Women die in silence

WOMEN passengers are too scared to call out the risky driving of their male partners because of how they may react, new research has found.

The road toll shows middleaged men are the deadliest drivers and are involved in more fatal crashes than P-platers or young rev heads.

But a survey of women for the Centre for Road Safety found many were too scared of the reaction to call out risky driving by their husbands and partners. The silence is deadly. Last year, the number of female passengers killed in road smashes increased by 72 per cent, making it three times more likely for a woman to be killed in the passenger seat than a man.

The survey found men overestimated their driving skills.