crash test dummies – News Stories About crash test dummies - Page 1

Most Crash Test Dummies Are Still Based on Men. It's an Issue

Crash Test Dummies Have
a Problematic Limitation

Jun 28, 2025 5:45 PM CDT

Crash Test Dummies Have a Problematic Limitation

Most models are based on male body

(Newser) - Maine's Maria Weston Kuhn had one big question about the head-on car crash that forced her to have emergency surgery while vacationing in Ireland in 2019: Why were she and her mother seriously hurt, while her father and brother, who were in the front, emerged unscathed? When Kuhn returned...

Sep 19, 2023 3:11 PM CDT

Popular Minivans' Back-Seat Crash Tests Don't Go Well

None of the 4 popular brands tested managed to secure a 'good' or 'acceptable' safety rating

(Newser) - CBS News calls it "a red flag for anyone considering driving or purchasing one of the vehicles." The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) says the 2023 models of the popular Honda Odyssey, Toyota Sienna, Chrysler Pacifica and Kia Carnival all failed to notch an "acceptable"...

A Long-Sought Change
for Crash-Test Dummies

Nov 6, 2022 10:58 AM CST

A Long-Sought Change for Crash-Test Dummies

Swedes develop first one tailored to females

(Newser) - It wouldn't be accurate to say automakers and crash-test regulators have never considered women or women's anatomy. In fact, per a decade-old report from the Washington Post , the NHTSA started testing female crash dummies back in 2003. However, those "female" dummies were simply scaled-down versions of the...

Crash Test Dummies Are Male,
and It's Killing Women

OPINION

Dec 22, 2021 2:12 PM CST

Crash Test Dummies Are Male, and It's Killing Women

Op-ed in the 'Washington Post' argues that it's time to change the standards

(Newser) - The crash test dummies used by car manufacturers help keep us safe—though that "us" refers largely to the adult male population. In an op-ed for the Washington Post , Susan Molinari and Beth Brooke explain that when crash test dummies were standardized more than 40 years ago, those standards...

As Americans Get Fatter, So Do Crash-Test Dummies

Crash-Test Dummies Don't Look the Way They Used To

Oct 30, 2014 4:14 PM CDT

Crash-Test Dummies Don't Look the Way They Used To

They're getting fatter

(Newser) - Your average crash-test dummy, it seems, weighs 167 pounds. But a lot of Americans, as you might have noticed, weigh considerably more than that. That disparity raises safety issues rather than health issues, reports UPI , and there's a sobering statistic to back that up, as per CNN : "Obese...

Small Cars
Don't Do So Well
in Crash Tests

Jul 30, 2014 12:07 PM CDT

Small Cars Don't Do So Well in Crash Tests

Mini Cooper Countryman gets 'good' rating; Nissan, Mazda, and Fiat models tank

(Newser) - Not that we'd ever want this to happen, but if you're going to get into a crash in a tiny car, you might want to be in a four-door Mini Cooper Countryman. That's the only small car out of 12 tested that earned a "good" rating...

And Now:
Crash-Test
Dummies
for Dogs

Oct 2, 2013 4:13 PM CDT

And Now: Crash-Test Dummies for Dogs

Nonprofit center teams up with Subaru to run simulations

(Newser) - Given the big bucks at stake among pet-loving Americans, this story might be surprising only in that it hasn't happened sooner: The Center for Pet Safety in Virginia has created crash-test dummies in the form of dogs and has been working with Subaru on rolling out sanctioned safety belts...