It has been decades since the report of women drivers being killed or injured in a crash was out in a magazine. Why haven’t any safety regulations been made?
When any crash test gets performed, it is with a test dummy. How can someone imagine a crash facing model to be expressionless, also driving at the speed of 40? The expression on the face of a real driver hurrying towards a hurdle with 40 mph should be too watchful. But despite all these, the dummy test is done for a five-star rating under the government or insurance companies. And here, the test dummies represent a man expressly. And it doesn’t cover all the aspects of humanity.
Despite a lot of women driving to the work, road trips or with friends, we cannot get test dummy for cars which represent a woman! Even though their bodies react differently to situations like an accident than male organs. This absence of regulation has led to a series of four decades with cars given a worth safety feature with deadly consequences.
The present report scenario presents us with data pointing to the fact that female drivers and the right front passengers are 17 per cent more to be likely killed, than the male occupants. This too is for the same age drivers. Also, the chances are 73 per cent greater for women in case of a front-driver wearing a seat belt than the males and considering the same severity of the crash and same kind of injury.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there have been more male deaths in America due to cars crash. This raw data mask the fact that female are at a higher risk of death or injury in an accident. According to the FHWA, male drive more miles and may indulge in inappropriate behaviours like drinking alcohol or speeding, and not wearing seat belts. This leads to more number of deaths.
Thus, it suggests an urgent need for safety regulations to get introduced while testing for the automakers. Regulators had asked for a female dummy in 1980, and a group of automakers petitioned in 1996. But it was not until 2003 NHTSA put one in the car. And that too, the dummy sits for side impacts or back and doesn’t drive. Serious issue to look at!!