It’s clear that women have historically suffered unfair disadvantage in many areas of life and still do today. Yet one area you might not have realized they were at a major disadvantage is in car safety. A 2019 study found that a woman’s odds of being seriously injured in a frontal crash while wearing a seat belt were 73% higher than those of a man wearing a seat belt.
The reason for this huge discrepancy comes down to car testing, more specifically, the crash test dummies used to test car safety. The dummies are designed around the body of a man, not a woman. Even when women-specific tests were introduced, they were still based on the body of a man because the dummy used was just a scaled-down male one.
A long overdue change
Some politicians and safety campaigners have been pushing for a woman-specific model to be developed and used for years, but for whatever reason, it was not prioritized. The Department of Transport recently announced it had a design for a female dummy, so hopefully it can be produced and put into use soon to understand more about why female car users are at such a disadvantage and to do something about it.
In the meantime, it is important to remember that seat belts save lives and prevent injuries and to ensure that everyone in your vehicle wears one. Accidents can happen to even the most careful of drivers as road safety comes down to multiple factors, including the actions of other drivers. Anyone left injured by a crash may need legal guidance to learn how best to claim compensation.