Euronews. published a story with video featuring the Seat Evaluation Tools, developed within our EU-funded project.
Crash test dummies for cars are typically based on average male bodies, which could explain why women are 73% more likely to be injured in frontal road collisions.
Researchers and engineers have just unveiled a prototype of what they hope will lead to safer vehicles for women. The SET 50F is the first car crash dummy modelled entirely on a female body.
Astrid Linder, the director of traffic safety at the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute explained: “Both males and females should be equally represented when we assess the protection of the occupants or the users in the crash. By that, we will have an inclusive assessment, whereas today, it’s exclusive” she added.
In Europe, safety assessments on new vehicles are doled out by Euro NCAP, a voluntary vehicle safety rating system that is backed by motoring and consumer organisations in several EU countries as well as by the European Commission.
Linder and the team behind SET 5OF believe that crash testing vehicles with dummies that properly account for the female form could lead to the development of safer seats and features for both men and women. “The muscles in the neck are weaker normally in a woman, so if you compare it with a male dummy, this neck is more flexible and has more movements if you perform exactly the same crash test at the same speed and acceleration,” said research engineer Tommy Pettersson. “The aim is to make it possible to make better seats both for women and men. That’s the reason why we have created one man and one woman,” he added.
Read the full article by euronews.
For more on the story watch the euronews.next video.
