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New Crash Test Dummy Packs on the Pounds
A typical adult crash test dummy weighs about 170 lbs and has a body mass index around 24.
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A typical adult crash test dummy weighs about 170 lbs and has a body mass index around 24. Yet one-third of Americans are considered obese, meaning they have a BMI of at least 30, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That's why crash dummy supplier Humanetics Innovative Solutions Inc. will add a hefty 273-lb dummy to its lineup next year. The new dummy has a BMI of 35.
Humanetics CEO Chris O'Connor cites data from the California-Berkeley Safe Transportation and Research Education Center that indicates an obese person is 78% more likely to be killed in a crash than an average-weight person.
O'Connor notes that carmakers are still using test dummies created in the 1980s when average adults weighed less. But safety experts notes that airbags and seatbelts are designed for average-weight people. Overweight passengers have larger midsections and buttocks, which move them forward and out of the optimal position for seatbelts.
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