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Watch the video version of this fact brief by Trisha Young.
Dummies used by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in vehicle crash testing roughly represent typical-size adult males, but only small-size adult females.
The adult dummies represent males who are 5-foot-9 and 160-171 pounds and females who are 4-foot-11 and 97-108 pounds. An average female is 5-foot-4 and weighs 171 pounds while an average male is 5-foot-9 and weighs 200 pounds, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In March 2023, the federal Government Accountability Office recommended NHTSA address discrepancies in testing of females, and people who are older or heavier. It noted that in crashes, females are at greater risk of death and certain injuries than males.
NHTSA responded saying it is developing more representative dummies.
Congress took no action on legislation introduced in May 2024 to modernize the testing.
The issue was mentioned during the recent U.S. Senate confirmation hearing for Republican Sean Duffy, a former Wisconsin congressman, to be transportation secretary.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- Fox Business: Trump nominee Sean Duffy vows to usher in a 'golden age of transportation'
- Commerce Dems: Nomination Hearing: Department of Transportation Secretary
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: NHTSA’s Crash Test Dummies
- U.S. Government Accountability Office: DOT Should Take Additional Actions to Improve the Information Obtained from Crash Test Dummies
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: NHTSA Advanced Anthropomorphic Test Devices Development and Implementation Plan
- Congress.gov: S.4299 – She DRIVES Act
- U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer: Fischer Introduces Bill to Modernize Vehicle Safety Tests, Require Use of Female Crash Test Dummies
- National Center for Health Statistics: Body measurements
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