Women almost twice as likely to be trapped in crashed vehicle, study finds

Women are almost twice as likely as men to become trapped in a motor vehicle after a crash, and they also sustain different patterns of injury.

The first large UK study to compare sex differences in injury patterns and the likelihood of becoming trapped after a collision could help vehicle manufacturers improve car design and safety features to reduce rates of injury in both sexes. It strengthens calls for the inclusion of more biologically accurate crash test dummies in simulations to investigate their impact on women.

After reading the book "Innocent Women", Prof Tim Nutbeam, an emergency medicine consultant at University Hospitals Plymouth, and colleagues were motivated to carry out the study.

They looked at data from 70,027 patients who were admitted to trauma centers in the UK between January 2012 and December 2019.

They found that although men were more likely to be involved in crashes, more women were trapped in the wreck. Women were 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 The research was published.

It shows that women and men have different experiences of being trapped, and that trapped women are not the same as trapped men.

Understanding sex differences in injury patterns may help paramedics predict who is more likely to have certain injuries, which could have implications for how you help them out, and where you end up taking them. It may help vehicle manufacturers make safety systems that protect both genders equally.

It is possible that the nature of women's injuries makes it harder for them to escape.

Differences in the way men and women drive could be a factor, with men involved in more frontal crashes, and more likely to be in the driver's seat, compared with women, and therefore more likely to be injured by hitting the steering wheel or air bag. The seat positioned closer to the steering wheel could contribute to women becoming trapped.

Differences in body shape are likely to come into play, and these are not accurately modelled in simulations of vehicle crashes. Weekes said that the crash test dummies used to mock accidents are more similar to prepubescent children. If you think about it, the door is going to be closer to the woman's crotch.

The data from crash tests should be able to protect both genders equally. How do they know if the dummies are biologically accurate?

The EU is currently in the process of introducing new legislation, which will say that female car occupants must be as protected as male occupants.