The impact of sex on motor vehicle crash injury outcomes

Abstract

Female and male drivers have different size proportions and anthropometry. However, in the United States and throughout the world, male crash dummies are the norm in vehicle testing and female crash dummies with representative anthropometric characteristics has not yet been used in testing to date. Given this discrepancy, female driver safety is not considered at the same level as male driver safety in the vehicle design and testing process. This research investigates the gap in literature of injury locations experienced by female and male drivers in comparable crashes using a newly created linked dataset of crash and emergency medical services (EMS) data in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Generalized linear regression and k-fold cross validation of over 26,000 unique crash cases were analyzed using explanatory and predictive methods. These analyses revealed that female drivers are more likely to experience their primary anatomic injury as an abdomen, chest, lower extremity, and upper extremity injury than male drivers. The results of this research can be used by researchers, vehicle designers, and policymakers to act upon these differences in injury outcomes and consider them in the development of a safe environment for all roadway users.