Advocates Push for Inclusion of Advanced Dummies to Enhance Women's Safety in Automobiles

In an era where automotive safety has made significant strides, concerns persist regarding the disproportionate risk women face in car crashes. Research from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) highlights this disparity, revealing that women are 73% more likely to sustain serious injuries in crashes compared to men. The outdated crash test dummies used by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) have long been criticized for failing to account for the physiological differences between men and women, leaving female drivers and passengers at greater risk.

Experts emphasize that the development and integration of modern female crash dummies into safety testing protocols could be a game-changer in mitigating this risk. Susan Cronn, a researcher at the Medical College of Wisconsin, underscores the specific vulnerabilities faced by women in crashes, including lower extremity injuries, concussions, and neck injuries. Furthermore, the lack of adequate representation of female anatomy in crash test dummies contributes to the severity of injuries sustained by women, as demonstrated by real-life incidents such as Maria Weston Kuhn’s harrowing experience.

The road to implementing advanced female crash dummies, however, has been fraught with challenges. Despite efforts by manufacturers like Humanetics to produce more accurate and anatomically representative dummies, bureaucratic hurdles and delays have impeded their widespread adoption. While Humanetics has developed the THOR-5F dummy, equipped with features mirroring female anatomy and enhanced sensors to predict injuries, regulatory approval from NHTSA remains pending. Deputy Secretary of Transportation Polly Trottenberg acknowledges the need for further modifications to ensure durability and accuracy before widespread deployment.

In response to mounting pressure and recommendations from the GAO, NHTSA has committed to incorporating the THOR-5F dummy into regulations, albeit with delays pushing the implementation timeline to September 2024. This timeline underscores the urgency of the issue, as each delay prolongs the exposure of women to unnecessary risks on the road. As advocates like Maria Weston Kuhn emphasize, the need for action is urgent, driven by the widespread prevalence of injuries and fatalities among women in car crashes.