Study: Smaller cars may be why crashes injure women more

Associated Press ^ | February 11, 2021 | Ken Sweet

[karpov]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The smaller, lighter vehicles that women more often drive, and the types of crashes they get into, may explain why they are much more likely to suffer a serious injury in a collision than men, a new study published Thursday found.

Researchers from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a research group supported by auto insurers, looked into whether there was some sort of gender bias in the research into vehicle crashes or whether body type had anything to do with the injuries.

They analyzed injuries of men and women in police-reported tow-away front and side crashes from 1998 to 2015. Among the findings were that in front crashes, women were three times as likely to experience a broken bone, concussion or other moderate injury, and twice as likely to suffer a serious one like a collapsed lung or traumatic brain injury.

Men and women crashed in minivans and SUVs in about equal proportions, the researchers found. But around 70% of women crashed in cars, compared with about 60% of men. And more than 20% of men crashed in pickups, compared with less than 5% of women.

Men are also more likely to be driving the striking vehicle in two-vehicle front-to-rear and front-to-side crashes, according to the researchers.

“The numbers indicate that women more often drive smaller, lighter cars and that they’re more likely than men to be driving the struck vehicle in side-impact and front-into-rear crashes,” said Jessica Jermakian, IIHS vice president of vehicle research, in a statement. “Once you account for that, the difference in the odds of most injuries narrows dramatically.”

[Charles Henrickson]

women usually being built a bit more ‘delicately’ than men are more likely to be injured by blunt-force trauma than a man, no matter the size of the car being wrecked.

You beat me to it. Women do not have the same upper-body strength that men have. They do not have anywhere near the sturdiness in the neck area, for example, and thus are more prone to suffer neck and vertebrae injuries.

[ridesthemiles]

MY 1976 1 ton Chevy dually truck will win the game of “The Law of Gross Weight”. Your plastic car will be totaled.

[moovova]

My wife drives a 4WD F150. I’m glad she has the extra metal wrapped around her.

[Kenny Bania]

On their cell phones and checking their makeup?

Ding, ding, ding. Winner.

#1 cause of MVA deaths? Distracted driving.

[Grampa Dave]

#1 cause of MVA deaths? Distracted driving.

We see it all the time even with our limited driving during the pandemic.

[mewzilla]

Per NHTSA, it’s drunk driving, not distracted.