Are women at greater risk of dying in car crashes than men?
Claims have been circulating on social media that women are more likely than men to die in car accidents because vehicle safety tests have historically been based primarily on male physiology.
But are women's anatomical characteristics adequately considered in vehicle safety testing? What do scientific studies reveal about this issue?
Factchecker.uz investigated the claim.
On February 12, 2024, the scientific journal PLOS ONE published a study titled “Female vs. male relative fatality risk in fatal motor vehicle crashes in the US, 1975–2020”, authored by Mitchell Z. Abrams and Cameron R. Bass.
The study analyzed fatal motor vehicle crashes in the United States between 1975 and 2020. The researchers considered several factors, including passengers' age, seating position, vehicle type, seat belt use, and airbag deployment.
According to the findings, women aged 20–40 faced an approximately 20% higher risk of dying in fatal crashes than men under comparable conditions.
In particular, the estimated relative fatality risk for 25-year-old female occupants in passenger vehicle crashes was 20.1% higher than that of their male counterparts over the 1975–2020 period. Between 2010 and 2020, this difference was 11.7%.
It is important to clarify that the 11.7% figure should not be interpreted as applying exclusively to female drivers. This finding was based on comparisons involving both drivers and front-seat passengers.
Were men the primary standard in vehicle safety testing?
The study's authors note that average-sized male crash test dummies have historically served as the primary models in vehicle safety assessments.
Specialized crash test dummies are used in vehicle collision tests to measure the forces exerted on the human body and assess the likelihood of potential injuries.
In the United States, safety testing uses a 50th-percentile male dummy and a 5th-percentile small female dummy. However, a dummy representing the anatomical characteristics of an average-sized woman is not currently included in the country's mandatory frontal crash test requirements.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the following female crash test dummy models are used:
Hybrid III — a small-stature female dummy approximately 150 cm tall and weighing 49 kg.
SID-IIsD — a small-stature female dummy approximately 150 cm tall and weighing 44 kg.
These dummies are used in different types of crash tests. Therefore, the claim that female crash test dummies do not exist is incorrect. The issue is that the testing process does not fully account for the different body structures and anatomical characteristics of women.
Do anatomical differences affect the risk of injury?
Differences between male and female bodies, including height, weight, body proportions, and other anatomical characteristics, may influence the types of injuries sustained during a collision.
Previous scientific studies have also indicated that women may be more susceptible to certain types of injuries, including injuries to the lower extremities.
However, the study by Abrams and Bass does not attribute the difference in fatality risk between women and men solely to biological or anatomical differences. The researchers found that women's higher risk persisted in certain age groups even after accounting for several relevant factors.
Further scientific research is therefore needed to identify all the causes behind this disparity.
The scientific sources reviewed indicate that women in certain age groups face a higher risk of dying in fatal crashes than men. The absence of an average-sized female crash test dummy from mandatory crash testing requirements is also an important issue.
However, there is insufficient scientific evidence to conclude that the higher fatality risk among women is caused specifically by vehicle safety tests based on male physiology. Other factors, including vehicle design, human anatomy, safety systems, and additional variables, must also be considered.
Factchecker.uz verdict: MOSTLY TRUE.
Scientific research confirms that women in certain age groups face a higher risk of dying in fatal crashes. There are also shortcomings in how women's anatomical characteristics are represented in vehicle safety testing. However, it has not been established that male-based safety testing is the sole cause of this increased risk.
Shirmonoy Ikromova
