Road User Safety Women's Issues

摘要

Summary and Research NeedsAn overview of vehicle crash trends and patterns in the United States shows that currently the rates of driver licensing of men and women are about equal. Among drivers over age 70, the number of women licensed to drive exceeds that of men. Overall, women drive fewermiles than men. The number of people killed in vehicle-related crashes and the per capita rate of these deaths is much lower for women than for men. When exposure in terms of VMT is considered, women's and men's fatal crash involvements follow the same U-shaped age pattern, that is, high for young ages, lowest through the middle ages, and increasing again starting at about age 65. Overall, the fatal involvement rate for women is lower than for men. However, in some years, the rate for women exceeded that for men in a few of the older age categories. This may be just a spurious effect or part of a new trend as the gender mix of the older driving population changes.Women engage in less risky driving behaviors than men. Women are less likely to drive under the influence of alcohol, speed, or tailgate. They are more likely to use safety belts. However, early evidence from observation surveys of mobile phone use indicates that women are more likely than men to use a hand-held mobile phone while driving. Again, this is a trend that needs to be monitored.Women are more vulnerable in crashes than men and more likely to die in crashes of equal force. The patterns of injuries sustained by women in vehicle crashes are also different from those sustained by men in the same type of crash. Vehicle crashworthiness and occupant protection systems are increasingly considering the differences between men and women in their designs. However, much is still unknown and further research is still needed.More research is needed on occupant protection. More accurate computational models and more accurate crash test dummies that represent women of all ages are needed. There is a particular need to better understand the effects of vehicle protection systems on the pregnant woman and her fetus. There is also a need for better modeling of the conditions of older women drivers, such as osteoporosis.Another area of needed research is that of driving behaviors with regard to the new technologies that are being introduced, including various in-vehicle assistance systems and communications devices. There is a need to understand how these devices affect driving performance and safety, whether women are using them differently than men, and their implications for driving safety. Naturalistic driving studies offer promising and exciting approaches to this research question.While much of the research on crashworthiness and the design of occupant protection systems for women can be applied universally, research on the behavioral aspects of vehicle use might be more culturally specific. Good, consistent, and reliable data on crashes, travel, and behavior are not readily available in the developing world, nor is the collection of such data a priority. In the United States and in other developed countries, however,there are opportunities to study immigrant communities and to identify patterns of vehicle use and behavior that could contribute to the understanding of women's safety issues in societies undergoing motorization.