It doesn’t take a crash test dummy to figure out that women should be represented when it comes to vehicle safety.
American car companies will be required for the first time to use female crash test dummies when they run safety checks, according to NBC News, which got a first look at the new model.
Women are 73% more likely than men to sustain serious injuries in head-on car crashes, according to research from the University of Virginia, and female drivers and front-seat passengers are 17% more at risk to be killed than their male counterparts in the same seats.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy unveiled the new model, dubbed THOR-05F, last week. He blamed the four-and-a-half-decade delay on previous administrations.
Jonathan Morrison, the highway safety agency’s administrator, said, “While I’m the first to acknowledge that this took far longer than anyone would like, it was very important to make sure that we got this right.”
The new model, created in a facility in Michigan, has more than 150 sensors. Data from the tests will allow automakers to design seatbelts, airbags and other safety features based on actual women today. The standard crash test dummy currently used to represent women — created in the 1970s — weighs 108 pounds and stands at 4 feet, 11 inches tall.
While the advanced crash test dummy won’t be used in car safety testing until 2027 or 2028, the announcement marked the start of the regulatory process so that it will eventually be used in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards compliance testing.
In January, Republican Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska reintroduced the She DRIVES Act, which would modernize vehicle safety standards and mandate carmakers to use female crash test dummies. The legislations is co-sponsored by Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois.
“It’s far past time to make these testing standards permanent, which will help save thousands of lives and make America’s roads safer for all drivers,” Fischer said of the new advancement.
Duckworth added, “There’s simply no good reason why women are more likely to be injured or die in car crashes.”
