New Cars Are Safer, But Women Most Likely to Suffer Injury

(Click on the image for the July 2019 UV study)

• "Cars built in the last decade have been shown to be safer than older models, including in the most common types of crashes – frontal collisions. However, a new study conducted by researchers at the University of Virginia’s Center for Applied Biomechanics shows that women wearing seat belts are significantly more likely to suffer injury than their male counterparts."
• "Belted female auto occupants have 73% greater odds of being seriously injured in frontal car crashes compared to belted males (after controlling for collision severity, occupant age, stature, body mass index and vehicle model year). The difference in risk is greatest for injury to the lower extremities, but also occurs with several other types of injury."

Also from UV: Preparing for an Autonomous Future:

• The advent of autonomous vehicles is about to create another vulnerable population: passengers who recline in their seats.
• “Once cars are in a form of autopilot, we can expect that the occupants will spend their time reading, playing video games and even sleeping – and that means that some will recline their seats,” Kerrigan said. This is not an encouraging prospect.
• Kerrigan and his colleagues have looked at field data from accidents where front seat passengers have been reclining, and the consequences, he said, are “horrific.”