This study assessed:​ (i) how the magnitude and direction of principal strains vary for different sideways fall loading directions;​ (ii) how the principal strains for a sideways fall differ from physiological loading directions;​ (iii) the fracture mechanism during a sideways fall. Eleven human femurs were instrumented with 16 triaxial strain gauges each. The femurs were non-destructively subjected to:​ (a) six loading configurations covering the range of physiological loading directions;​ (b) 12 configurations simulating sideways falls. The femurs were eventually fractured in a sideways fall configuration while high-speed cameras recorded the event. When the same force magnitude was applied, strains were significantly larger in a sideways fall than for physiological loading directions (principal compressive strain was 70% larger in a sideways fall). Also the compressive-to-tensile strain ratio was different:​ for physiological loading the largest compressive strain was only 30% larger than the largest tensile strain;​ but for the sideways fall, compressive strains were twice as large as the tensile strains. Principal strains during a sideways fall were nearly perpendicular to the direction of principal strains for physiological loading. In the most critical regions (medial part of the head−neck) the direction of principal strain varied by less than 9° between the different physiological loading conditions, whereas it varied by up to 17° between the sideways fall loading conditions. This was associated with a specific fracture mechanism during sideways fall, where failure initiated on the superior-lateral side (compression) followed by later failure of the medially (tension), often exhibiting a two-peak force−displacement curve.