Crashing into Equality

Take a look at the Needham High school parking lot. It’s packed. Many students drive themselves to school and back every day. Because of this, it is important to recognize the importance of driving safety. But, it’s hard to drive safely when cars are not even built to keep you safe.

Men are more likely to get into car accidents, so car companies decided long ago to design cars better suited to men than to women. However, the University of Virginia found that women are 73% more likely to get severely injured because of a car accident, even when wearing a seatbelt. Cars are tested with crash dummies that replicate the body structure of a man. Even the position the dummy sits in replicates men in the way that their muscle mass and their bones are structured. On a more questionable note, the crash test dummies for women are the same dummies that are used for males but scaled down. This misrepresentation of the female form is incredibly problematic because the dummy scaled down matches the body structure of a 12-year-old; 12-year-olds can’t even drive. Continuing, the dummy is typically placed in the passenger seat and the safety of pregnant women is not even considered. Let’s be honest, are you really that surprised?

The good news is that newer manufactured cars are benefiting women because they are now half as likely to suffer from injury. The bad news is even when they are wearing seatbelts, females continue to be in more susceptible positions in frontal impact collisions. The worst part is that no one seems to know why. We all know plenty of ways that male and female body shape is different; female pelvises are wider and shallower than males’, the fat distribution between males and females is different, and the tissue placement in their bodies is also different. Although these components are known, the challenge is to figure out which variables matter and which don’t.

Since the early 2000s, "female" crash test dummies have been used, but they often represent smaller women, standing at 5 feet and weighing 110 pounds. It is important to assess and protect the extreme ends of the population, so it's a significant flaw in the model as well.

As time goes on, technology will definitely advance only if women’s voices are heard. Although there are a ton of problems, we can all look forward to a better future (fingers crossed).