Women are 73% more likely to suffer fatal injuries in car accidents as test dummies replicate the male body

WOMEN drivers are more likely to suffer fatal injuries in an accident as crash test dummies replicate the male body.

Experts are now calling on the auto industry to conduct safety checks with dummies the average size of a female driver.

A recent investigation by the University of Virginia revealed women are 73 per cent more likely to be seriously injured in a head-on crash than men even if they are wearing a seat belt.

Shockingly, 17 per cent of female drivers are more likely to be killed in a crash crash than a male occupant of the same age.

As a part of the study, more than 22,000 front-end crashes were analysed in the United States between 1998 and 2015.

And even though men more are likely to speed or drink drive when behind the wheel, it found women were more vulnerable during a crash.

Crash test dummies were first introduced in the 1950s as a way of finding out the effects an accident would have on a driver.

The standard crash test dummy currently used in the US is five feet nine inches tall (175cm), while the average height of a woman is five feet four inches tall (162cm).

Within the EU, there is one regulation which requires tests to include a fifth-percentile female dummy.

But unfortunately this dummy is only tested in the front passenger seat, meaning there is no data about the effects of a crash on female drivers.

Earlier this year, Euro NCAP admitted that it “sometimes” they use scaled-down male dummies which do not represent the female build.

Emily Thomas, automotive safety engineer at Consumer Reports Auto Test Centre, said: “The reality of progress in automotive safety is that it heavily relies on regulation.

“Unless the federal motor vehicle safety standards require dynamic crash testing with average-sized female crash dummies in multiple seating positions, driver side included, the dummy industry and automakers won’t make that leap themselves.

“Vehicle restraint systems, like seat belts and airbags, are intended to limit motion and that transfer of energy.

“But to do that effectively across a range of body types, carmakers and crash testers need to consider not just the size of different occupants but also the material properties of their bodies.”

Neil Greig, director of policy and research at IAM RoadSmart, said: “Crash test dummies have indeed historically been based on a standard male driver.

“This means that not only is the impact on the female body been under-researched but older and younger drivers as well.

“This is changing with new dummies coming on stream that replicate fragile elderly drivers, females, the obese and children.

“The lack of a wider range of dummies does have important implications, for example older drivers can be injured by the force of an airbag going off which was designed for a fit younger person.

“Better dummies should lead to more intelligent airbags and seatbelts that sense the size and risk for everyone in a car.”