The Department of Transportation has taken a small but important step toward adopting and mandating the use of female crash test dummies that actually resemble women, something we inexplicably don’t already do. At the DOT’s direction, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has published specifications and technical information for the THOR-05F dummy, a step toward putting it to use in NHTSA crash tests. The results will hopefully, finally, give us real data on crash safety for drivers and passengers other than men. From the DOT’s press release:
“Safety drives everything we do at NHTSA. Better understanding the unique ways in which women are impacted differently in crashes than men is essential to reducing traffic fatalities,” said National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator Jonathan Morrison. “This is a long overdue step toward the full adoption of this new dummy for use in our safety ratings and Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.”
Long overdue is right. Women have been driving since Bertha Benz took one of Karl’s contraptions without his permission on the first real drive of more than 60 miles back in 1888. You’d think the government would’ve realized that women drive and ride in cars sometime during the 137 years since then. Even now, the THOR-05F isn’t expected to be put to use until 2027 or 2028, according to NBC News. However:
Morrison said the announcement means “automakers will be able to start purchasing the dummy and using it in tests, learning more about how it will perform before NHTSA formally adopts it for use in ratings and rule makings.”
“This is a crucial step towards the full adoption of this new dummy and learning even more about how to design vehicles to better protect female drivers and passengers,” he added.
In other words, manufacturers can now use the new female dummy in their own testing to evaluate how current or upcoming designs will perform before NHTSA starts using it. It’s like taking a practice test so they can learn from mistakes and get it right when it counts. This, too, is a positive step forward.
Separating fact from fiction
While the advancement of the female crash test dummy is certainly a good thing, “Real World” cast member Sean Duffy (who just happens to be in charge of the DOT) turned the official announcement into an opportunity to push unrelated agendas and rewrite the story behind the THOR-05F. Duffy made some rather transphobic comments using the introduction of a female crash test dummy to justify the Trump Administration’s official position that there are two biological genders that are determined at birth. Never mind that crash test dummies had only one gender, male, until this one and a recent Swedish design. The argument is so weak, I would have expected it to come from a crash test dummy, not the Secretary of Transportation. He also made a jab at “The Left” that may be yet another violation of the Hatch Act, but who’s counting at this point?
The announcement also attempted to make it seem as though Duffy and the Trump Administration were responsible for the creation of the THOR-05F dummy.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy today unveiled the design details for the first-of-its-kind advanced female crash test dummy – known as the THOR-05F. The new dummy, which was kickstarted under the first Trump Administration, is critical to addressing the ongoing trend of higher injury rates for women than men in certain car crash scenarios.
While it is true that the THOR-05F’s design was based on a February 2017 design document published during the first Trump Administration, the specifications and test procedures within it predate it. The government doesn’t build them, but rather Humanetics, which pioneered the crash test dummy concept for aviation and spaceflight before designing dummies for automotive testing. Duffy also ignored the existence of the She Drives Act, filed earlier this year, which would require NHTSA to use the THOR-05F dummy in crash testing to accurately represent women drivers and passengers. Acknowledging that it was sponsored by four female Republican and Democratic Senators would undermine his story that the Trump Administration is solely responsible for this.
At least we’re one step closer to finally getting an officially authorized female crash test dummy. Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
