Sweden creates the world’s first female crash test dummy

It is called SET 50F and it is the first manikin female crash tests in the world. Designed by a Swedish engineer following the model of a “type woman”should help design seats that better protect women.

Legislation in the automotive world only requires tests with traditional mannequins of male proportions, a model inherited from the 1970s.

However, statistics show that women are more exposed in the event of an accident.

Strapped to an armchair, SET 50F is launched at 16 km/h on a metal rail at a test center in Linköping, south of Stockholm, before coming to a crashing halt.

A screen transmits the images at the moment of the crash in slow motion, revealing the shape of a breast.

Unique in its kind, this “anthropomorphic testing device” It takes a woman as a model and was developed by Astrid Linder, an engineer at the Swedish Transport Safety Research Institute (VTI).

“The neck muscles are generally weaker in a woman,” specifies Tommy Petterson, one of his colleagues at the VTI, pointing his finger at the back of the neck of the silhouette deformed by the impact.

“If compared to a male model, you can see that the neck is more flexible,” he said.swim.

Tested since the end of 2022 in Sweden, this prototype composed of rubber, metals and plastic is equipped with 24 sensors and measures 1.62 m by 62 kg, that is, 15 cm and 15 kg less than a classic male model.

Their shoulders are also narrower and their hips are wider. These measurements and a lower center of gravity play an important role in assessing the risks to women driving.

“As for injuries that are not fatal, but that can be a source of disability, statistics show that the factor that is always determining is the difference between men and women,” Linder emphasizes.

“The resulting suffering can last a lifetime, so it is essential to determine how everyone is protected,” stands out

Rules that exclude women

According to a 2019 study from the University of Virginia in the United States, women are 73% more likely than men to be injured in a head-on crash.

In addition, they are twice as likely to suffer cervical sprains in the event of an accident, due to the morphology of their neck and the support offered by the chair.

Developed thanks to subsidies from the European Commission, this female crash test model is already used by some manufacturers, such as Volvo in Sweden, but nothing in international regulations mandates it.

“According to the minimum standard required for the sale of a car, it is stipulated that the model of an average man must be used for all tests,” notes Linder, who also teaches automotive engineering.

She was awarded an award in 2023 that recognizes women driving the automotive sector, but the market is not yet up to par.

“For a long time they were the men who drove,” recalls Emily Thomas, director of the automobile testing service at the American organization Consumer Reports, an independent non-profit organization that represents consumers.

“The culture evolved but unfortunately the safety standards did not,” the Mint.

Source: AFP