes or find other ways to punish other drivers, according to a national survey.

Overall, 21 percent of male drivers and 20 percent of female drivers on the nation's roads said they tended to drive in ways that would make them aggressive behind the wheel.

The 1 percentage point difference is within the survey's 3.5-percentage-point margin of error and is statistically insignificant.

The telephone poll of 875 people was conducted by EPIC/MRA of Lansing after it did a similar poll of Michigan drivers for the Michigan State Police. All respondents were 18 or older; about 11 percent said they didn't drive.

The findings aren't surprising to Patricia Waller, director of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute in Ann Arbor.

For one thing, she said, women's driving patterns now more closely match men's than in the past. More women drivers are licensed than before and take more short trips than men.

Statistics show they are increasingly involved in accidents, although men are more likely to die in a crash.

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