Female drivers experience greater vulnerabilities when involved in motor vehicle crashes, according to a new study published online yesterday in the American Journal of Public Health. Researchers say the lack of tailoring of safety designs toward women may be to blame.
Using national crash data to determine the role of driver gender as a predictor of injury outcome when involved in a crash, researchers found that belted female drivers are more susceptible to injuries compared with belted male drivers when involved in a similar motor vehicle crash. They also found that belted female drivers exhibited a higher risk of chest and spine injuries compared with their male counterparts.
The authors noted “a higher risk of lower extreme injuries reported for female drivers as a result of their relatively short stature, preferred seating posture and a combination of these factors yielding lower safety protection from the standard restraint devices.”
“One reason safety systems are designed more for the male population is that men are three times more likely to be involved in a car crash that leads to serious or fatal injuries,” according to a story by ABC News. “In recent years, however, there has been an increase in female drivers getting into these types of accidents.”
The study focused on crashes and cars between 1998 and 2008, so all of the cars involved in the research were about six years old. However, many of these older cars are still on the road, which suggests that the findings cannot be discounted.
“Female motor vehicle drivers today may not be as safe as their male counterparts,” wrote the authors. ”Therefore, the relative higher vulnerability of female drivers …when exposed to moderate and serious crashes must be taken into account.”
6 comments
Priyanka Singh says:
Oct 22, 2011
I think that this article is informative however it does have strong point which is very serious and can be harmful if proper measures are not taken. Female drivers are more susceptible to injuries while driving than men due to their physical aspects of being shorter, and less solid. I think that cars should be made in a way that it will be safer for females to be driving in the case of an emergency or car crash. It is said that a female that is wearing a seatbelt is more exposed to injury than males and this is something that needs to be addressed by car manufacturers.
Brian Costello says:
Oct 24, 2011
The study discussed in this article does make a good point about women being at a higher risk of injury due to their size and posture. However, the author of this article misleads the reader by not mentioning until the end that they are at a higher risk “… when exposed to moderate and serious crashes…”. The author should have explain more of the data found before ending this article. Overall, I think the study is interesting and more should be done to find a solution.
Leanne Bua says:
Oct 25, 2011
If there seems to be a greater risk of women drivers of being injured due to their size and the belts of the cars, I think that the car companies need to think of better ways to design the belts positioning. It makes sense to change them since all people come in different sizes and shapes so how is it that one belt is made for all. The data shows that will one size may not be working correctly. While reading this article, I was wondering if they were going to address the gender that is more likely to have deaths in accidents rather then injuries.
Leanne Bua says:
Oct 25, 2011
If there seems to be a greater risk of women drivers of being injured due to their size and the belts of the cars, I think that the car companies need to think of better ways to design the belts positioning. It makes sense to change them since all people come in different sizes and shapes so how is it that one belt is made for all. The data shows that will one size may not be working correctly. While reading this article, I was wondering if they were going to address the gender that is more likely to have deaths in accidents rather then injuries. Once the article did I found it interesting to learn that men have more deaths in accidents then women.
Caitlin says:
Oct 27, 2011
I agree that if this is true that female drivers are at greater risk for injury in a car accident then cars need to be built safe for both male and female drivers.
sofia Oussein says:
Oct 27, 2011
This article Is revealing a lot of information that I never really thought about. I thought cars was made to be driven by anyone and be safe for everyone!! Now that I learn that the safety was more target toward male because they have a higher level of accidents it makes me wanting to scream out loud “What about us women?” Is it because the data of death or injuries caused by car accidents is too lower that those women should die????I thought I was safe with a seat belt on just like anybody else. Although the information are accurate this seat belt accommodation for women is just another way to “marked” and differentiate women and men!!!!!! When somone would pass a car they will know whether its a male or female that drive the car. Instead of making one different seat for each gender, the car compagnies should make one belt that will be safe to both gender!! This article is efficient, however it leave me hanging and wanting to know more about the subject… I wish the author had elaborate more about this.