When car makers test the safety of vehicles, the dummies they use are based on average male build and weight. Now Swedish engineers are trying to change that.
They’ve developed a dummy that is 162cm, weighs 62kg and is more representative of the female population.
When a woman is in a car crash, she is up to three times more likely to suffer whiplash injuries in rear impacts in comparison with a man, according to American data.
Astrid Linder, the director of traffic safety at the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute, says that to ensure that seats have the best protection for everyone, women definitely need to be represented.
"We have differences in the shape of the torso and the centre of gravity and the outline of our hips and pelvis," she explained.