This is the world's first female crash test dummy

SWEDEN - A team of Swedish engineers have developed the world’s first crash test dummy based on the body of an average woman. Until now, crash test dummies were based on the average male build and weight. The dummies closest to the average woman were approximately the size of a 12 year old girl.

Dr Astrid Linder, director of traffic safety at the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute leads the research in Linköping.

Thanks to her, the dummy they have designed is 1.62m and weighs 62kg, closer to today’s average woman. For comparison, the male dummy weighs 78kg and is 1.75m, while its scaled down version is 49 kg and 1.5m.

According to US government data, women are more likely to suffer whiplash injuries in rear impacts compared to men. 

While some car companies do use female dummies for their own safety tests, regulatory tests in Europe and the United States do not. 

Dr Linder hopes her research can shape the safety levels of cars in the future, stressing the different ways the male and female body respond physically in a car crash. 

“My hope for the future is that the safety of vehicles will be assessed for both parts of the population,” she shares. 

This article was first published in CarBuyer.