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I'm tip-toeing on delicate ground here, but am about to wade into the whole male/female driver comparison.

I won't get into typical misconceptions, biases and the ever-popular chauvinistic areas. I won't even use my involvement with driving schools and thousands of new drivers. Instead, let's look at some scientific evidence and detailed research into the topic.

The U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in Washington D.C., researchers at Oxford University in England and the World Health Organization (WHO) have all come to the same conclusion — male and female drivers are different.

We're not talking about subjective areas and generalizations such as who is the better driver, but instead are looking into the fundamental differences between the genders and what that means to performance at the wheel.

Insurance companies keep extensive actuarial databases upon which they base rates. At the most basic level, insurance rates are based on risk; put another way, those with the highest exposure to risk and likelihood of being involved in a claim pay more. Gender remains a factor for most insurance companies when setting rates and statistics from the IIHS provide the necessary proof.

Statistics from 2004, the latest for which complete data are available, show that more men than women, particularly in the 16-24 age group, were involved in fatal vehicular crashes. But in comparison with one and three decades ago, the gap is closing fast.

The IIHS also says that while the data show male drivers were in more crashes, the number of crashes involving women has not only increased, but when crashes were matched in terms of severity, female deaths were much more prevalent.

The Social Issues Research Centre at Oxford University recently completed an analysis of "the social and psychological differences between men and women that are relevant to their driving behaviour." The study concludes that men and women exhibit different driving behaviours that affect their attitudes, safety and insurance risk.

The authors say there are many factors behind these differences, ranging from neurochemical structures and hormonal processes "shaped by evolution" to "socialization" practices. Cut through all the scientific jargon and the Oxford study says men are more likely to take risks, exhibit aggression and seek thrills.

It also says these differences exist across the globe as evidenced by higher accident statistics such as those reported by IIHS, more expensive and frequent insurance claims, and higher conviction rates for dangerous or drunk driving.

The researchers say the differences between the genders, with respect to driving, are rooted in the fact that basic human thought processes have changed little from those required by our "hunter-gatherer-based ancestors."

The Oxford study states the difference between male and female driving can be explained, at least in part, by the fact that "much of neural circuitry of the human brain evolved to meet the requirements of societies and cultures very different from our own."

The authors note that "our 21st century skulls contain essentially 'stone-age' brains," and goes on to say: "Stone-age man did not drive. But the legacy of his hunting, aggressive and risk-taking — past qualities that enabled him to survive and mate, thereby passing on his genes to future generations — are still evident in the way in which he typically drives his car."

Meanwhile, the Department of Gender and Women's Health at the World Health Organization has called for the development of gender-differentiated policies in "relevant areas" based on the fundamental differences between male and female drivers.

I would argue that the insurance industry has already accomplished that goal. Gender-differentiation is taken into account in setting rates based on age, sex and experience.

Halifax-based Richard Russell runs a driving school.