Can female crash test dummies improve safety? A bipartisan group of senators push for equality in testing

Women make up more than half of U.S. drivers, but are 73% more likely to suffer serious injuries in a crash than men, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. They are 17% more likely to be killed, data shows.

A group of bipartisan women senators is pushing for more diversity in crash test dummies, hoping it will help solve the problem.

“Whether driving or as passengers, we wanna make sure that women are safe when they get in a vehicle,” said Republican Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska.

Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois added, “So there are all those moms and daughters and sisters and best friends come home.”

Duckworth and Fischer, along with Sens. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee, and Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington, are sponsoring the “She Drives Act” to update federal crashworthiness tests by requiring the use of advanced test dummies that better reflect the driving public, including one simulating a woman who’s 4’11” and 108 pounds. 

“Are women hitting the dashboard at a different spot than men? Are we hitting a particular item in a car more often and that’s causing more injury?” Duckworth asked. “That’s where these crash test dummies that are the average, the size of the average woman will help us find, gather that data.”

The current, commonly used, test dummies were developed in the 1990s and represent a 5’9″ man who weighs 171 pounds.

The new THOR test dummy has been available since 2020. It is used internationally, but not in the U.S. Its manufacturer says it includes more than double the data-gathering capability of older models.

Humanetics CEO Chris O’Connor said if the law passes, it will make vehicles safer long-term, “because right now we can’t even detect these injuries in a crash test dummy because the sensors aren’t there and so you can’t design a safer vehicle without knowing.”

Some safety advocates, including the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, argue resources would be better focused on developing virtual testing tools to help researchers better understand the unique risks faced by different kinds of vehicle occupants.

Crash victim’s family reacts

College freshman Amanda Kish, 18, was killed in October 2022 when she was driving home for the weekend from Central Michigan University. She was rear-ended, sending her car out of control.

“My daughter should be here. I sent her to college and she never came home,” her mother, Francis Kish, said. 

She hopes the new focus on women’s auto safety will mean another family won’t feel her heartbreak.

“She was 5’0″ and 94 pounds. So I believe that if she might not have been sitting so close to the steering wheel, she might still be here,” Kish said about her daughter.

In response to the safety testing, the U.S. Department of Transportation told CBS News, “Safety is Secretary (Sean) Duffy’s top priority and he agrees that new female crash test dummies have taken too long to develop. He appreciates Congress’s interest in resolving this issue and is committed to accelerating the process to improve safety for all Americans.

“The THOR-05F female crash test dummy is not currently available for use. In 2023, under the Biden Administration, the design required changes to address durability issues identified during testing. NHTSA has initiated a new round of over 500 tests to validate performance and document required specifications for the updated model, after which it will propose a rule to add the THOR-05F, making it available for use by manufacturers.”