Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy recently unveiled the THOR-05F, the first crash test dummy based on actual female anatomy after years of delay.
Driving the news: The dummy was kickstarted under the first Trump Administration and marks a shift from decades of testing that relied on male-based models or scaled-down versions that didn't reflect real biological differences.
Why it matters: The current "female" dummy added in the early 2000s is just a scaled-down male dummy with breasts. It is 4 feet 11 inches tall and 108 pounds, representing only the 5th percentile of women. And it doesn’t account for the physiological differences that correlate with higher injury rates.
What they’re saying: "The pelvis for a female is more rounded and does not hold the seatbelt the same way," said Chris O'Connor, CEO of Humanetics (via NPR).
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The big picture: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has spent over a decade working with Humanetics, the leading crash test dummy manufacturer, to develop the THOR-05F.
European regulators already embraced the design and plan to add it to tests within a few years.
But it stalled in the U.S., where NHTSA said more testing was needed before formal adoption.
Between the lines: Each dummy can cost more than $1 million, and adding them to the testing process represents a significant investment for both regulators and automakers.
What's next: The dummy will move toward full adoption in NHTSA's safety ratings and Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.
“Safety drives everything we do at NHTSA. Better understanding the unique ways in which women are impacted differently in crashes than men is essential to reducing traffic fatalities,” said NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison. “This is a long overdue step toward the full adoption of this new dummy for use in our safety ratings and Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.”
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