Further evidence that bone mineral density and soft tissues influence pelvic fracture in older women during lateral impact

Pelvic fractures occur commonly in side impact automotive crashes (Gokcen et al., 1994). Women are more frequently injured (Lewis et al., 1996), leading automotive researchers to re-focus on women’s safety in side impacts. There is, however, a paucity of biomechanical data for the human female pelvis with the currently accepted fracture tolerance of 4.26 kN based upon extrapolations from impacts on male and female cadavers (Cesari & Ramet, 1982).