First female crash test dummy closes 45-year safety testing gap

Women are 73% more likely to suffer serious injuries in car crashes of similar severity to men. For decades, no one tested for it.

The U.S. Department of Transportation just introduced the THOR-05F, the country's first crash test dummy modeled on female anatomy. It's a fix that should have arrived years ago—but it's arriving now.

Why the old model failed half the road

Since 1978, American crash tests have relied on the Hybrid III dummy: five feet nine inches tall, 171 pounds, built on the average male body of that era. It became the standard for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's safety ratings. Decades passed. The dummy stayed the same. Women kept getting hurt at disproportionate rates.

The gap wasn't theoretical. Women face heightened risk of specific injuries—trauma to the pelvis and liver—that the male-only model never measured. "There's simply no good reason why women are more likely to be injured or die in car crashes," said Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, who co-sponsored legislation pushing for change.

Sweden and Australia had already moved to gender-specific dummies in their testing protocols. The U.S. was slow to follow.

What the new dummy can do

The THOR-05F isn't just a smaller version of the old model. It's a technological step forward. Over 150 sensors collect three times more injury data than the Hybrid III, allowing researchers to assess skull fractures, brain injuries, facial fractures, and lower-body impacts that earlier models couldn't measure.

The dummy has a flexible spine—the Hybrid III's was rigid—so it can sit in realistic postures and measure forces along the lower back. Crucially, it includes abdominal and pelvic sensors, features completely absent from earlier models. These additions let safety experts assess risks to internal organs and bone structures that are statistically more vulnerable in female occupants. It can even measure forces in the arms.

"Its shape and response in a crash are based on female bodies," the Department of Transportation said, "which will ultimately enable better assessment of brain, thorax, abdominal, pelvic, and lower leg injury risk for small female occupants."

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy unveiled the dummy in November after eight months of final testing and refinement. The THOR-05F will be formally incorporated into federal crash testing protocols once a final rule is published.

What comes next

This isn't the end of the work—it's the beginning of using better data to design safer cars. As the THOR-05F enters formal use across the testing industry, vehicle manufacturers will have to account for a body type they've largely ignored. That means redesigned airbags, seat structures, and safety systems built for the actual diversity of drivers on the road.