Female crash test dummy may improve protection in traffic

The Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI) has started work on determining the dynamic characteristics of an average woman. These will be used in developing the first crash test dummy in the world that is based on an average woman. Existing dummies have been developed with reference to an average male.

The fact that there is no model of an average woman at present may impose limitations on how well existing crash test dummies can evaluate the protection provided by different traffic safety solutions developed for women.

– A crash test dummy that represents an average woman can for the first time enable the automotive industry to design traffic safety solutions for both average men and women. With a dummy that represents the part of the population that sustains the most injury, we will have a measuring tool that makes it possible to evaluate the effect of different protective systems and to develop vehicle safety systems for rear end collisions that are designed for both men and women, says Astrid Linder, research leader at VTI.

If men had had the greatest risk of being injured, there might have been reason to have only a male model. In rear end collisions, the risk of a woman sustaining neck injuries, i.e. whiplash injuries, is twice that of a man.

The results of the project will make a significant contribution to basic biomechanical research. For the first time, the geometric design and dynamic characteristics will be determined for a crash test dummy based on an average woman.

The project is financed by Swedish Agency for Innovation Systems VINNOVA and developed together with Chalmers University of Technology.