Cars have gotten safer over the decades, but more still needs to be done and the development of female crash dummies may ensure greater safety of women in the U.S.
"Women have a few areas where they're more likely to have harm," said Susan Cronn, a nurse practitioner and researcher at the Medical College of Wisconsin. "Lower extremity injury, for sure. They're more likely to have some moderate injuries. They're about three times more likely to have moderate injuries like a broken bone or concussion. And then they're about two times more likely to have a more severe injury, like a collapsed lung or a brain bleed.
As Kuhn took a semester off from college to recover, she says she learned about the disparity between males and females in crash testing. The dummy is similar in size and weight to the current dummy, but has features of female anatomy-breasts, a female pelvic bone-and more sensors to predict injuries, according to Humanetics. The dummies have not been approved yet by the federal government, although Humanetics CEO and President Chris O'Connor says they're ready.