Crash course in increasing women’s safety

A team of Swedish engineers have developed the first crash test dummy designed on the real average body of a woman.

Credit: NBC News.

By: Derry Salter

Crash test dummies have been used to determine the safety of a car since the 1970s. It estimates the effectiveness of seatbelts, airbags and other safety features. However, safety is only ensured for men as a majority of crash test dummies are based on the average male build and weight.

Women make up more than half of the population and half of all drivers, they are also more prone to injury in accidents. A woman is three times more likely to suffer whiplash injuries in rear car collisions than a man, according to data from the US government. Whiplash is not always fatal, but when it is, it can lead to permanent disabilities. Women who are even wearing seatbelts in a collision are 47% more likely to be injured than their male counterparts. Scarily, women are 17% more likely to die in crashes too.

When a crash test dummy is ‘female’ it is simply a scaled-down version of a male dummy. It is roughly the size of a 12-year-old girl and is 4ft8 and weighs 48kg. These measurements only represent 5% of women.

The new dummy proposed by the team of Swedish engineers is 5ft3 and 62kg, a much better representative of the female population.

It has taken years for such a step-forward in engineering because for so long, men have dominated the field and therefore make a male decision. There are no current legal requirements for car safety tests for collisions to be carried out on anything but an average male crash test dummy.

However, some car companies use diverse dummies, including babies, the elderly and overweight people, so that they can conduct a better more realistic safety test.

The UN is currently examining its regulations on crash testing and hopefully this new discovery will change the future of female drivers for the better.