The age-old stereotype that women are bad drivers is being challenged by a new traffic study.

And contrary to what you might expect, that study found male drivers have a 77 percent greater risk of dying in a car accident than women.

"I think men are better drivers because they tend to be more aware I guess in some cases I've seen women reading books or putting on makeup," Jeremy Roeger of Eau Claire said.

But, according to a study of U.S road risk by Carnegie Mellon University, women are winning when it comes to safety.

"No, it's not surprising and I pulled some statistics off the Wisconsin crash site and on there for example the primary element in most traffic crashes is speed," Lieutenant Jeff Lorentz with the State Patrol said.

Lieutenant Lorentz says men speed more often and drive more aggressively. Researchers say they also drive under the influence more frequently than their female counterparts.

"The key element out there is good judgment, these are crashes not accidents," Lorentz said.

Crashes, he says can be prevented with care, caution and consideration.

Lieutenant Lorentz says defensive driving is the best way to stay safe and says decreasing your speed, watching your following distance and keeping yourself alert and attentive will help protect you and all those other drivers out on the road.