Crash-test dummies made heavier, older to reflect modern Americans
- 7 years ago
PLYMOUTH, MICHIGAN — With the general populace ageing and their waistlines expanding, regular crash dummies are fast becoming irrelevant.
The University of Michigan Health Lab reports that to address this, trauma experts from the University’s International Center for Automotive Medicine (ICAM) are collaborating with manufacturer Humanetics to make dummies that more accurately reflect the average, modern American.
Traditional crash-test dummies were developed in the 1970s and 80s, when men were leaner on average, weighing around 167 pounds.
Drivers are decidedly different today. Older and overweight, they suffer specific and more severe car injuries that need to be addressed by automotive safety systems.
As a result, Humanetics engineers have created an obese crash-test dummy that weighs 273 pounds — 106 pounds heavier than the traditional model — with a body mass index of 35. A prototype has also been produced for an elderly and overweight female dummy, which has a BMI of 29 and a sagging torso to reflect its older physique.
The ICAM team gained information from thousands of CT scans, which was then used in the 3D printing of the models, all in an effort to get safer cars on the roads and reduce the number of crash fatalities.
The University of Michigan Health Lab reports that to address this, trauma experts from the University’s International Center for Automotive Medicine (ICAM) are collaborating with manufacturer Humanetics to make dummies that more accurately reflect the average, modern American.
Traditional crash-test dummies were developed in the 1970s and 80s, when men were leaner on average, weighing around 167 pounds.
Drivers are decidedly different today. Older and overweight, they suffer specific and more severe car injuries that need to be addressed by automotive safety systems.
As a result, Humanetics engineers have created an obese crash-test dummy that weighs 273 pounds — 106 pounds heavier than the traditional model — with a body mass index of 35. A prototype has also been produced for an elderly and overweight female dummy, which has a BMI of 29 and a sagging torso to reflect its older physique.
The ICAM team gained information from thousands of CT scans, which was then used in the 3D printing of the models, all in an effort to get safer cars on the roads and reduce the number of crash fatalities.