First-Ever Female Crash Test Dummy Is Being Made After Years Of ‘Bias’

Dr. Astrid Linder, a Swedish engineer and expert on car safety, is leading a team that is creating the first accurate model based on the average size of a woman.

According to the BBC, the typical crash test dummy has previously been based on a male body type and weight.

Some businesses use male dummies that are around the size of a 12-year-old girl instead of male dummies when testing the safety of cars for women.

Credit: Mark Scheuern/Alamy Stock Photo

A paper on the subject was previously issued by the Women's Institute, which stated: "Female crash test dummies do exist but they are not mandated to be used in most tests.”

"A pregnant crash-test dummy was created in 1996 but testing with it is still not government mandated either in the US or in the EU.”

"Women are thought to be less well protected than men.”

Credit: BBC

"A study by researchers at the University of Virginia found that women wearing seat belts were 47 percent more likely than male seat belt-wearers to be seriously injured and 71 percent more likely to be moderately injured.”

"A separate study found that women were 17 percent more likely to die in crashes."

After urging the government to act, Dr. Linder and her team rose to the occasion and developed the dummy, also known as a "seat evaluation tool."

According to standard female measurements, the figure is 162cm (5ft 3ins) tall and 62kg in weight (9st 7lbs).

Speaking to the BBC, Linder explained: "Females are somewhat shorter and lighter than males on average.”

"And then we also have differences in muscle strength, which plays a role in terms of how you respond to a crash.”

"But then in addition, of course, when it comes to the interaction with the seat, we have differences in the shape of the torso and the center of gravity of our torso and the outline of our hips and pelvis."

The rest of the clip emphasizes how the average female crash test dummy is on the verge of becoming a reality owing to the efforts of Dr. Linder and her team.

Tjark Kreuzinger, senior manager for safety research and technical affairs at Toyota Motor Europe, explained to the publication why this has taken so long: "You can see that this is a bias.”

"When all the men in the meetings decide, they tend to look to their feet and say 'this is it.”

"I would never say that anybody does it intentionally but it's just the mere fact that it's typically a male decision – and that's why we do not have [average] female dummies."