
A crash test dummy, or simply dummy, is a full-scale
anthropomorphic test device (ATD) that simulates the dimensions, weight proportions and articulation of the
human body
The human body is the entire structure of a Human, human being. It is composed of many different types of Cell (biology), cells that together create Tissue (biology), tissues and subsequently Organ (biology), organs and then Organ system, org ...
during a
traffic collision
A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. Tr ...
. Dummies are used by researchers,
automobile
A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...
and
aircraft
An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...
manufacturers to predict the injuries a person might sustain in a crash.
Modern dummies are usually instrumented to record
data
Data ( , ) are a collection of discrete or continuous values that convey information, describing the quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted for ...
such as
velocity
Velocity is a measurement of speed in a certain direction of motion. It is a fundamental concept in kinematics, the branch of classical mechanics that describes the motion of physical objects. Velocity is a vector (geometry), vector Physical q ...
of impact, crushing
force
In physics, a force is an influence that can cause an Physical object, object to change its velocity unless counterbalanced by other forces. In mechanics, force makes ideas like 'pushing' or 'pulling' mathematically precise. Because the Magnitu ...
, bending, folding, or
torque
In physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational analogue of linear force. It is also referred to as the moment of force (also abbreviated to moment). The symbol for torque is typically \boldsymbol\tau, the lowercase Greek letter ''tau''. Wh ...
of the body, and
deceleration rates during a collision.
Prior to the development of crash test dummies, automobile companies tested using human
cadavers, animals and live volunteers. Cadavers have been used to modify different parts of a car, such as the seatbelt.
This type of testing may provide more realistic test results than using a dummy, but it raises ethical dilemmas
because human cadavers and animals are not able to consent to research studies. Animal testing is not prevalent today.
Computational models
A computational model uses computer programs to simulate and study complex systems using an algorithmic or mechanistic approach and is widely used in a diverse range of fields spanning from physics, engineering, chemistry and biology to economics ...
of the human body are increasingly being used in the industry and research to complement the use of dummies as virtual tools.
There is a constant need for new testing because each new vehicle has a different design, and as technology changes ATDs must be developed to accurately test safety and efficacy.
History
On August 31, 1869,
Mary Ward became the first recorded victim of an
automobile accident; the car involved was steam-powered (
Karl Benz
Carl (or Karl) Friedrich Benz (; born Karl Friedrich Michael Vaillant; 25 November 1844 – 4 April 1929) was a German engine designer and automotive engineer. His Benz Patent-Motorwagen from 1885 is considered the first practical modern automo ...
did not invent the gasoline-powered automobile until 1886). Ward, of
Parsonstown, Ireland, was thrown out of a motor vehicle and killed.
Thirty years later, on September 13, 1899,
Henry Bliss became
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
's first motor vehicle fatality when hit while stepping off a
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
trolley.
The need for a means of analyzing and mitigating the effects of motor vehicle accidents on humans was felt soon after commercial production of automobiles began in the late 1890s, and by the 1930s, when the automobile became a common part of daily life and the number of motor vehicle deaths were rising. Death rates had surpassed 15.6 fatalities per 100 million vehicle-miles continue to climb. (Currently, according to the
CDC
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and is headquartered in Atlanta, ...
, each year approximately 1.35 million people are killed on roadways around the world.).
In 1930 cars had
dashboard
A dashboard (also called dash, instrument panel or IP, or fascia) is a control panel (engineering), control panel set within the central console of a vehicle, boat, or cockpit of an aircraft or spacecraft. Usually located directly ahead of the ...
s of rigid metal, non-collapsible steering columns, and protruding knobs, buttons, and levers. Without seat belts, passengers in a frontal collision could be hurled against the interior of the automobile or through the
windshield. The vehicle body itself was rigid, and impact forces were transmitted directly to the vehicle occupants. As late as the 1950s,
car manufacturers were on public record as saying that vehicle accidents simply could not be made survivable because the forces in a crash were too great.
Cadaver testing
Detroit
Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
's
Wayne State University
Wayne State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 375 programs. It is Michigan's third-l ...
was the first to begin serious work on collecting data on the effects of high-speed collisions on the human body. In the late 1930s there was no reliable data on how the human body responds to the sudden, violent forces acting on it in an automobile accident. Furthermore, no effective tools existed to measure such responses.
Biomechanics
Biomechanics is the study of the structure, function and motion of the mechanical aspects of biological systems, at any level from whole organisms to Organ (anatomy), organs, Cell (biology), cells and cell organelles, using the methods of mechani ...
was a field barely in its infancy. It was therefore necessary to employ two types of test subjects in order to develop initial data sets.
The first test subjects were human
cadaver
A cadaver, often known as a corpse, is a Death, dead human body. Cadavers are used by medical students, physicians and other scientists to study anatomy, identify disease sites, determine causes of death, and provide tissue (biology), tissue to ...
s. They were used to obtain fundamental information about the human body's ability to withstand the crushing and tearing forces typically experienced in a high-speed accident. To such an end, steel
ball bearing
A ball bearing is a type of rolling-element bearing that uses balls to maintain the separation between the bearing races.
The purpose of a ball bearing is to reduce rotational friction and support radial and axial loads. It achieves this ...
s were dropped on
skulls, and bodies were dumped down unused
elevator
An elevator (American English) or lift (Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems suc ...
shafts onto steel plates. Cadavers fitted with crude
accelerometer
An accelerometer is a device that measures the proper acceleration of an object. Proper acceleration is the acceleration (the rate of change (mathematics), rate of change of velocity) of the object relative to an observer who is in free fall (tha ...
s were strapped into automobiles and subjected to head-on collisions and vehicle rollovers.
Albert King's 1995 ''Journal of Trauma'' article, "Humanitarian Benefits of Cadaver Research on Injury Prevention", clearly states the value in human lives saved as a result of cadaver research. King's calculations indicate that as a result of design changes implemented up to 1987, cadaver research since saved 8,500 lives annually. He notes that for every cadaver used, each year 61 people survive due to wearing
seat belt
A seat belt, also known as a safety belt or spelled seatbelt, is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt reduce ...
s, 147 live due to
air bags, and 68 survive windshield impact.
However, work with cadavers presented almost as many problems as it resolved. Not only were there the
moral
A moral (from Latin ''morālis'') is a message that is conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader, or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim. ...
and
ethical
Ethics is the philosophical study of moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches include normative ethics, applied e ...
issues related to working with the dead, but there were also research concerns. The majority of cadavers available were older adult males who had died non-violent deaths; they did not represent a
demographic
Demography () is the statistics, statistical study of human populations: their size, composition (e.g., ethnic group, age), and how they change through the interplay of fertility (births), mortality (deaths), and migration.
Demographic analy ...
cross-section of accident victims. Deceased accident victims could not be employed because any data that might be collected from such experimental subjects would be compromised by the cadaver's previous injuries. Since no two cadavers are the same, and since any specific part of a cadaver could only be used once, it was extremely difficult to achieve reliable comparison data. In addition, child cadavers were not only difficult to obtain, but both legal and
public opinion
Public opinion, or popular opinion, is the collective opinion on a specific topic or voting intention relevant to society. It is the people's views on matters affecting them.
In the 21st century, public opinion is widely thought to be heavily ...
made them effectively unusable. Moreover, as crash testing became more routine, suitable cadavers became increasingly scarce. As a result,
biometric
Biometrics are body measurements and calculations related to human characteristics and features. Biometric authentication (or realistic authentication) is used in computer science as a form of identification and access control. It is also used t ...
data were limited in extent and skewed toward the older males.
Very little attention has been paid to obesity and car crash studies, and it is hard to obtain an obese dummy for the experiment. Instead, human cadavers were used. Body weight is a vital factor when it comes to automobile accidents, and body mass is distributed differently in an obese person versus a non-obese person.
At the University of Michigan, obese cadavers were tested and compared to non-obese cadavers, and they found that the obese cadavers had more injuries in their lower extremities. The researchers also suggested that an obese person could be protected by their fat almost causing a "cushioning effect."
The use of NDTs or Neutral Density Targets were implemented inside cadavers' brains to focus on the impact and separation of the brain and skull. NDTs provided detailed observations and allowed researchers to look at a specific area of the brain after the crash stimulation. It also helped to establish and develop the Finite Element model, initially developed to measure neck injuries for three-year-olds. A real child's neck was interpreted and incorporated into the FE model. FE models of the human head have become increasingly more important to the study of head injury.
Volunteer testing

Some researchers took it upon themselves to serve as crash test dummies. In 1954,
USAF
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
Colonel
John Paul Stapp was propelled to over 1000 km/h on a
rocket sled and stopped in 1.4 seconds.
Lawrence Patrick, then a professor at Wayne State University, endured some 400 rides on a rocket sled in order to test the effects of rapid deceleration on the human body. He and his students allowed themselves to be hit in the chest with heavy metal
pendulum
A pendulum is a device made of a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced sideways from its resting, equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate i ...
s, impacted in the face by pneumatically driven rotary hammers, and sprayed with shattered glass to simulate window implosion. While admitting that it made him "a little sore", Patrick has said that the research he and his students conducted was seminal in developing
mathematical model
A mathematical model is an abstract and concrete, abstract description of a concrete system using mathematics, mathematical concepts and language of mathematics, language. The process of developing a mathematical model is termed ''mathematical m ...
s against which further research could be compared. While data from live testing was valuable, human subjects could not withstand tests that exceeded a certain degree of physical injury. To gather information about the causes and prevention of injuries and fatalities would require a different kind of test subject.
Animal testing
By the mid-1950s, the bulk of the information cadaver testing could provide had been collected. It was also necessary to collect data on accident survivability, research for which cadavers were woefully inadequate. In concert with the shortage of cadavers, this need forced researchers to seek other models. A description by
Mary Roach of the ''Eighth Stapp Car Crash and Field Demonstration Conference'' shows the direction in which research had begun to move. "We saw
chimpanzee
The chimpanzee (; ''Pan troglodytes''), also simply known as the chimp, is a species of Hominidae, great ape native to the forests and savannahs of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed one. When its close rel ...
s riding rocket sleds, a
bear
Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family (biology), family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats ...
on an impact swing...We observed a
pig,
anesthetized and placed in a sitting position on the swing in the harness, crashed into a deep-dish steering wheel at about 10 mph."
One important research objective that could not be achieved with either cadavers or live humans was a means of reducing the injuries caused by
impalement
Impalement, as a method of torture and execution, is the penetrating trauma, penetration of a human by an object such as a stake, pole, spear, or hook, often by the complete or partial perforation of the torso. It was particularly used in respon ...
on the
steering column. By 1964, over a million fatalities resulting from
steering wheel
A steering wheel (also called a driving wheel, a hand wheel, or simply wheel) is a type of steering control in vehicles.
Steering wheels are used in most modern land vehicles, including all mass-production automobiles, buses, light and hea ...
impact had been recorded, a significant percentage of all fatalities; the introduction by
General Motors
General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...
in the early 1960s of the collapsible steering column reduced the risk of steering-wheel death by fifty percent.
Pigs were used for steering wheel impacts and other cabin collisions because they have an internal structure similar to humans, and can be easily placed correctly via sitting upright in the vehicle.
The ability to sit upright was an important requirement for test animals so that another common fatal injury among human victims,
decapitation
Decapitation is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and all vertebrate animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood by way of severing through the jugular vein and common c ...
, could be studied. Additionally, it was important for researchers to be able to determine to what extent cabin design needed to be modified to ensure optimal survival circumstances. For instance, a
dashboard
A dashboard (also called dash, instrument panel or IP, or fascia) is a control panel (engineering), control panel set within the central console of a vehicle, boat, or cockpit of an aircraft or spacecraft. Usually located directly ahead of the ...
with too little padding or padding that was too stiff or too soft would not significantly reduce head injury over a dash with no padding at all. While knobs, levers, and buttons are essential in the operation of a vehicle, it was essential to determine which design modifications would best ensure that these elements did not tear or puncture victims in a crash.
Rear-view mirror
A rear-view mirror (or rearview mirror) is a, usually plane mirror, flat, mirror in automobiles and other vehicles, designed to allow the driver to see rearward through the vehicle's rear window (rear windshield).
In cars, the rear-view mirror ...
impact is a significant occurrence in a
frontal collision: How should a mirror be built so that it is rigid enough to perform its task, yet of low injury risk if struck?
While work with cadavers had aroused some opposition, primarily from religious institutions, it was grudgingly accepted because the dead, being dead, felt no
pain
Pain is a distressing feeling often caused by intense or damaging Stimulus (physiology), stimuli. The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as "an unpleasant sense, sensory and emotional experience associated with, or res ...
, and the indignity of their situations was directly related to easing the pain of the living. Animal research, on the other hand, aroused much greater passion. Animal rights groups such as the
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) were vehement in their protest, and while researchers such as Patrick supported animal testing because of its ability to produce reliable, applicable data, there was nonetheless a strong ethical unease about this process. Researchers at the University of Virginia have to call the cadaver's family and tell them what they are using their loved one for, after getting consent from the family. This seems to lessen ethical dilemmas in contrast to animal testing, because there is no sufficient way to get consent to use an animal.
Although animal test data were still more easily obtained than cadaver data, the anatomical differences between animals and people and the difficulty of employing adequate internal instrumentation limited their usefulness. Animal testing is no longer practiced by any of the major automobile makers; General Motors discontinued live testing in 1993 and other manufacturers followed suit shortly thereafter.
In 1980, animals such as bears and pigs were tested in car crash simulations. This led to moral dilemmas and was not the first time that animals were used in car crashes. In 1978, The
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
Highway Safety Research Institute used baboons as a substitute for human test subjects in car crashes. Although there was the objection of animal cruelty that arose, there was also the controversy of how they are similar to humans and can be used as a sufficient testing substitution for us.
The researchers did not end up stopping the use of baboons because of moral objections, but instead stopped because they had collected sufficient data. The moral inputs from other people and organizations were inconsistent, which caused implications when deciding to ban healthy animals from research testing. The animals were put under anesthesia, so there was no pain put upon them, but the aftereffects cannot justify this.
General Motors used animals for testing, and also suggested that they put the animals under anesthesia and then would kill the animals after completing the testing.
Although the University of Michigan Highway Safety Research Institute did get bad publicity, it was suggested that this is not the reason why they stopped using baboons. The University of Michigan's mission was to create safer cars for human use. In order to reach this goal, research and testing is inevitable. The cruelty and the moral dilemmas of animal testing did not trump researchers still using them as subjects. They reasoned that biomechanics data are needed for an experiment like this, which will lead to safer cars.
Years later, animal testing ceased and instead an instrumented dummy was created as a replacement. In 1978, animals were their only subjects that could be a reliable substitution for the human being. The disadvantage, though, to using an instrumented dummy or a human cadaver, is that the tissue is not alive and will not elicit the same response as a live animal.
By 1991, the use of animals in vehicle collision tests was in decline because of advances in computers and technology.
It is difficult to use cadavers instead of animals because of human rights, and it is difficult to obtain permission from the families of the deceased. Consent for a research and testing can occur only if the person responsible for giving consent is mentally competent and comprehends the research and testing procedures fully.
Dummy evolution
There are a growing number of specialized dummies used to gather data not only for men but for women, children, the elderly and the obese; and data for rib impacts, and spinal impacts. THOR is a very advanced dummy because it uses sensors and has a humanlike spine, pelvis, and can capture neck data in 6DOF (six degrees of freedom) motion.
Special classes of dummies called Hybrid IIIs are designed to research the effects of frontal impacts, and are less useful in assessing the effects of other types of impact, such as side impacts, rear impacts, or rollovers. Hybrid IIIs use dummies that directed towards a specific age, for example, a typical ten-year-old, six-year-old, three-year-old, and a grown man.
The equipment that is put on, or in, dummies to gather data is also evolving and the most up-to-date equipment is embedded inside the ATD to create a more biofidelic response for more accurate data.
Sierra Sam and VIP-50
The information gleaned from cadaver research and animal studies had already been put to some use in the construction of human
simulacra as early as 1949, when "Sierra Sam" was created by
Samuel W. Alderson at his Alderson Research Labs (ARL) and Sierra Engineering Co. to test aircraft
ejection seat
In aircraft, an ejection seat or ejector seat is a system designed to rescue the aircraft pilot, pilot or other aircrew, crew of an aircraft (usually military) in an emergency. In most designs, the seat is propelled out of the aircraft by an exp ...
s, aviation helmets and pilot restraint harnesses. This testing involved the use of high acceleration to rocket sleds, beyond the capability of human volunteers to tolerate. In the early 1950s, Alderson and Grumman produced a dummy which was used to conduct crash tests in both motor vehicles and aircraft. The original "Sierra Sam" was a 95th percentile male dummy (heavier and taller than 95% of human males).
Alderson went on to produce what it called the VIP-50 series, built specifically for
General Motors
General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...
and
Ford, but which was also adopted by the
National Bureau of Standards
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical sc ...
. Sierra followed up with a competitor dummy, a model it called "Sierra Stan".
Hybrid I and II

General Motors, who had taken over the impetus in developing a reliable and durable dummy, found neither Sierra model satisfied its needs. GM engineers decided to combine the best features of the VIP series and Sierra Stan, and so in 1971 Hybrid I was born.
Hybrid I was what is known as a "50th
percentile
In statistics, a ''k''-th percentile, also known as percentile score or centile, is a score (e.g., a data point) a given percentage ''k'' of all scores in its frequency distribution exists ("exclusive" definition) or a score a given percentage ...
male" dummy. That is to say, it modeled an average male in height, mass, and proportion. In cooperation with the
Society of Automotive Engineers
SAE International is a global professional association and standards organization based in Warrendale, Pennsylvania, United States. Formerly the Society of Automotive Engineers, the organization adopted its current name in 2006 to reflect bot ...
(SAE), GM shared this design with its competitors.
Since then, considerable work has gone into creating more and more sophisticated dummies. Hybrid II was introduced in 1972, with improved shoulder, spine, and knee responses, and more rigorous documentation. Hybrid II became the first dummy to comply with the American Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) for testing of automotive lap and shoulder belts. In 1973, a 50th percentile male dummy was released, and the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA ) is an agency of the U.S. federal government, part of the Department of Transportation, focused on automobile safety regulations.
NHTSA is charged with writing and enforcing Feder ...
(NHTSA) undertook an agreement with
General Motors
General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...
to produce a model exceeding Hybrid II's performance in a number of specific areas.
Though a great improvement over cadavers for standardized testing purposes, Hybrid I and Hybrid II were still very crude, and their use was limited to developing and testing
seat belt
A seat belt, also known as a safety belt or spelled seatbelt, is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt reduce ...
designs. A dummy was needed which would allow researchers to explore injury-reduction strategies. It was this need that pushed GM researchers to develop the current Hybrid line, the Hybrid III family of crash test dummies.
Hybrid III family

Hybrid III, the 50th percentile male dummy which made its first appearance in 1976, is the familiar crash test dummy, and he is now a family man. If he could stand upright, he would be tall and would have a
mass
Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...
of . He occupies the driver's seat in all the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) offset frontal crash tests. He is joined by a "big brother", the 95th percentile Hybrid III, at and .
Ms.
Ms. (American English) or Ms (British English; normally , but also , or when unstressed)''Oxford English Dictionary'' online, Ms, ''n.2''. Etymology: "An orthographic and phonetic blend of Mrs ''n.1'' and miss ''n.2'' Compare mizz ''n.'' The pr ...
Hybrid III is a 5th percentile female dummy, at a diminutive tall and . The three Hybrid III child dummies represent a ten-year-old, six-year-old, and a three-year-old. The child models are very recent additions to the crash test dummy family; because so little hard data are available on the effects of accidents on children and such data are very difficult to obtain, these models are based in large part on
estimates and
approximation
An approximation is anything that is intentionally similar but not exactly equal to something else.
Etymology and usage
The word ''approximation'' is derived from Latin ''approximatus'', from ''proximus'' meaning ''very near'' and the prefix ...
s. The primary benefit provided by the Hybrid III is improved neck response in forward flexion and head rotation that better simulates the human.
The Hybrid III dummy for three-, six- and ten-year-olds has its limitations, and does not provide the same physical outcome a human would encounter with a frontal crash. It was found that when testing the three-year-old Hybrid III dummy, it showed that frontal crashes would most likely cause cervical spine injuries. When using data from the real world, the results did not match up to the Hybrid III stimulation injuries. To get around this, THUMS was created which stands for Total Human Model of Safety.
The model can be easily relatable to the human body anatomically especially focusing on the human spine upon impact. Clinical testing and experiments are more accurate than a dummy and more reliable case studies can be implemented with this model. The model is based on a male only, and mimics human tissues and organs. This model is accurate for males in the 50th percentile, and it can not easily relate to three-year-olds when dealing with neck and head injuries, which are responsible for 57 percent of car crash fatalities.
Instead, the FE model can be appropriately implemented for these criteria.
There are certain testing procedures for Hybrid IIIs to ensure that they obtain a correct humanlike neck flexure, and to ensure that they would react to a crash in a similar way that human bodies would.
Test device for Human Occupant Restraint (THOR)
THOR-50M mid-size male
THOR is an advanced crash test dummy designed to expand the Hybrid-III test dummy capabilities in assessing frontal impacts. THOR-50M, the mid-size male, was created to improve human-like anthropometry and increase the instrumentation for mitigating injury.
Although development started in the 1990s, with the latest design update by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in contract with
Humanetics, the first new prototypes were delivered in 2013. Since then, Europe's New Car Assessment Program became the first agency to adopt THOR into testing protocols, replacing the Hybrid III mid-sized male in the driver's seat.
THOR-5F small female
The small female version of THOR is based on the technology of the male version, but has more female-like anthropometry to represent females in frontal impact testing.

The female THOR and the lack of female test dummies has received new interest as gender equity issues have emerged citing the lack of female crash test dummies and availability of new technology in regulation testing. A Center for Applied Biomechanics, University of Virginia, paper published in 2019 citing the increased risk of injury in female automobile occupants which started a fresh examination into female impact testing and protection.
The THOR dummies can accommodate 150+ channels of
data collection
Data collection or data gathering is the process of gathering and measuring information on targeted variables in an established system, which then enables one to answer relevant questions and evaluate outcomes. Data collection is a research com ...
throughout their bodies.
Warrior Injury Assessment Manikin (WIAMan)

WIAMan is a blast test dummy designed to assess potential skeletal injuries of soldiers exposed to under-body blast (UBB). Designed jointly by the U.S. Army and
Diversified Technical Systems (DTS), the project includes an anthropomorphic test device and in-dummy data acquisition and sensor solution.
Since the project started in February 2015, two generations of WIAMan prototypes have undergone a series of lab tests and blast events in the field.
With the prototype's delivery in 2018, WIAMan evaluates the effects of under-body blasts involving vehicles, and assess the risk to soldiers in ground vehicle systems. The goal of the WIAMan project is to acquire data that will improve the design of military vehicles and
personal protective equipment
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection. The hazards addressed by protective equipment include physical, elect ...
. WIAMan and the platform created to simulate an IED explosion are undergoing continued testing.
Test dummies of the past were intended for the auto industry and lacked the same response a human would have to explosions. A challenge for the Army has been to develop a crash test dummy that moves enough like a human body to get an accurate result. The Army is working to make the mannequin "biofidelic," meaning it can match human movement. At 5-feet-11-inches tall and 185 lbs., WIAMan is based on the size and movement of an average soldier.
U.S. Army Research Laboratory and its partners at
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab completed biofidelity testing in 2017. The purpose of the testing was to develop a dummy capable of predicting specific injury risk to occupants in a vehicle during live-fire tests, based on human response data.
The manikin supports up to 156 channels of data acquisition, measuring different variables a soldier may experience in a vehicle blast. WIAMan includes self-contained internal power and the world's smallest data acquisition system calle
SLICE6 based on SLICE NANO architecture, eliminating the huge mass of sensor cables normally exiting dummies. The data measured within WIAMan includes forces, moments, accelerations and angular velocity. The DEVCOM Analysis Center (DAC) processes WIAMan data via a software analysis tool called the Analysis of Manikin Data, or AMANDA. On Feb. 2, 2022, AMANDA was accredited by the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command for use in live fire test and evaluation.
Female crash test dummies
Crash test dummies have been commonly based on males, even though women make up 62% of all car buyers in the USA. This leads to oversights in automotive safety and ergonomics for this demographic. In 2003, the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA ) is an agency of the U.S. federal government, part of the Department of Transportation, focused on automobile safety regulations.
NHTSA is charged with writing and enforcing Feder ...
(NHTSA) introduced the female Hybrid III into collision testing. This dummy was a scaled-down version of its male counterpart, representing the 5th percentile of women based on mid-1970s standards.
In 2002,
Volvo
The Volvo Group (; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distribution and sale of truck ...
pioneered the development of a virtual crash test dummy representing a midsized pregnant female. Collaborating with
Chalmers University of Technology
Chalmers University of Technology (, commonly referred to as Chalmers) is a private university, private research university located in Gothenburg, Sweden. Chalmers focuses on engineering and science, but more broadly it also conducts research ...
, they also crafted a computer model of an average-sized female to advance their whiplash protection system.
Other car companies have also adopted computer models in their safety testing to simulate crashes.
In May 2023, the world's first female crash test dummy was used in a crash test at the
Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute in
Linköping
Linköping ( , ) is a city in southern Sweden, with around 167,000 inhabitants as of 2024. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Chu ...
, Sweden.
Dr. Astrid Linder led the team of researchers to develop the female crash test dummy which represented the height and weight of women at the 50th and 25th percentiles. The model was created after crash statistics showed that female bodies are more prone to other injuries than male, such as
whiplash. The female dummy was developed with the help of an
EU project.
Testing procedure

Every Hybrid III undergoes calibration prior to a crash test. Its head is removed and then dropped from to calibrate the head instrumentation. Then the head and neck are reattached, set in motion, and stopped abruptly to check for proper neck flexure. Hybrids wear
chamois leather
Chamois leather () is a type of porous leather, traditionally the skin of the chamois (''Rupicapra rupicapra''), a type of European mountain goat, but today made almost exclusively from the flesh split of a sheepskin.
United Kingdom
The Bri ...
skin; the knees are struck with a metal probe to check for proper puncture. Finally, the head and neck are attached to the body, which is attached to a test platform and struck violently in the chest by a heavy pendulum to ensure that the
rib
In vertebrate anatomy, ribs () are the long curved bones which form the rib cage, part of the axial skeleton. In most tetrapods, ribs surround the thoracic cavity, enabling the lungs to expand and thus facilitate breathing by expanding the ...
s bend and flex as they should.
When the dummy has been determined to be ready for testing, calibration marks are fastened to the side of the head to aid researchers when slow-motion
film
A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...
s are reviewed later. The dummy is then placed inside the test vehicle, set to seating position and then marked on the head and knees. Up to fifty-eight data channels located in all parts of the Hybrid III, from the head to the
ankle
The ankle, the talocrural region or the jumping bone (informal) is the area where the foot and the leg meet. The ankle includes three joints: the ankle joint proper or talocrural joint, the subtalar joint, and the inferior tibiofibular joint. The ...
, record between 30,000 and 35,000 data items in a typical 100–150
millisecond
A millisecond (from '' milli-'' and second; symbol: ms) is a unit of time in the International System of Units equal to one thousandth (0.001 or 10−3 or 1/1000) of a second or 1000 microseconds.
A millisecond is to one second, as one second i ...
crash. These data are recorded in a temporary data repository in the dummy's
chest
The thorax (: thoraces or thoraxes) or chest is a part of the anatomy of mammals and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen.
In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main di ...
and then downloaded to a
computer
A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...
once the test is complete.
Because the Hybrid is a standardized data collection device, any part of a particular Hybrid type is interchangeable with any other. Not only can one dummy be tested several times, but if a part should fail, it can be replaced with a new part. A fully instrumented dummy is worth about
€150,000.
Positioning and restraints

Children in the three-year-old age group are more likely to have a fatality because it is the age where positioning is crucial. In some countries, children transition from facing the rear of the car to facing the front at this age. A study was done on restraints and positioning of three-year-olds. It was concluded that being restrained and in the front seat has a lower fatality rate than children positioned in the back seat but not restrained.
The safety results indicated that children should be placed in the back seat and restrained. It also suggests that restraints have a bigger impact on safety than seating positions.
A lap belt used on children will not provide as much safety as it would for an adult, due to the flexibility of children. An adult seatbelt could do more harm to a child than good, which is why children should properly be utilizing the Child Restraint System instead. This system includes a booster seat and a proper belt that fits the child's criteria including age, weight and height.
Specialized dummies
Hybrid IIIs are designed to research the effects of frontal impacts, and are less useful in assessing the effects of other types of impact, such as side impacts, rear impacts, or
rollovers. After head-on collisions, the most common severe injury accident is the side impact.

*The SID (Side Impact Dummy) family of test dummies is designed to measure rib,
spine, and internal organ effects in side collisions. It also assesses spine and rib deceleration and compression of the chest cavity. SID is the United States government testing standard, EuroSID is used in
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
to ensure compliance with safety standards, and SID II(s) represents a 5th-percentile female. BioSID is a more sophisticated version of SID and EuroSID, but is not used in a regulatory capacity. The WorldSID is a project to develop a new generation of dummy under the
International Organization for Standardization
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ; ; ) is an independent, non-governmental, international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries.
M ...
.
*BioRID is a dummy designed to assess the effects of a rear impact. Its primary purpose is to research
whiplash, and to aid designers in developing effective head and neck restraints. BioRID is more sophisticated in its spinal construction than Hybrid; 24
vertebra
Each vertebra (: vertebrae) is an irregular bone with a complex structure composed of bone and some hyaline cartilage, that make up the vertebral column or spine, of vertebrates. The proportions of the vertebrae differ according to their spina ...
simulators allow BioRID to assume a much more natural seating posture, and to demonstrate the neck movement and configuration seen in rear-end collisions.

*CRABI is a child dummy used to evaluate the effectiveness of child restraint devices, including
seat belt
A seat belt, also known as a safety belt or spelled seatbelt, is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt reduce ...
s and
air bags. There are three models of the CRABI, representing 18-month, 12-month, and 6-month-old children.
*FGOA is a first generation obese anthropometric test device which can be used to study the automotive safety challenges for obese occupants, who are believed to have higher risk of mortality in automobile collisions comparing to non-obese occupants.

*THOR is currently the most advanced dummy on the market.
The successor of Hybrid III, THOR has a more human-like spine and
pelvis
The pelvis (: pelves or pelvises) is the lower part of an Anatomy, anatomical Trunk (anatomy), trunk, between the human abdomen, abdomen and the thighs (sometimes also called pelvic region), together with its embedded skeleton (sometimes also c ...
, and its
face
The face is the front of the head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affect th ...
contains a number of sensors which allow analysis of facial impacts to an accuracy currently unobtainable with other dummies. THOR's range of sensors is also greater in quantity and sensitivity than those of Hybrid III. THOR's original manufacturer, GESAC Inc., ceased production after the slowdown of the auto industry in the late 2000s. THOR was being further developed, and two other companies were working on similar dummies; NHTSA's ultimate goal for this government-funded project was the development of a single THOR dummy, but THOR dummy development stopped. FTSS, bought by
Humanetics, and DentonATD both continued to produce the THOR LX and THOR FLX.
*Linda is a virtual pregnant crash dummy developed by
Volvo
The Volvo Group (; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distribution and sale of truck ...
engineer Laura Thackray in 2002. Linda is modelled in her 36th week of pregnancy to analyze the effects of high-speed impact on the womb, placenta, and fetus.
*Animal models have been used to test the safety of dog harnesses and crates in crash conditions.
Regulation
For the purpose of U.S. regulation and
Global Technical Regulations and for clear communication in safety and seating design,
dummies carry specifically designated reference points, such as the
H-point; these are also used, for example, in automotive design.
Popular culture
* In 1986, the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA ) is an agency of the U.S. federal government, part of the Department of Transportation, focused on automobile safety regulations.
NHTSA is charged with writing and enforcing Feder ...
(NHTSA), a division of the
United States Department of Transportation
The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the president of the United States a ...
, launched a series of
public service announcement
A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. Oftentimes these messages feature unsettling imagery, ideas or behaviors that are des ...
s in
magazine
A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...
s and on
television
Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
featuring two talking crash dummies named Vince (voiced by
Jack Burns) (played by Tony Reitano) and Larry (voiced by
Lorenzo Music) (played by Tom Harrison, later replaced by
Whitney Rydbeck) who modelled
seat belt
A seat belt, also known as a safety belt or spelled seatbelt, is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt reduce ...
safety practices through their
slapstick
Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as ...
antics, with the slogan "You Could Learn a Lot from a Dummy". By the time the campaign was retired in 1999, seat belt usage had risen from 21% to 67%. Since then crash dummy characters have continued to be used in seat belt safety campaigns, especially those aimed at children.
* In the early 1990s,
Tyco Toys created a line of
action figure
An action figure is a poseable character model figure made most commonly of plastic, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, military, video game, television program, or sport; fictional or historical. These figures are usually ...
s called ''
The Incredible Crash Dummies'' based on the characters from the NHTSA television advertisements. They were intended to fall apart at the touch of a button on their abdomens. Vehicles that could be crashed into walls and broken were also produced. Dummies and vehicles were easily reassembled. They prompted a half-hour television special, ''
The Adventures of the Incredible Crash Dummies''. Unique for its time, the cartoon was produced entirely using 3D
computer animation
Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating Film, moving images. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both still images and moving images, while computer animation refers to moving images. Virtu ...
techniques. A comic book series and a
video game
A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
for the
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...
,
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a Fourth generation of video game consoles, 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in No ...
,
Game Boy
The is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-ga ...
and other gaming consoles were produced.
* In 2004, a series of "Crash Dummies" animated shorts were commissioned for the
FOX network. Related toys from
Mattel
Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...
's
Hot Wheels
Hot Wheels is an American media franchise and brand of scale model model car, cars invented by Elliot Handler and introduced by his company Mattel on May 18, 1968. It was the primary competitor of Matchbox (brand), Matchbox until Mattel bought ...
brand were produced.
* The television series ''
MythBusters
''MythBusters'' is a science entertainment television series created by Peter Rees (producer), Peter Rees and produced by Beyond International in Australia. The series premiered on the Discovery Channel on January 23, 2003. It was broadcast in ...
'' employed a Hybrid II model crash test dummy, "
Buster", for dangerous experiments. Additionally, the show utilized a number of simulaids in addition to using the hosts themselves as the test subjects if the experiment was safe enough.
* In
Discovery Kids children's educational series ''
Crash Test Danny'', the title character is a living crash test dummy, played by Ben Langley, who gets crushed, blown up, and pulled apart in the name of science.
* In 2014, Secret Exit Ltd. released
Turbo Dismount, a game where the player puts a crash test dummy in different vehicles to send them off into crashes.
* In 2020, actor
Aamir Khan
Mohammed Aamir Hussain Khan (; born 14 March 1965) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, and television personality who works in Bollywood, Hindi films. Referred to as "Mr. Perfectionist" in the media, he is known for his work in a variety of film g ...
played a crash test dummy in a series of advertisements for Indian tire manufacturer
CEAT Tyres.
See also
*
Car accident
A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. T ...
*
Chicken gun, impact simulator to measure damages on the vehicle side.
*
Crash test
*
Crashworthiness
*
Euro NCAP
The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) is a European voluntary car safety performance assessment programme (i.e. a New Car Assessment Program) based in Leuven, Belgium. Formed in 1996, the first results were released in February ...
*
Safety car
In motorsport, a safety car, or a pace car, is a car that limits the speed of competing cars or motorcycles on a racetrack in the case of a ''caution period,'' such as an obstruction on the track or bad weather. The safety car aims to enable the ...
*
Mannequin
A mannequin (sometimes spelled as manikin and also called a dummy, lay figure, or dress form) is a doll, often articulated, used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, window dressers and others, especially to display or fit clothing and show off dif ...
*
Crash simulation
A crash simulation is a Virtuality, virtual recreation of a destructive crash test of a car or a highway Traffic barrier, guard rail system using a computer simulation in order to examine the level of safety of the car and its occupants. Crash sim ...
*
Secchi disk, the characteristic test-dummy
fiducial marker
A fiducial marker or fiducial is an object placed in the field of view of an image for use as a point of reference or a measure. It may be either something placed into or on the imaging subject, or a mark or set of marks in the reticle of an opt ...
symbol.
Footnotes
References
"Anatomy of a Crash-Test Dummy" IEEE Spectrum, October 2007
History of Crash DummiesHow the dead have helped the livingI was a human crash test dummyShe May Not Have a Brain, but She Could Save Your Life
Meet 50th Percentile Hybrid IIIBiomechanics and the CyberhumanIt's Smart to be a Dummy
Pregnant crash test dummy*
*
External links
Research of the Relationship of Pedestrian Injury to Collision Speed, Car-type, Impact Location and Pedestrian Sizes using Human FE model (THUMS Version 4)
zh-yue:撞擊測試假人
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crash Test Dummy
American mascots
Cartoon mascots
Toy mascots
Dummies and mannequins
Transport safety
American inventions
Test items
United States Department of Transportation