The crash dummy aimed at protecting women drivers

Since the 1970s, clang trial dummies - mechanical surrogates of the quality assemblage - person been utilized to find car safety.

The exertion is utilized to estimation the effectiveness of seatbelts and information features successful caller conveyance designs.

Until present the astir commonly utilized dummy has been based connected the mean antheral physique and weight.

However, women correspond astir fractional of each drivers and are much prone to wounded successful like-for-like accidents.

The dummy that is sometimes utilized arsenic a proxy for women is simply a scaled-down mentation of the antheral one, astir the size of a 12-year-old girl.

At 149cm gangly (4ft 8ins) and weighing 48kg (7.5lb), it represents the smallest 5% of women by the standards of the mid-1970s.

However, a squad of Swedish engineers has yet developed the archetypal dummy, oregon to usage the much method word - spot valuation instrumentality - designed connected the assemblage of the mean woman.

Their dummy is 162cm (5ft 3ins) gangly and weighs 62 kg (9.7lbs), much typical of the pistillate population.

So wherefore person information regulators not asked for it earlier now?

"You tin spot that this is simply a bias," said Tjark Kreuzinger, who specialises successful the tract for Toyota successful Europe. "When each the men successful the meetings decide, they thin to look to their feet and accidental 'this is it'.

"I would ne'er accidental that anybody does it intentionally but it's conscionable the specified information that it's typically a antheral determination - and that's wherefore we bash not person [average] pistillate dummies."

Several times a time successful a laboratory successful the Swedish metropolis of Linköping, roadworthy accidents are simulated and the consequences are analysed. The sensors and transducers wrong the dummy supply perchance lifesaving data, measuring the precise carnal forces exerted connected each assemblage portion successful a clang event.

The squad grounds information including velocity of impact, crushing force, bending, torque of the assemblage and braking rates.

They are focused connected seeing what happens to the biomechanics of the dummy during low-impact rear collisions.

When a pistillate is successful a car clang she is up to 3 times much apt to endure whiplash injuries successful rear impacts successful examination with a man, according to US authorities data. Although whiplash is not usually fatal, it tin pb to carnal disabilities - immoderate of which tin beryllium permanent.

It is these statistic that thrust Astrid Linder, the manager of postulation information astatine the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute, who is starring the probe successful Linköping.

"We cognize from wounded statistic that if we look astatine debased severity impacts females are astatine higher risk.

"So, successful bid to guarantee that you place the seats that person the champion extortion for some parts of the population, we decidedly request to person the portion of the colonisation astatine highest hazard represented," she told the BBC.

Dr Linder believes her probe tin assistance signifier the mode cars are specified successful the aboriginal and she stresses the cardinal differences betwixt men and women. Females are shorter and lighter than males, connected average, and they person antithetic musculus strengths.

Because of this they physically respond otherwise successful a car crash.

"We person differences successful the signifier of the torso and the centre of gravity and the outline of our hips and pelvis," she explained.

But Dr Linder volition inactive request regulators to enforce the usage of the mean pistillate she has developed.

Currently determination is nary ineligible request for car information tests for rear interaction collisions to beryllium carried retired connected thing different than the mean man.

Although immoderate car companies are already utilizing them successful their ain information tests they are not yet utilized successful EU oregon US regulatory tests.

Engineers are starting to make much divers dummies, including dummies that correspond babies, aged and overweight people.

The mean pistillate dummy successful Linköping has a afloat flexible spine, which means the squad tin look astatine what happens to the full spine, from the caput to the little back, erstwhile a pistillate is injured.

US institution Humanetics is the largest shaper of clang trial dummies worldwide and is seen arsenic the starring dependable erstwhile it comes to the precision of the technology.

CEO Christopher O'Connor told the BBC helium believes that information has "advanced importantly implicit the past 20, 30, 40 years" but it "really hasn't taken into relationship the differences betwixt a antheral and a female".

"You can't person the aforesaid instrumentality to trial a antheral and a woman. We're not going to ace the injuries we are seeing contiguous unless we enactment sensors determination to measurement those injuries.

"By measuring those injuries we tin past person safer cars with safer airbags, with safer seatbelts, with safer occupant compartments that let for antithetic sizes."

The UN is examining its regulations connected clang investigating and volition find whether they request to beryllium changed to amended support each drivers.

If changes are made to impact a clang trial dummy representing the mean female, determination is an anticipation that women volition 1 time beryllium safer down the wheel.

"My anticipation for the aboriginal is that the information of vehicles volition beryllium assessed for some parts of the population," Dr Linder said.