Women 73% More Likely to be Injured in Car Crashes Due to Outdated Dummies

Maria Weston Kuhn, a 25-year-old from Maine, was involved in a severe car crash in Ireland in 2019 that left her with serious injuries, including a ruptured intestine. The crash raised questions about why she and her mother were more severely injured than her father and brother, who were seated in the front. This experience led Kuhn to discover that women are 73% more likely to be injured in a frontal crash, yet the crash test dummies used by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are still modeled after a 5-foot-9, 171-pound man from the 1970s.

In response to her findings, Kuhn founded the nonprofit Drive US Forward to raise public awareness and encourage Congress to require NHTSA to incorporate a more advanced female dummy into its testing. The agency's approval is crucial as it determines which cars receive five-star ratings and whether they are pulled from the market. Senators from both parties have supported the "She Drives Act," which aims to update the safety requirements, but the process has been slow.

The current crash test dummy used by NHTSA, the Hybrid III, was developed in 1978 and is modeled after a man. The female dummy is essentially a smaller version of the male model with a rubber jacket to represent breasts. It is rarely tested in the driver's seat, despite the majority of licensed drivers being women. The more advanced female dummy from Humanetics, equipped with all available sensors, costs around $1 million and more accurately reflects the anatomical differences between the sexes, which account for about 80% more injuries by women in a car crash compared to men.

Europe and several other countries, including China and Japan, have adopted the more advanced male dummy developed by Humanetics' engineers, the THOR 50M. However, some American automakers argue that the more sophisticated devices may exaggerate injury risks and undercut the value of some safety features. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, an industry trade group, suggests upgrading the existing Hybrid dummy rather than mandating a new one, claiming it would lead to quicker safety improvements.

Humanetics' THOR dummies received high marks in NHTSA's early tests, outperforming the existing Hybrid in predicting almost all injuries. However, a review by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety was critical of the dummy's ability to predict chest injuries in a frontal crash. Despite the expansion in the number of sensors, the male THOR dummy was less accurate than the current Hybrid dummies.

NHTSA's budget plan commits to developing the female THOR 5F version with the goal of incorporating it into the testing. However, the process has been slow, with numerous "missed milestones" in the development of various crash dummy enhancements. Kuhn acknowledges the frustration with the slow process but remains optimistic that auto companies will adapt to the changes.