TheaterFire

Crash test dummies in the U.S. should have more obese bodies, to more accurately represent their passengers

Posted by flopsyplum@reddit | CrazyIdeas | View on Reddit | 63 comments

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63 Comments

loveURpooView@reddit

Perhaps make CTD's that appear pregnant. Women make up more than half the world's population. I can get on that debate.
View on Reddit #74768578

loveURpooView@reddit

This can be accomplished with math & is completely unnecessary. Reddit Math Bot please enter chat.
View on Reddit #74768511

JollyGreenGigantor@reddit

I've honestly had this morbid thought many times as a 6'9" driver. Like nothing of importance on my body is where it would be for an average person. No clue how an air bag would even work on me.
View on Reddit #74039602

herejusttoannoyyou@reddit

This one stings
View on Reddit #73898413

GarbageGobble@reddit

I don’t even want to survive the crash anymore
View on Reddit #73916403

infinitenothing@reddit

Unfortunately, you can't increase the odds of dying without also significantly increasing the odds of making the rest of your normal life span miserable with a horrific injury.
View on Reddit #73958946

redbo@reddit

So we need something like airbags, but instead it ensures a clean kill.
View on Reddit #74021433

deleted_by_reddit@reddit

[removed]
View on Reddit #73997890

AutoModerator@reddit

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View on Reddit #73997891

HaraBegum@reddit

How long did it take for them to include dummies to represent women?
View on Reddit #73902190

Odd-Ad-9634@reddit

Sadly, we are still waiting for them to actually start using any.
View on Reddit #73996946

xRVAx@reddit

Mmm mmm mmm mmm
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SockeyeSTI@reddit

Once, there was this boy who…….
View on Reddit #73903289

adalric_brandl@reddit

Got into an accident and couldn't come to school...
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shomenee@reddit

And when.....he finally came back...
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Pure_Swiv@reddit

I work for a company that builds crash test dummies. We have an obese male option, though it is a design from the 70s, when 220lbs was considered obese.
View on Reddit #73947205

vowelqueue@reddit

I mean, 220 lbs is obese for anyone under like 6 foot, which is most of the population
View on Reddit #73977403

SoNerdy@reddit

They finally bought up and made test dummies that [represent half of the population](https://www.npr.org/2025/11/21/nx-s1-5616284/female-crash-test-dummy-design-approval) like a month ago.
View on Reddit #73898785

Canacarirose@reddit

Yeah, I was gonna say, women still aren’t represented in the crash test dummy sphere. It’s awesome there is one on the way finally!
View on Reddit #73938530

slenderwin@reddit

Problem is, most women are overweight and obese like the men, so they’re still not represented. 
View on Reddit #73974120

archtopfanatic123@reddit

Yup this one makes sense
View on Reddit #73971727

rathe_0@reddit

thought it was talking about the band...
View on Reddit #73970793

Fireproofspider@reddit

Your post got me wondering. These are the crash test dummies in the US: https://www.nhtsa.gov/nhtsas-crash-test-dummies It does seem to have a few glaring holes
View on Reddit #73928424

flopsyplum@reddit (OP)

Yeah, where are the 95th percentile adults?
View on Reddit #73949973

Accomplished_Ant5895@reddit

That’s what happens when you design for the “average”. US Air Force learned that lesson long ago: https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/when-u-s-air-force-discovered-the-flaw-of-averages/article_e3231734-e5da-5bf5-9496-a34e52d60bd9.html
View on Reddit #73946671

Ok_Explanation_5586@reddit

They doi. That's not a crazy idea so much as basic common sense.
View on Reddit #73939891

dogatthewheel@reddit

Could we please have a single crash test with accurate boobs while we’re at it? Large chested women have been complaining for years that our seatbelts sit across our necks and still not a single test done to evaluate this.
View on Reddit #73901101

nopointers@reddit

The dummies are for safety in a crash. They won’t do anything for constant discomfort when the car isn’t busy crashing.
View on Reddit #73907382

PumpkabooPi@reddit

The way my seatbelt moves above my breasts, if I get into a bad enough crash it'll decapitate me. It shifts up all the way to my neck and this is unavoidable most of the year. If I wear a big enough jacket, I'm fine. The dummies that were used to test the effectiveness and safety of those seatbelts were male in stature, and had properly fitting seatbelts, so I effectively became a safety guinea pig. For me to be able to have the belt at the correct and safest angle, it has to go between my breasts, and if I move my arms or turn at all, it rubs against the lowest part of my neck. Happens regardless of if I adjust the height of the door anchor point.
View on Reddit #73910049

WorkerAmbitious2072@reddit

That explains why women are constantly being decapitated by seat belts it’s in the news like every other day
View on Reddit #73934533

JawtisticShark@reddit

I used to work in automotive R&D and we have used male and female crash test dummies for decades, as well as using various child sizes for passengers as well. This rhetoric that somehow all of these engineers who include women and men who have wives and daughters are all just so oblivious to the fact that women exist is moronic. I worked in vehicle interior design and there were women both In the crash test department as well as the group that designed seatbelts.
View on Reddit #73933989

dogatthewheel@reddit

You don’t think a seatbelt across the neck has any potential safety implications for a crash?
View on Reddit #73907446

nopointers@reddit

I don’t think the crash test dummies would change anything. I do think it’s worth changes. Not sure what change would help.
View on Reddit #73908079

door_of_doom@reddit

It's not rocket science my guy. Boobs redirect seatbelts. If the way that boobs redirect seatbelts isn't accounted for in crash tests, they can't actually test how safe the vehicles are for women. If vehicles start failing tests with female dummies, they will need to address the design flaws that cause those failures, resulting in change.
View on Reddit #73912575

Yuukiko_@reddit

have you seen how long its taken for them to use female dummies??
View on Reddit #73906164

Corprusmeat_Hunk@reddit

Mmm mmm (mm mm)
View on Reddit #73923586

JuliaLouis-DryFist@reddit

Obese Navidad everyone.
View on Reddit #73913303

flopsyplum@reddit (OP)

LOL
View on Reddit #73913615

OrthodoxAnarchoMom@reddit

Wait until you hear about federally mandated male only crash dummies.
View on Reddit #73903131

sumguyontheinternet1@reddit

Makes me wonder why this is. As a federally mandated male, I worry more about our pregnant female counterparts and children being hurt. I’m a man who has spread his seed, my usefulness has been exhausted
View on Reddit #73910692

OrthodoxAnarchoMom@reddit

I don’t know about all that but they could just have both. The female ones exist they’re just not allowed to be used for testing. Meaning, it’s not a crime to put a female crash dummy in a car and test it as a car manufacturer, but the tests to pass safety can only be done with male crash dummies.
View on Reddit #73911857

sumguyontheinternet1@reddit

Idk man, as a father and husband, I prefer that priority be put on safety for women and children. Maybe I’m showing my age and tradition.
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discostud1515@reddit

At first glance I thought you were talking about the band The Crash Test Dummies and an American tour. I had to read the sentence a few times to make any sense of it.
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thirdeyefish@reddit

They should be shaped exactly like Brad Roberts and Ellen Reid.
View on Reddit #73909913

flopsyplum@reddit (OP)

LOL
View on Reddit #73910033

Mundane-Caregiver169@reddit

We should also imbue them with consciousness and a fear of death, if possible.
View on Reddit #73904515

TopSudden9848@reddit

I say add in an ability to crave vengeance on their creators
View on Reddit #73905129

Mundane-Caregiver169@reddit

As long as we’re in there, we should add a slew of one-liners it could say while executing justice on said creators.
View on Reddit #73907172

TopSudden9848@reddit

Such as?
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Mundane-Caregiver169@reddit

“Head on collision! One fatality!” (They say this while head butting the person, exploding their head like a watermelon) ?
View on Reddit #73907757

Robot_Alchemist@reddit

Or you could have at least one using a doll that’s meant to represent a female body
View on Reddit #73907410

CoolGuy54@reddit

Kinda unfair to increase the risk of death for healthy weight people though...
View on Reddit #73905276

Anannamouse@reddit

Or ones shorter than 6 feet. For all those petite women and kids and average height men that exist.
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Mediocre_Daikon6935@reddit

You mean this one? https://www.nhtsa.gov/nhtsas-crash-test-dummies
View on Reddit #73904652

Anannamouse@reddit

Neat!
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no_sight@reddit

They don't even have dummies for women yet
View on Reddit #73898555

RetroCaridina@reddit

[Yes they do.](https://www.nhtsa.gov/nhtsas-crash-test-dummies)
View on Reddit #73899333

no_sight@reddit

No they don't. Even if the link you shared, the female dummy is "5th Percentile" It's 4' 11" and 108 pounds. Is that really a good representation of an adult human woman? For example, one who might be driving a car?
View on Reddit #73899482

Mediocre_Daikon6935@reddit

Put down the Oreos. You’ve had enough.
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RetroCaridina@reddit

The 5th percentile woman is to supplement the 50th percentile male. Most women fall within that range, so if the car is safe for those two dummies, it's likely to be safe for all.
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Mediocre_Daikon6935@reddit

Were not the UK.
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Liraeyn@reddit

This is a sane idea
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writenroll@reddit

Obese occupants are up to 78 percent more likely to die in a car crash than an average weight driver, which is why crash test dummy manufacturers have been meeting demand for models with morphology that matches average obese people in various countries. Automakers, for example, are using dummies up to 100 pounds heavier for crash tests. Obesity trends have also influenced auto cockpit designs, from seat width to steering column angles to airbag performance and so on. One of those scenarios where reality overrides a crazy idea, for better or worse.
View on Reddit #73898803