by Historic Step in Safety
America has finally given the other half of its population a seat at the crash test table. Responding to calls from safety researchers that have been heard for decades, US Transportation Secretary Shawn Duffy introduced the country’s first advanced female crash test dummy. Unlike previous versions, this model is not just a scaled-down copy of a male dummy—it was built from scratch to realistically represent women.
The Need for Change
If you’re surprised that such a dummy didn’t exist until now, you’re not alone. Despite women making up approximately 50% of drivers, American crash test standards have historically relied almost entirely on dummies created based on the male type. When “female” versions were used, they were often just smaller male dummies without accounting for the biomechanical differences that matter in a crash. In some federal tests, the smaller dummy was even placed in the passenger seat, always leaving the driver’s seat to the male dummy.
Grim Statistics
The data gap has been significant. Women have a 73% higher risk of serious injury compared to men in identical frontal collisions. Furthermore, female drivers and front-seat passengers are 17% more likely to die than men.
Significance of the New Dummy
This is where the THOR-05F comes in. This dummy, sized to represent a typical 5th percentile woman, is equipped with sensors and updated biomechanics that reflect female anatomy, posture, muscle distribution, and joint behavior. It can measure forces and injuries in places where the old Hybrid III dummies could not, including soft tissue impact, detailed chest deflection, and rotational head movement, which better reflects the behavior of real bodies in collisions.
New Requirements for Automakers
For automakers, this isn’t just an interesting scientific toy—it’s a future requirement. Regulators plan to integrate the THOR-05F into federal crash test protocols, meaning future vehicles will have to protect everyone, not just the imaginary average-sized man who has dominated safety labs for decades. Automakers will be forced to demonstrate safety performance using both male and female dummies, ensuring that features like airbags, seatbelt tension, seat geometry, and crumple zones work for a much wider range of drivers.
When Will This Happen?
Safety activists call this step long overdue. Although the dummy was introduced this week, testing using it will not begin until 2027 at the earliest, and its use will subsequently become mandatory. Automakers may complain about the additional time and cost of testing, as well as the more complex vehicle design that the results might require, but the end result could be safer cars for millions of women.
This initiative could lead to a more equitable approach to road safety by accounting for physiological characteristics that were previously ignored. The introduction of female dummies into testing could become a catalyst for innovation in the automotive industry, forcing engineers to develop safety systems that work effectively for different body types. It could also lead to a revision of car interior design, including the placement of controls, seat shape, and the positioning of safety systems to better suit women. Such changes could have far-reaching implications for global safety standards, as other countries may follow this example.
