The severity of traffic accidents and the injuries suffered in them are different depending on the sex of the person driving and the passengers.

A study by ibs.GRANADA, the UGR and the EASP has analyzed the characteristics of the driver and passengers of the 171.230 passenger cars involved in traffic accidents in Spain between 2014 and 2020.

 The fact of being a man or woman influences the severity of traffic accidents and the injuries suffered by the people involved in them. This issue has already been previously studied by other researchers, but the results are not consistent between the different studies. Although in general most authors have reported that the risk of dying or suffering a serious injury after a traffic accident is greater in men than in women, some researchers have observed that, in accidents with similar characteristics, it is women who They are at increased risk of serious injury or hospitalization. A UGR study reveals that, statistically, the risk of death or serious injury among passengers is lower when the sex of the driver is female. On the other hand, the analysis reveals that the risk of death or serious injury is greater in female occupants.

The study data has been published in the journal Heliyon, open access magazine, in its July 30 edition. The research was carried out by Pablo Lardelli-Claret, Eladio Jiménez-Mejías, Mario Rivera Izquierdo and Virginia Martínez Ruiz, from the research group E14-Preventive Medicine and Public Health from ibs.GRANADA, all members of the Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health of the University of Granada (UGR)–, as well as Nicolás Francisco Fernández-Martínez and Luis Miguel Martín de los Reyes, researchers of the group A17-Epidemiology, Prevention and Control of Cancer from ibs.GRANADA and belonging to the Andalusian School of Public Health (EASP). Its objective is to try to clarify the association between the sex of the driver and the passengers of the vehicle with the severity of injuries suffered in traffic accidents. To this end, the characteristics of the occupants (driver and passengers) of the 171.230 passenger cars involved in traffic accidents in Spain between 2014 and 2020 have been studied, included in the National Registry of Traffic Accident Victims provided by the General Directorate of Traffic. Based on these data, two different studies have been designed. In the first, the influence of the driver's sex on the death or serious injuries of his passengers has been evaluated. In the second, on the other hand, the association between the sex of the occupants of the same vehicle and their risk of dying or suffering serious injuries after the accident has been studied.

In the first study it was concluded that, when the sex of the driver is female, the risk of death or serious injury among passengers is 28% lower than when the driver is male. These results suggest that most of this lower risk could be explained by safer driving by women, although some could also be due to the fact that women drive preferentially in environments where, if an accident occurs, its severity is lower. minor. This is the case of urban areas facing highways. Thus, these results would support the opinion, already raised by other authors, that it would be desirable to try to “feminize” driving. That is, men acquired driving styles that until now were more typical of the female gender.

However, analysis of data from the second study, which compares people occupying the same crashed vehicle, reveals that the risk of death or serious injury is 20% higher in female occupants. Since the study took into account the position of the passengers and whether or not they were wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident, this result could be attributed to biological and body size differences, which would make women more vulnerable. to the effect of the energy released in the accident.