The Sexist (and Upsetting) Reason Women Are More Severely Injured in Car Accidents Than Men

Losing a loved one in a motor accident is one of the most traumatic events that a person can experience; you'd imagine that car manufacturers seek to protect drivers and passengers with the utmost care. Yet certain details about automotive development reveal a historic gender imbalance in safety features, putting more women at risk for crash-related injuries or death.

After journalist Laurel Raymond recently tweeted an Atlantic article excerpt highlighting the history of sexist automotive safety standards, many were outraged.

The excerpt, which says that historically, "cars were not tested to be safe for female bodies," is unfortunately quite true — it's also try that this is partly why the number of women injured or killed in car crashes is so disproportionately high compared to men.

For over 60 years (dating back before WWII), car manufacturers only used male crash test dummies when developing vehicles, assuming that male physical features were representative of all passengers when it came to safety. Of course, this is far from the truth; women have different bone density, are generally smaller in stature, and have a different muscular makeup than their male counterparts. But it wasn't until 2003 that the use of female crash test dummies became widespread enough to impact the automotive industry in any real way. And it wasn't until 2011 that the use of female dummies was required by federal law.

When asked about this disparity in thinking, an injury prevention director at San Diego State University cited closed-mindedness. "Manufacturers and designers used to all be men," Dr. David Lawrence told ABC News. "It didn't occur to them they should be designing for people unlike themselves."

Thanks in part to this oversight by vehicle designers, the risk for women in car accidents is much greater than for men in similar incidents. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the fatality risk for women in car accidents is 13.4 percent higher than men involved in a crash while driving the same vehicle.

The Insurance Institute For Highway Safety echoes this finding, stating that while men are more likely to be involved in accidents due to their risky driving habits and higher average mileage, "females are more likely than males to be killed or injured in crashes of equal severity."

These days, car manufacturers test their vehicles on a variety of dummies, including female and child-size passenger proxies. But the fact that it took until 2011 for this to become the norm is deeply unsettling, and points to a disturbing trend in manufacturing: industries are skimping on safety standards for consumers. For example, the exclusion of female subjects from clinical trials is having an adverse affect on women's health, proving that the victims of industry sexism are, time and again, women.

What will it take to make a change?