Are you surprised to learn that a woman who is involved in a car accident is much more likely to suffer a serious or catastrophic injury than a man is? Why is this? A study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has shown that it is less likely to be related to physical differences between men and women and more likely to be related to the types of vehicles women are more likely to drive and the specifics of their accidents.
If you are a loved one who has been seriously injured in a California car accident, we invite you to contact Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas at 909-982-0707 to request a free legal consultation at your convenience.
An Interesting Finding About Leg Injuries
Jessica Jermakian, the vice president of vehicle research for IIHS, and one of the authors of the study, said that the crash test programs used today have helped women as much as men but that women are much more likely to suffer injury to their legs. She did not have an immediate idea about what might cause this.
Men Are More Likely to Be Involved in Fatal Car Accidents
The study showed what has been well known for many years – men are much more likely to be involved in a fatal car accident compared to women. However, the study also showed that on a per-crash basis, women are about 25% more likely to be killed than men, and about 72% more likely to be seriously injured – and this is even after adjusting for speed and other relevant factors.
An Explanation for the Results
When the IIHS took it a step further and compared the data based on similar crashes, they found that the discrepancies almost always disappeared and that improvements to crashworthiness of vehicles have benefited women as much as it has men. However, women are more likely to drive small, light cars, and that they are more likely to be the ones driving the vehicle struck from the side or hit from behind than men are.
Crash Test Dummies Were Not the Answer
The discrepancy between serious injury and death between men and women has been known long enough for there to have been a move to create new crash test dummies that specifically react to how a woman’s body reacts to force, and to make other changes to crash testing. When the IIHS did that, they did not answer the questions that they sought to answer – and now we know why.
If you have been involved in a catastrophic car accident, we welcome your call to Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas at 909-982-0707 for a free legal consultation.
