For over 50 years, manufacturers and safety assessment agencies for cars have been using crash test dummies for safety ratings. We all have seen numerous cars driven into the wall to check the vehicle’s crash safety, but what will surprise you is that only recently researchers from Sweden have started developing the world’s first female crash test dummy. Sweden National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI) has revealed that they are working on two new prototypes, a male and a female occupant.
VTI believes that this research will introduce new seat parameters for both female and male occupants. This is very important, especially for the safety of female occupants as VTI has stated that in a traffic accident women are twice at risk of being susceptible to fatality. A study by Folksam, one of the largest insurance companies in Sweden, also confirms this risk as women have suffered a higher number of neck injuries as compared to men.
First female crash test dummy: Rewriting the safety norms
Ever since the 1970s’, all crash test dummies have been modelled on the dimensions of an average man and then later modified for an adult woman to a 12-year-old girl. The dimensions of a male crash test dummy are 5 feet 8 inches weighing 78 kg.
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We might be stating the obvious, but isn’t a woman’s physique different from a man’s? Of course, it is. Therefore, VTI researchers have created a dummy that is 5 feet 3 inches and 62 kg in weight, which is more of a representation of an average woman. As women are generally shorter in height and lighter in weight compared to men, hence, the whiplash on the neck and impact on the shoulders, torso and abdomen is very different.
Astrid Linder, Professor of Traffic Safety at the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute said that the new female crash test dummy will change the testing methods followed by regulators, as a result, we can expect better vehicle safety for both males and females.
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First female crash test dummy: Why is it relevant to India?
India has one of the highest road fatalities in the world. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, traffic accidents have increased from 3.67 lakh in 2020 to almost 4.23 lakh in 2021. Traffic accidents include railway accidents, railway crossing accidents and accidental deaths due to other cases. To narrow it down further, road accident cases have shot up to 4.03 lakh in 2021 as compared to 3.54 cases in 2020. What is more shocking is that road accident deaths have increased 16.8 percent from 1.33 lakh in 2020 to 1.55 lakh in 2021.
According to the Acko Accident Index 2022 report, Delhi NCR leads the way with an accident rate of 20 percent with Mumbai finishing a close second with 18 percent. Therefore, the figures reveal that there is a great need for safety and this new crash test dummy will reduce the high-risk women face when it comes to fatalities.
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