Relationship between Vehicle Safety Ratings and Drivers’ Injury Severity in the Context of Gender Disparity
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15499196 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Wen Fu (0000-0002-2783-8060, Central South University), Jaeyoung Lee (0000-0003-1211-688X, University of Central Florida, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 19 |
| Issue | 10 |
| Pages | 5885-5885 |
| Publication date | 2022-05-12 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1661-7827 • E-ISSN: 1660-4601 |
| Publisher | Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (PUBLISHER • CH) |
| DOI | 10.3390/ijerph19105885 |
| PMID | 35627421 |
| OpenAlex | W4280592672 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 41 |
Previous studies have analyzed the relationship between vehicle safety ratings from impact tests and actual crash injury severity. Nevertheless, no study has investigated the relationship in the context of gender disparity. The main objective of this paper is to explore the validity of the 5-star ratings of the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which describes vehicles' protectiveness, using actual traffic crash data by gender. Random parameter models are developed using 2015-2020 two-vehicle crash data from Maryland, United States. According to the data, over 90% of vehicles have 4-5 stars in overall, front-impact, and side-impact 5-star ratings. After controlling other factors, it is shown that woman drivers are more likely to be seriously injured in two-vehicle crashes than men drivers when using vehicles with the same 5-star safety ratings. Moreover, there is significant individual heterogeneity in the effect of vehicles with different 5-star safety ratings on driver injury severity. Using vehicles with more stars can reduce the risk of being seriously injured for most man drivers. However, the probability of woman drivers being seriously injured is reduced by approximately 5% on average by using vehicles with higher star ratings in the overall and front-impact 5-star rating, and individual heterogeneity shows a difference of nearly 50% in positive and negative effects. The overall and front-impact 5-star ratings of vehicles could not provide reasonable information as the safety performance of vehicles in traffic crashes for woman drivers. On the other hand, drivers' residence, driving characteristics, crash types, and environmental characteristics are significantly associated with the injury severity. It is expected that the results from this study will contribute to guide a better vehicle safety design for both men and women
Context (archaeology · Environmental health · Geography · Injury prevention · Medical emergency · Occupational safety and health · Poison control · Suicide prevention · Applied Psychology · Human Factors and Ergonomics · Injury Epidemiology and Prevention · Medicine · Psychology · Traffic and Road Safety · Urban Transport and Accessibility
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |