Gina Arnold from Michigan was caught in a car crash and got injured. It wasn't a normal thing we would think she would get injured from, it was from her seat belt. In the article “Woman's Abdomen Is Nearly Cut in Half by Seat Belt That Saved Her Life in Horrific Car Crash'' by IE Staff in August of 2019, it shared with us that Gina said the seatbelt cut deep into her abdomen when she lost control of the car and flipped seven times before hitting a tree. Two years later, Arnold still does not have abdominal muscles because of her seat belt digging into her. Seat Belts were only tested on male dummies and made for their bodies. They were not made for women, so women are getting injured and killed more easily. I will be sharing my opinion on this and will talk about when and how seat belts were invented and created, how women are at a higher risk of getting injured, and the solution we could have to fix this and make it safer for everyone.  

Seat belts were first discovered in the 1800s by a man named George Cayley, according to the article “A History of Seat Belts” by Defensive Driving in September of 2016. Seat belts were originally designed to keep pilots inside their gliders. In 1966 people decided that vehicles were required to have seat belts.  On August 1, 1986, it became a law to wear seat belts. However, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the FHWA show that males are more likely to drive more miles than females, and to be at a higher risk of doing unsafe things like speeding, receiving a DWI, and not wearing a seat belt. Therefore, seat belts were only designed for male humans back in the 1900s. Joan Claybrook said, “It was just that men were in the workplace, and they were more likely to be in car crashes.” The testers used a 5th percentile dummy for the very little test they did on females. That is not close to being safe in any way possible.  Getting to know the basics about how and why seat belts were invented is something that is good to know, but also knowing how unsafe it is should also be included.

With that being said in the first paragraph, women are way more likely to be injured in accidents when wearing their seatbelts. The article “The Crash Test Bias: How Male-Focused Testing Puts Female Drivers at Risk'' by Keith Barry in October of 2019, says that 73 percent of women have a bigger chance to be injured and around 17 percent more likely to be killed than men. Seat belts are made to keep everyone safe, but it's almost as if the creators forgot that women's bodies are a lot more different. Women are made with curves in the chest and even in the waist. From that, the seatbelt is not proper for us women like it is for men. Each body part of the female body has a 20 percent or higher chance of getting injured. Women’s legs have the highest chance with 79.7% followed by our arms at 58.2%. Our most important body parts being our neck, chest, and head have an average of 42.1 percent of getting injured if someone was to get in an accident. The article Men vs. Women: Our Key Physical Differences Explained by Natalie Wolchover in September of 2011 explains how many people know the differences between women and men, but men tend to have more muscle mass, bone mass, and a lower percentage of body fat because of their metabolism.

For each of us knowing that women's and men's bodies are very different, we should figure out a way to make it safe for both. A lot of us would think this would have started to make a change earlier on and someone would have done something about the inequality it brings, but it still seems to not be progressing. Automakers like Volvo and Toyota, are trying their best to up their game with their testing and what dummies they are using. CR Friedman said, “But better testing has—and will—drive big changes on occupant protection across the industry.” Chalmers University’s Astrid Linder estimated that they could be doing tests with the average female in 2030, but thought it would take about 5 years to actually make the protocol. “And the industry will take action and society will take action,” Astrid says, “But the starting point is those decisions made by regulatory bodies.” People have been starting to realize there needs to be a fix to this. They want everyone safe without a doubt, but it needs to start as soon as possible. Trying to come up with a way to be able to test using female dummies so it's safe for about every female body whether smaller than average or bigger than average.

As stated in my previous paragraphs, seat belts were tested only on male dummies and not female dummies, so women are at a higher risk of being injured or killed. I have shared about when and how they were made and created, how women are getting injured easier, and the solution for this problem. If only we could have hoped seat belts made for women were a recent creation and a big focus when Gina got into her car accident, would she have been injured as much? I know we can’t stop most accidents from happening, but we can stop how seatbelts are only made for men. Let's make a change in society and figure out a solution for this problem.