Women at greater risk in crashes

March 2021

Women are much more likely than men to suffer a serious injury when they are involved in a crash, according to new research carried out by the US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

Researchers found much of the heightened risk is related to the types of vehicles women drive and the circumstances of their crashes, rather than physical differences.

Though men are involved in more fatal crashes than women, on a per-crash basis women are 20-28 percent more likely than men to be killed and 37-73 percent more likely to be seriously injured after adjusting for speed and other factors.

The researchers analysed the injuries of men and women in police-reported front and side crashes from 1998-2015.

In front crashes, they found women were three times as likely to experience a moderate injury such as a broken bone or concussion and twice as likely to suffer a serious one like a collapsed lung or traumatic brain injury.

One explanation of the higher injury rates for women could be vehicle choice. Men and women crashed in MPVs and SUVs in about equal proportions. However, around 70 percent of women crashed in cars.

Within vehicle classes, men tended to crash in heavier vehicles, which offer more protection for their occupants in collisions.

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