Whiplash claim news
23/05/2008

Women more prone to whiplash injury, says Swedish study

Swedish researchers into whiplash injury have discovered that women are three times as likely as men to suffer this form of personal injury if a car runs into them from behind.

The team studied 200 drivers and the positions they sit in while driving, and compared these results with information obtained from insurance companies about 400 car accidents, to reach these conclusions.

The reason given for the increased risk of a hyperflexion neck injury in female drivers is that they are more likely to sit in a pronounced upright position, and position the seat so that they are higher and nearer the steering wheel.

They also discovered that an occupant of the driver's seat is more likely to suffer whiplash than someone in the front passenger seat.

The research team therefore called for better collision safety systems to protect in the event of a car crash, and for car crash test dummies that represent the female population's habits and propensity to whiplash injury in safety tests.