There is finally a decent female crash test dummy. It was about time

Although women are 73% more likely to be injured in head-on collisions and 17% more likely to die in a car accident than men, crash test dummies are designed almost entirely based on a man’s body.

The US government on Thursday presented a female crash test dummy that could make cars safer for women.

The Department of Transport will evaluate the use of this “crash test dummy” in government road safety assessment tests, which assign the well-known five-star ratings, as soon as the final version of the regulation is approved, the entity announced in a statement cited by .

Women have 73% more likely to be injured in frontal collisions and 17% more likely to die in a road accident than men.

The standard dummy currently used in testing by the North American road safety regulator NHTSA was developed in 1978taking as a reference a man 1.75 meters tall and weighing 78 kilos.

In the early 2000s, regulators added a small “female” dummy to the tests, which was just a scaled-down version of the male mannequin, with rubber breasts attached, which does not reflect the real anatomical differences between male and female bodies.

This dummy is normally tested in the passenger or rear seatsand rarely being used in crash tests in the driver’s seat — despite the The majority of drivers with a driving license are women.

The new female mannequin more accurately represents the differences between men and women, including the shape of the neck, collarbone, pelvis and legs. It’s called THOR-05For “Human Occupant Restraint Test Device – 5th percentile Female“, that is, a small woman, and was developed by .

As differences between the new THOR-05F and the Hybrid III 5th currently used are significant in several of the most important parameters currently evaluated in crash tests.

Among other improvements, unlike Hybrid, which only tests the risk of skull fracture, Thor also assesses the risk of brain injury and facial injuries; bends in three directions, rather than just back and forth, and its “spine” simulates the flexibility of a human spine.

The Humanetics dummy was designed to detect chest deflection at four points and the natural shoulder movements during a collision. The current dummy only analyzes the deflection at one point.

Equipped with more than 150 sensors, the new crash test dummy detects and measures the dummy’s movement and behavior at several key pointsincluding the abdomen, pelvis and arms — which are not analyzed by Hybrid.

Several legislators and transportation secretaries from the last two presidential administrations expressed support for the creation of new rules and requirements for crash tests, but progress has been slow.

Senators Deb Fischer, Nebraska Republican, and Tammy DuckworthDemocrat from Illinois, released both statements welcoming the announcement of female dummy for crash tests.

“Any progress in this area is positiveas there is no justification for why women are more likely to be injured or killed in road accidents,” said Duckworth.

Fischer had presented a bill to Congress in January, called , which requires the use of the most advanced testing devices available, including a female crash test dummy. Duckworth is a co-author of the proposal.

“It’s past time to make these test standards permanentwhich will help save thousands of lives and make American roads safer for all drivers”, argued Fischer.

The department also said that the new specifications will be available to North American manufacturers so that the automotive industry can begin testing them in vehicles.

Some manufacturers were skepticalarguing that the new model could exaggerate the risk of injury and devalue the contribution of certain safety systems, such as seat belts and airbags, says AP News.

It remains to be seen whether this skepticism will no longer have to do with the possible costs that the industry will have with the changes that it may have to implement in its future automobiles — which may prevent the deaths of thousands of women that street