Young women are more likely to die in a car accident than men, but the roles reverse later in life, according to The Detroit News.
For women 21 to 30 the chance of dying in a car crash is 25.9 percent higher than young males, according to a report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that analyzed 50 years worth of vehicle crash data.
Younger females are more at risk because they're usually smaller than men at that age, and are typically weaker and less likely to survive a high-impact crash. If a woman is not wearing a seat belt she's more likely to be ejected from the car.
According to the NHTSA, women are susceptible to abdominal and neck injuries. They also are at a high risk for arm injuries and especially leg fractures.
The gap gets less drastic in older age, the study reported that by the time woman are between 65 and 74 they are actually at a 1.4 percent lower risk of dying than men their own age, though they are still 11.4 percent more likely to die than the general population.
"Young adult females are more fragile than males of the same age, but later in life women are less frail than their male contemporaries," the study said, according to USA Today "[The difference] may reflect that elderly female drivers may be exceptionally healthy for their age group."
Automakers may be able to reduce the number of fatalities in older people. Seat belts in the backseat, where the elderly are more likely to sit, have proven to be less effective. Side airbags on the other hand could act as an important safety function.
According to the NHTSA, side airbags may even be more effective at protecting female passengers than males, which, "may have contributed to shrinking the historical risk for females relative to males of the same age."
The chance of dying in a car crash has fallen by 42 percent since 1955 because of modern safety features such as airbags and seat belts.
