Here’s everything about world’s first female crash dummy and its significance
Safety features in cars like the airbags are vital to make sure the driver and passengers survive any possible collusion. Crash dummies are used in designing those features.
Hyderabad: A team of Swedish scientists led by Dr. Astrid Linder, the director of traffic safety at the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute, have developed the world’s first female crash dummy.
What is a crash dummy?
Safety features in cars like the airbags are vital to make sure the driver and passengers survive any possible collusion. Crash dummies are used in designing those features.
A crash dummy is basically a test device that helps us understand and measure the human body’s movement during a crash so that the safety features could be made accordingly.
Why is a female crash dummy significant?
For decades, all the crash dummies were made according to the average male height and weight. This has resulted in the death of several female drivers as the safety features in the four-wheelers were made according to male dummies which proved ineffective when females were in collusion.
When testing for crash dummies, they use a 1.75 m tall man weighing 78 kg which is significantly taller and heavier than an average woman.
For women, they test on another dummy which is approximately the size of a 12-year-old girl at 149 cm tall (4 feet 8 inches) and weighing 48 kg. These measurements do not coincide with the average woman these days.
Dr. Linder’s dummy represents an average woman’s body, at an average height of 162 cm (5 feet 3 inches) and weighing 62 kg. These dummies will be effective in having manufacturers adjust their safety features to help more women survive crashes.
