
U.S. senators reintroduce bill calling for modernization of vehicle safety tests
By onAnnouncements
U.S. Sens. Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) have reintroduced legislation calling for the modernization of vehicle safety tests, including the use of female crash test dummies.
The “She Develops Regulations in Vehicle Equality and Safety (SHE DRIVES) Act” would require the most advanced testing devices available to be used by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) by updating the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), a press release from Fischer’s office says.
“Outdated crash testing standards make women 17% more likely to be killed in auto crashes than men, but that doesn’t have to be the case. By updating crash test dummy standards, our bill will save thousands of lives and prevent thousands more serious injuries each year,” said Fischer in the release.
According to the release, the legislation would also establish injury criteria based on real-world data and introduce specific crashworthiness tests for female occupants in both front and rear seating positions.
NHTSA data shows 1,300 women die every year who would have otherwise lived if female death and injury rates were comparable to that of males. The release points to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study that outlines deficiencies in crash testing. It also states NHTSA has missed multiple self-declared deadlines on dummy deployment.
“While NHTSA has long acknowledged that a family of crash test dummies is needed for accurate crash tests, the agency has yet to deploy dummies or tests that represent females, the elderly, and other vulnerable groups,” the release says.
Fischer also introduced the act in May 2024. The nonprofit Drive US Forward has been an advocate for the federal bill.
In December 2021, Humanetics President and CEO Chris O’Connor told the New York Times car safety features used over the last 50 years — from seatbelts to air bags and dashboard size — have largely been based on the average 1970s man. Humanetics is a company that develops precision safety systems, simulation models, ergonomic software, and advanced sensor technologies. On the company’s website, several dummies of various sizes more realistic to today’s passengers are pictured.
Humanetics engineer Sarah Michaud told CNBC in March 2022 that “nothing in the car’s safety is really geared towards us [women].”
“None of our injuries are being accounted for,” she said. “We are 17% to 19% more likely to die in the same accident as a man and 73% more likely to be injured. That’s because we’re not testing for a woman so we have to move towards this to make sure that we’re not putting women in danger.”
Data from crash tests not only helps OEMs develop safely designed vehicles and collision prevention systems but is also more evidence for collision repairers to point to when explaining to customers and insurers why they’re following OEM repair procedures since doing so preserves crashworthiness.
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Featured image: A group of “next-generation” Humanetics female crash test dummies. (Provided by Humanetics)