Georgia Injury Law Blog
New research provides yet more evidence that the bodies of women and men react differently to car accidents. According to a new study, women who have been involved in a car accident are more likely to suffer from shock after the crash.
Several studies in the past have established the different ways in which male and female bodies respond to the trauma of a car accident. Overall, while men are more likely to be involved in auto accidents, women are much more likely to suffer personal injuries in a car accident, with the rate being approximately 73% higher than for males. They are also much more likely to suffer fatal injuries in an accident. Women are much more likely to suffer certain types of injuries compared to men in auto accidents. For instance, they are much more likely to suffer from lower body injuries or leg injuries compared to men.
A new study finds that women are also much more likely to go into shock after a car accident even when their personal injuries are not as severe compared to men. The study focused on 56,000 victims of car accidents, approximately 50% of whom were women. The researchers found that even when their injuries were less severe or fewer than that of males in an accident, women were more likely to suffer symptoms of shock. While healthy adults have a shock index of between 0.5 and 0.7, the women injured in car accidents in the study displayed a shock index of greater than 1.0. A person with a shock index of 1.0 is at risk of symptoms of hemorrhagic shock including a drastic and rapid fall in blood pressure, body temperature and heartbeat, often resulting in death.
The researchers believe that this difference between male and female injuries in auto accidents could be due to a lower capacity to handle blood loss compared to male bodies. Other possible reasons include lowered physiological function in a woman’s body after significant blood loss.
The difference in male and female bodies’ reactions to injuries in a car accident must be reflected in the kind of safety equipment with which modern automobiles are equipped. Unfortunately, virtually all safety testing currently focuses on the reaction of male bodies to injuries in car accidents, neglecting the much higher impact of trauma on female bodies.
The Atlanta car accident lawyers at Katz Personal Injury Lawyers are dedicated to the representation of persons who have suffered injuries in car accidents in the metro Atlanta region and across the state of Georgia. If you or a loved one have suffered injuries in a car accident, talk to an attorney at our firm and discuss your legal options for a claim for damages. You may qualify for compensation that includes medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering and other types of damages. Talk to a lawyer at our firm and discuss your case. Initial consultations are free