Page 37 - 2020 Auto Show Guide

Designing W MEN:

Safety For

Are Changes Needed to the Way Vehicles are Crash-Tested?

hen shopping for a new car, comfort, style, design, and performance all rank as important, but experts say safety is a top
Wpriority for women car buyers. Ironically, men typically get into more accidents, but researchers say women are 17 percent
more likely to be killed or injured in a car crash than a male occupant. Why is that? Some argue it boils down to the safety tests
for vehicles and those crash test dummies we’ve all seen in videos. The crash tests are used by the government and insurance
industry to measure an automobile’s safety rating and dictate how many stars it earns. But here’s the kicker: most of the dummies
are designed like men. A female version that resembles the typical woman just doesn’t exist. There is a version that weighs 108
pounds and is 4’11” tall, but that’s far from the average woman’s measurements. The other option is the male dummy, that comes
in at 5’9” and 171 pounds. Definitely not your average woman, either.

Women buy the majority of cars (62 percent) and influence they ended up with is the 2003 version that represents only
the purchase of about 80 percent of vehicles, but clearly take 5 percent of today’s women, small enough that it can also
a back seat when it comes to safety considerations in crash serve as a dummy for a 12 or 13-year old child. This remains
tests. The fact is the majority of Americans killed or injured in the case, despite the fact that women now represent almost
car crashes are men, but women are at greater risk of death 50 percent of drivers in the U.S., according to the FHWA.
or injury when a crash happens, according to data from the The difference in size, and physiological makeup, between the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and sexes, may mean women sit closer to the steering wheel,
the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The facts show or wear their seatbelts in a different way than men. It may

men drive more miles than females, and are more likely to sound minor, but it is significant when it comes to a vehicle
engage in risky behavior, such as speeding, driving under the going 40 miles an hour, colliding with another object.
influence of alcohol, and not wearing a seat belt. But a study
from NHTSA shows a woman driver or front passenger who is Obviously, the goal for automakers is sales, and those
wearing her seat belt is 17 percent more likely than a man to sales are influenced by the safety tests and rankings. New
be killed when a crash takes place. Another study, released in vehicles are designed with the main crash test dummy in
2019 study from the University of Virginia (UVA), shows for mind, and they’re built for such a person. Hopefully, changes
a female occupant, the odds of being injured in a frontal crash to the dummies will become a priority, which will enable
are 73 percent greater than the odds for a male occupant. automakers and researchers to better capture the real-
world effects of crashes on both men and women alike,
WOMEN BUY These study results are not new findings. And researchers have driving home the message they are committed to

THE MAJORITY 62% long known that male and female bodies behave differently safety for everyone.
in crashes. Yet, the crash test dummies remain more similar
OF CARS to men. Regulators pushed for a version more similar to the
female body, even petitioned for one, decades ago, but what
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