Study Links Young Drivers' Gender to Type of Crash, Injury and Severity

Researchers at the Kansas State University found that gender is linked to the type of severe or fatal crash a young driver will be involved in.

The study, led by professor of civil engineering Sunanda Dissanayake and doctoral student in civil engineering Niranga Amarasingha, was based on the evaluation of information collected from the state transportation department's crash database that included 150 variables about motor vehicle crashes in Kansas. They looked at data from 2007 to 2011 that involved drivers aged between 16-24 years.

The researchers focused on the gender differences as well as similarities of young drivers who were involved in motor vehicle crashes in Kansas. They believe that this finding might help lower the rate and severity of crashes by improving the educational material used in the young driver education courses.

"Age is one of the most important factors of highway safety, and crash data shows that young drivers and older drivers are involved in more crashes than any other age group," said Dissanayake. "For young drivers, this is especially concerning because people in this age group have their whole lives ahead of them and these crashes are frequently severe or fatal."

They identified various differences between the type of crashes young men and women were involved in. They noticed that when compared to males, young females were 68 percent times more likely to wear seat belts. Females were 28 percent more likely to drive on restricted license. When it comes to crashes at intersections and collisions with pedestrians, young females topped the list. 

Males were more likely to have a crash after sunset. Also, young females were involved in crashes during weekdays unlike young men who were involved in crashes during the weekend. When it came to off-road crashes, young male drivers beat young females.

This finding clearly highlights the presence of gender differences in the safety measures taken by young drivers. The researchers hope that this will help in developing education material that aims at young drivers and each gender.

"There are often different risk factors for young male and young female drivers because their behavior and attitude are generally different," Dissanayake said. "This may help explain why one gender is more likely to be involved in a certain type of crash. For example, young males may have more off-road crashes because this crash type is more frequently involved with speeding on rural roads -- a driving habit exhibited more by young males than young females."

The finding is documented in the Journal of Safety Research.