Gender Bias in Car Safety Tests: Crash Dummies Modeled After Men
Maria Weston Kuhn, a 25-year-old who underwent emergency surgery after a car crash during her Ireland vacation in 2019, was puzzled by why she and her mother suffered injuries while her father and brother, sitting in the front, were unharmed. This mystery led her to discover that the crash test dummies used by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are based on 1970s male body dimensions, which do not accurately represent women. Determined to address this issue, Kuhn founded the nonprofit Drive US Forward to advocate for the inclusion of a more advanced female dummy in NHTSA testing. Despite bipartisan support for legislation like Senator Deb Fischer's “She Drives Act”, progress has been slow due to concerns from some American automakers. The development of a more accurate female dummy, such as the THOR 5F model, has shown potential to improve safety testing for all individuals involved in car crashes.
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