The price of car insurance for women may be calculated differently if the UK motor insurance industry takes into account a new car accident study from the US.
Researchers from Purdue University have been looking at the injuries that are sustained in car accidents and how these are affected by occupants' age and gender.
They hope that the results from the study can be used to improve the design of cars and roads and reduce the number of injuries suffered each year. However, their conclusions may also have an impact on the cost of car insurance for women of those ages who are found to be statistically more likely or less likely to be seriously injured.
Findings of the research include that roll over accidents are a great deal more likely to result in death for older women than young women and a failure to wear a seatbelt also resulted in a greater likelihood of injury to older women than young or middle-aged ladies in an accident.
Young women, on the other hand, are much more at risk of death from an accident in rural surroundings than the other female age groups.
Fred Mannering, of Purdue University, said: "We can only speculate as to why these differences exist. Possibilities include differences in reaction time and physical differences relating to height, weight and body structure and vehicle design attributes that affect drivers differently.
"Another possibility is that vehicle safety systems, such as safety belts and airbags, may be more effective for some age and gender categories than for others."