University researchers found that women are 47 percent more likely to sustain injuries in car crashes than men in a study to be published in the December print edition of the American Journal of Public Health.
The study, conducted by University Engineering Research Scientist Dipan Bose and Engineering Prof. Jeff Crandall with help from Maria Segui-Gomez, adjunct epidemeology and public health professor at Universidad de Navarra, used data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on adult drivers who were involved in car crashes between 1998 and 2008.
The data showed detailed information on 45,445 crashes, allowing the researchers to eliminate extraneous information and more effectively compare similar crashes.
"This was a finding we did not anticipate," Bose said, explaining that the researchers expected to find discrepancies between women and men because men have a higher risk of being involved in fatal car crashes.
The study pointed to vehicle type and driver size as contributing factors to the difference in injuries sustained by men and women. Females in the study were an average of 14 centimeters shorter and 16 kilograms lighter than males. In addition, the females' vehicle type was 13 percent more likely than males' to be a passenger car, and 15 percent less likely to be a truck.
Programs are in place to test the safety of vehicles for women by using smaller dummies when testing car crashes, the NHTSA said in an email.
"As a public health and safety agency, NHTSA is continually working to ensure all vehicle occupants are protected - regardless of age, gender or size," the NHTSA said. "Due to their smaller stature, women are generally at a greater risk of being injured in frontal and side crashes than their male counterparts would be if exposed to the same type of crash."
Manufacturers are trying to put more adaptable safety systems in place, Bose said, including introducing customized safety belts. He added that maintaining a 10-inch distance from the steering wheel and wearing a seat belt that fits helps reduce the risk of injury in a crash.
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