Women drivers are more likely to have a motor vehicle accident in Switzerland than men, a new study based on accident insurance claims.

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Women are 25 percent more prone to have a road accident than male drivers, says the report released on Wednesday by Suva, the Swiss non-profit insurance and accident prevention company.

When one considers that women drive 40 percent fewer kilometres on average per year than men, the risk of women having a crash is even higher when based on distance driven, the company said.

Suva concluded the accident risk is twice as high among women than men on a per kilometre basis.

It called for increased prevention campaigns specially targeted at female drivers.

It’s not that women have become more dangerous, the statistics show.

The company’s report shows that overall, the risk of motor vehicle accidents in Switzerland has dropped by 20 percent in the past 10 years,

However, the risk for men — who for years had worse driving records than women — has dropped faster than for those of the opposite gender.

The worst time for accidents involving women drivers is during the morning rush hour between 7 and 8 am, the report says.

“It would seem that dense morning traffic constitutes a critical factor acting on busy women,” Suva said.

“According to the study, stress and the lack of (driving) practice explains this phenomenon.”

Suva said the significant drop in the number of accidents among men drivers shows the benefits of targeted prevention campaigns.