High-Profile Crash Victims Are (Seemingly) Overwhelmingly Young Women

"No, I don't thank you for the fish at all" (notindetroit) 02/20/2014 at 12:53 • Filed to: car culture, young women drivers, media hype, GM Cobalt Recall

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The image at left is that of crash victim Justice Melton, taken from !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! article from the Quad-City Times (an Iowa-based local publication). I found it while trying to search for images of Brooke Melton, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Close Enough , I figure.

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I'm not trying to present a misogynist, anti-female driver argument here - nor am I trying to go towards the complete opposite direction and "go Jezebel " on you guys (and I'm very strongly hoping that won't be taken as an anti- Jezebel statement either - if so I won't hesitate to amend it). I do, however, find it disconcerting that females seem to have an extremely lopsided representation in high- or very high-profile crash related deaths, whether they're the hapless (and blameless) victims (as in the case of Brooke and Justice), !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! or in many cases, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

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I am at a loss towards explaining why young women have such lopsided representation, what the specific causes are and most important of all, how to stop them from becoming victims or perpetrators. General statistical logic should say that women shouldn't be victimized or perpetrate car crimes any more than men - and that in either case it should be going down anyway given advances in technology and how auto-related deaths and car crime has been decreasing (when proportioned to population). I can roll out the usual theories, though:

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! - It's been suggested through a number of more targeted theories that young women (regardless of race or ethnicity) draw more attention than any other demographic. If it leads, it has to do more than bleed, particularly in today's media environment. Therefore, the seeming lopsided statistics leaning toward women could be a media invention with no actual statistical backing.

A Cultural Reinforcement - On the other hand, if there is actual statistical data to suggest that young women do have greater involvement in fatal crashes, one of the culprits could be a reinforcement of a lack of care or understanding of how an automobile actually works and should be operated. This can take many forms and many consequences, including those that are non-gender specific or gender neutral. For example, the general failing of driver's education courses to properly prepare student drivers of both sexes (see previously linked article) or !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (whether you believe in such a shift or not). It can also be gender/sex-specific: in American culture, females, particularly young females, are seen as being less caring towards automotive issues, and this tends to be self-manifesting in aspirational attitudes between males and females (i.e., young males aspire towards Mustangs and Bimmers, young women aspire towards social status or non-automotive or socially-related material goods). Potential consequences can include both a lack of care and lack of realization, in turn leading to woefully underdeveloped driving skills necessary to extricate herself out of a dangerous driving situation, or putting herself in dangerous driving situations through intoxication.

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Odd Coincidence or Just Something Else/None of the Above - But this doesn't explain Brooke Melton's death, which resulted from an automotive malfunction (and apparently a scenario where driving skill wasn't much helpful). Some aspects of the crash can be explained from the above two theories - Brooke being named specifically in media sources because she's indeed a young white woman, or statistical information that suggests that young women tend to favor more junk on their keychains (the cited cause of the Cobalt malfunction). Regardless, young women do show up in high-profile crashes regularly, including crashes related to mechanical faults:

Or as victims where the fault is related to another driver ( !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ).

I do find it significant enough of a problem where it needs immediate addressing, but I'm at a loss as to what the specific solution (or even root cause) is. An increase in awareness in driver's ed will certainly help. Or maybe it is truly, merely a media mirage. Maybe it's a strange convergence of cosmic forces - not to sound controversial but maybe the universe really does have it in for young women even if ever, ever so slightly. I'm of the type who believes there has to be an explanation, a cause for everything - and once you discover the cause, it's only a few steps away towards finding the cure. Or maybe I'm just overly optimistic and irrational like that.

Or maybe I'm overly worried about my loved ones or future daughter being the next "if it bleeds, it leads" clickbait.

ADDENDUM: I do want to add that I'm trying to raise awareness regarding the prevention of auto-related fatalities among young women...as admittedly sensationalist as this article comes off as. I should've made effort to mention that in the initial publishing.

newton > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 02/20/2014 at 13:06

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Honestly, pretty, young women in general make headlines more often as victims or perpetrators of any incident. We can always analyze the phenomenon in detail, but I think the simple fact of the matter is that media outlets that run such stories bring in much more attention. The media will skew the perception of how often young women are involved in accidents and criminal incidents.

pauljones > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 02/20/2014 at 13:08

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A very interesting and well-done post. I think that there are more factors at play, however, and they are all very much connected to what people are most likely to respond emotionally to. In this instance, a woman is more likely to engender an emotional response than a man, and a younger woman even more so. A young, attractive woman? Nothing comes close to being able to generate an emotional response from a wide audience of people.

Brooke Melton was highlighted for precisely that reason: to elicit the strongest possible emotional reaction from the widest possible audience. This is the simple truth. As to whether or not that's a good thing, well, that's up for debate, as it depends entirely on where you're standing. On the one hand, it is, by all definitions, a form of exploitation. A picture of an attractive young woman is being used to generate attention. The question for each of us to answer, however, is whether or not this is an acceptable thing to do in exchange for highlighting automotive-related dangers or not. That's up to you to answer, and there are lots of different arguments for that.

I'm not sure that it's the universe that has it in for young women so much as it is a society that's still slowly evolving out of thousands of years of paternalism.

Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street. > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 02/20/2014 at 13:20

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It's the "think of the children" mentality that most media applies to. The more "innocent" a demographic is likely to appear, the more they latch onto it. Young females are way more innocent than middle aged dudes. That's why if there are three people that die in the car wreck, it's always "three people died INCLUDING THIS YOUNG WOMAN!". A guy falls off a cliff? Local news. A baby falls down a well? National outreach!

Sensational headlines bring more attention. Pulling at heart strings is a standard tool.

It's a "Porch-uh" > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 02/20/2014 at 13:28

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So my main question is, do you have data supporting your claims or is it just frequency illusion ? Do publications actually report on young women deaths more than other gender/age groups?

Also, QC Times? Was that a random pick, or do you live out there? I ask since I'm out there (Moline & Clinton) for business a few times a year and it's a pretty small publication.

Patrick George > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 02/20/2014 at 14:01

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You're not wrong about this. It goes beyond just crashes, too. Before I came here I was the crime reporter at a big daily paper in Texas. Time and time again, the crime stories that got the most attention — from the community, the cops, us, the TV stations, whoever — were the ones involving young women. Especially if they were white, pretty, middle class or affluent, and weren't homeless or a sex worker or someone else society generally deems undesirable. I swear it's a real thing. I saw it countless times and it used to drive me nuts.

I do think it's because we're conditioned to think of women as victims, and that these stories elicit the maximum emotional responses, but then there are social factors at play too that determine who gets attention and who doesn't. It's weird, but we seem to have decided there are some people whom bad things just "shouldn't happen to", but we almost expect it for others. When you really start to think about it, it's pretty fucked up.

Rick Brasche > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 02/20/2014 at 19:02

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because no one gives a f**k about every other group. you won't hear of most accidents if some fat 40 year old Indian guy is at the wheel.

It's like reporting on gun incidents even here. Some guy takes a gun and threatens a fast food joint for screwing up his order, or goes postal on a snowplow, it's national news. But you don't see the reports of the knife/pipe/machete wielding threats to the fast food joints reported on at all even though they happen often. Or the guy coming out with a tire iron to attack a snowplow or garbage truck driver. This happens often as well.

Unless there's some cutey pie in the restaurant or driving the city truck, then you'll possibly see the non-firearm story.

(as a contractor to McDonalds 14 years ago, I was in a few sites under renovation that received call in threats or people pounding at the door getting ready to take out a window until they see the place is full of big HVAC wranglers and rugged looking fire suppression system installers with big pipe wrenches...nver got a single newspaper mention much less national coverage)

190e30-Now with COSWORTH > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 02/20/2014 at 19:47

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I'll be honest up front, I just skimmed the post, I have work to do. And I agree with almost everything, but here's what I have to say:

I'm a 17 year old male driver. This means I see very many young females driving, and am even friends with quite a few of them. I also go to a school with a great mix of wealth, meaning some of the students drive BMWs and Audis while just as many drive complete crapcans (The most common vehicle is a 2000-2008 CRV, which I consider to be perfectly middle-class).

Here are the things I noticed:

-It is a known fact that young guys have earned the reputation of driving like maniacs, WOT and weaving through traffic, since the beginning of time. Now, I still wouldn't say its the other way around, but its definitely heavily lopsided in the other favor. Many of the girls in my class/at my school can frequently be seen doing over 55 on the 35 main road that leads to the school, and one girl in an X5 Sport literally does 0-60 runs from every single stop all the way home.

I drive a car with fairly loud exhaust. The other day, on the way home, I noticed a girl from my Chem class and her friend sitting about 4 cars back at a light. It turned green, I turned, and accelerated. Not floored, but moving pretty good, and shifted into 5th and continued cruising at 50 in a 45. From behind me, I can see the two of them closing at an absurd pace, apparently thinking I was trying to play a game and trying to keep up with me. I move over a lane and they pass on the right. They were easily doing 65-70 mph in a 45. On a crowded road. A main road. With stores and shops lining the sides. At 2:30. And with busses dropping kids off at their houses.

-The texting. It's an unfathomable issue. Being that I only got my license ~9 months ago, prior to driving I never understood all the hype. I could never actually picture anyone being genuinely retarted enough to do that sort of thing. But now, not only do I see it several times daily, but I see people I know, that I've talked to or hung out with or even am friends with doing it. And of all the many people I've caught doing this, one was a guy. As a rough estimate, that's one guy and somewhere from 10-15 girls texting while driving. That's an absurd percentage. And for another example, two weeks ago today, I was driving home from school with another girl I know following behind me. I pulled up to a stop sign, looked behind me, and saw her barreling down on me. I dumped the clutch and pulled to the right immediately, expecting her to come barreling through the sign and into the intersection. Instead, she proceeded to stop even with the line, pop it in reverse, and pull to the right, to make her right turn. I turned and gave the standard "What the flying fuck?" gesture, but she didn't see it because she was still looking off to the left of her wheel, where her hand was holding her phone. I gave a blip of the gas pedal, which once again, being a loud car, somehow managed to snap her out of her own world, look up, and just give me a what? look. But what happens next is my favorite. I take the right, and start driving, watching my rear view the whole time, waiting to see what she does next. I see her round the corner, go across the right AND left lane, and run her right front tire onto the grass of the opposite side of the road, only then violently jerking the car back into the correct lane. This was caused by her steering with solely her left hand.

-Lack of attention. I'll just go with an example on this one. A few months back, I pulled up next to the girl I'm asking to prom at another red light, on the same road as the first story. I wave, and she doesn't look. Reasonable I guess, maybe she didn't see. I wave again. Nothing. I beep a friendly beep. Still nothing. It looks like she's talking to herself. Maybe a hands-free? I don't know.

I found her later and asked about it. "Oh. I was probably listening to music."

I'm not saying young guys are modern citizens in comparison to young girls. I already have 2 guy friends who have totaled their cars, and I know a few that probably should not have their license in their possession due to past on-road actions. But the old mantra of "Boys will be Boys." is dead on the road. It's very different now, and it's sad to see. It's sad either way I guess, but you know what I mean.

/Rant