Does the US use crash test dummies that represent average-size women?

Dummies used by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in vehicle crash testing roughly represent typical-size adult males, but only small-size adult females.

The adult dummies represent males who are 5-foot-9 and 160-171 pounds and females who are 4-foot-11 and 97-108 pounds. An average female is 5-foot-4 and weighs 171 pounds while an average male is 5-foot-9 and weighs 200 pounds, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In March 2023, the federal Government Accountability Office recommended NHTSA address discrepancies in testing of females, and people who are older or heavier. It noted that in crashes, females are at greater risk of death and certain injuries than males.

NHTSA responded saying it is developing more representative dummies.

Congress took no action on legislation introduced in May 2024 to modernize the testing.

The issue was mentioned during the recent U.S. Senate confirmation hearing for Republican Sean Duffy, a former Wisconsin congressman, to be transportation secretary.