Age Dependence of Female to Male Fatality Risk in the Same Crash: An Independent Reexamination

A 1988 study reported that females are more likely than males to be killed by the same physical insult. This was determined by analyzing 1975–1983 data. The present study revisits this question using 123,678 fatalities from 1984–1996 data. As none of these data contributed to the earlier study, the present investigation is therefore independent of the earlier one. Female to male fatality risk ratios are calculated for 14 categories of vehicle occupants, including six light truck occupants (belted and unbelted drivers and right front passengers, and unbelted left and right rear passengers). The earlier study did not include light trucks. Close agreement is found between the results of the present and prior studies, thus solidifying the interpretation that findings are of a general nature and not dependent on specific data sets. Except at ages less than about 10 years, or older than about 55, females are more likely to be killed than males. While obtained using traffic data, the results are interpreted to reflect fundamental differences in human physiological response to blunt trauma in general, and are expected to apply to blunt trauma from falls, being struck by objects, etc.