Car dummies change sex - 28th November 2022

Engineers from Sweden have created a crash test dummy based on female bodies, to improve safety of women drivers and passengers on the roads.

The majority of crash test dummies originated in the 1970s in the US. Engineers built dummies with the aim of saving lives during road accidents, but their initial design was based on the body measurements of the average American male.

Dr Astrid Linder heads traffic safety at the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute in Linköping. She says statistics on "low severity" crashes show that "females are at higher risk". US government data suggests that the risk of suffering from a neck injury such as whiplash, is three times greater in women.

The Swedish team set out to produce a more realistic dummy for the average female. Currently, companies sometimes use a dummy which is outdated as it weighs just 49 kilograms and is only 1.50 metres in height. These sizes corresponded to the smallest 5% of American women in the 1970s, but nowadays match the average measurements of a 12 year old girl in the US.

Dr Linder's team of engineers use a dummy that is 1.62 metres tall and 62 kilograms in weight. The institute then puts the dummies through a series of crash tests. Sensors are positioned on the models' bodies, including their necks and spines. The resulting information can then be used to improve protection measures in vehicles.

The director expressed her optimism that the whole population could be included in safety assessment in the future. Presently, it's compulsory for car manufacturers across the world to test crashes using just male dummies, but there's evidence that changes are underway. The UN is currently looking at its regulations on crash testing and engineers are also developing a range of dummies, such as for babies and the elderly.