Toronto, Ontario -- The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is moving toward a major update in vehicle safety testing with the introduction of THOR-05F, an advanced female crash-test dummy designed to address long-standing injury disparities between men and women.
Women are 17 percent more likely than men to be killed in a collision and 73 percent more likely to be injured. For decades, crash testing has relied on the Hybrid III dummy, which offers limited ability to reflect biological differences between male and female anatomy.
“Safety drives everything we do at NHTSA. Better understanding the unique ways in which women are impacted differently in crashes than men is essential to reducing traffic fatalities,” said National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator Jonathan Morrison. “This is a long overdue step toward the full adoption of this new dummy for use in our safety ratings and Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.”
The THOR-05F is built to capture characteristics applicable to 95 percent of the U.S. female population. Outfitted with more than 150 sensors, it collects three times more injury measurements than current tools and offers improved durability, accuracy and lifelike movement. Its design supports better assessment of brain, thorax, abdominal, pelvic and lower leg injury risks through enhanced flexibility and pressure-sensing capabilities.
With research and technical details finalized, THOR-05F is now available for dummy manufacturers to begin building models to specification and for automakers to start preliminary testing.
The NHTSA will publish five documents outlining specifications and technical requirements. After the final rule is issued, the THOR-05F will be considered for use in new car assessment program testing and Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards compliance.
