null Summer is the most dangerous time to drive: 5 deaths per day and a 20% higher mortality rate Duplicate 1
12/07/2022
Women have a 17% higher risk of death and are twice as likely to suffer a brain injury in a car accident
- Female drivers are 17% more likely to die and twice as likely to suffer serious brain injury. They are also almost 50% more likely to fracture their skull.
- Many women are forced to get too close to the steering wheel as they cannot reach the pedals properly. This greatly increases the likelihood of serious injuries to the chest, face and neck if the airbag is activated.
- Seat-belt design fosters the "submarining" effect for female drivers: slippage in the seat that can cause significant internal injuries due to the pressure of the lower band on the stomach. Seat belts also do not take into account the female chest or adequately protect women's shoulders.
- The female body was not traditionally taken into account in crash tests, as the dummies most commonly used in these tests are two male prototypes from the 50th and 95th percentile, with just one female prototype from the 5th percentile, which is merely an adaptation of the male body.
- There are several possible reasons for this: there are more male drivers, they drive more, they generally make the decision to buy the car, and they have worse accident rates. 90% of those killed in traffic accidents in Spain in the last decade, and 85% of those seriously injured, were men.
- 77% of Spanish motorists believe there is still a lot of prejudice against women drivers. This prejudice is strongest in Extremadura, Valencia and Castilla La Mancha, and weakest in La Rioja, Madrid and the Murcia region.