It’s 2025. We’ve got AI companions, billionaires in space, and yet… women are only just being accurately included in car safety testing. Shocking, isn’t it?
For decades, the standard crash test dummy has been based on the “average male body” — and that’s had devastating consequences for women behind the wheel or in the passenger seat. It’s a disturbing oversight, and one that’s only recently started to be addressed.
The Gender Bias in Crash Testing
Crash test dummies have existed since the 1950s. But for the majority of that time, they’ve been designed around the male anatomy — typically based on a 76kg, 1.77m tall man. The problem? That doesn’t reflect half the population.
It wasn’t until 2011 that a smaller “female” dummy began being used in U.S. tests — but even that version was simply a scaled-down male dummy, not accurately representing female physiology. In Europe, the situation has been much the same.
In 2022, Swedish researchers developed the world’s first crash test dummy designed to reflect the average female body, accounting for differences in:
- Muscle mass and strength
- Pelvic structure
- Neck size and strength
- Sitting posture
And the results were eye-opening.
Women Are More Likely to Die or Be Injured
Because of these design flaws, women are at a significantly higher risk of injury or death in car accidents.
According to a 2019 study by the University of Virginia:
- Women are 73% more likely to be seriously injured in a car crash.
- They are 17% more likely to die in the same crash scenario as a man.
These aren’t small margins — they’re life-threatening gaps in safety that have gone unaddressed for far too long.
Why Has It Taken So Long?
The short answer: systemic bias.
The auto industry, historically dominated by men, has long seen the “male” body as the default. Car designs — from seat belts and airbags to headrests and dashboards — have been tailored to male proportions. Meanwhile, female bodies were seen as outliers or variations, not a core part of the safety equation, and we still don’t have pregnancy safety seatbelts.
There’s also the issue of regulatory lag. Even though new female-specific crash test dummies exist, they’re still not required in many official safety tests. That means many manufacturers aren’t using them unless pressured to do so.
The Push for Change
In the UK and EU, awareness is slowly growing. The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) has begun revising its protocols, and researchers like Dr. Astrid Linder (featured in the BBC article) are pushing for sex-specific crash testing to become a global standard.
Dr. Linder’s research has been pivotal in showing that differences in how men and women move during a crash — especially in whiplash scenarios — demand better representation in crash simulations.
But change needs to be systemic, not symbolic.
What Needs to Happen Next
For true equity in car safety, we need:
- Female crash dummies required in all crash tests — not just optional extras.
- Updated regulations reflecting the average dimensions and biomechanics of women.
- Inclusion of diverse body types, including pregnant women, elderly passengers, and various body sizes.
- Transparent data on how vehicles perform for all genders — not just men.
Final Thoughts
It shouldn’t take decades to realise that safety should apply to everyone equally. Women have been literally dying from being left out of the testing process. And for all our talk of equality and progress, something as fundamental as car safety still reveals the blind spots of a male-centric world.
Since I’ve recently been in a car collision myself and have had my own experience, I remembered about this design safety feature, which is unfortunately still not in all cars around the world and that still affects nearly half of the world population and motor users.
At Flaminky, we believe visibility matters. Whether it’s crash dummies, representation in tech, or storytelling — including everyone isn’t a luxury. It’s a basic right.
Let’s hope the auto industry finally gets the crash course it desperately needs.