The world’s leading manufacturer of crash test dummies has developed an obese prototype it says more accurately portrays the modern average American driver.
Humanetics currently uses a human stand-in during crash testing that weighs about 170 pounds, and has a healthy body mass index, or BMI, of 25.
But those were developed back in the 1980s, and the company says that it’s no longer representative of the drivers it’s supposed to be protecting in crashes.
It’s now developed a dummy that tips the scales at a whopping 273 pounds.
The heftier dummy has a BMI of 35, which the Centre for Disease Control considers “morbidly obese.”
The U.S. CDC estimates 70 per cent of Americans are currently either overweight or obese.
The company’s CEO, Chris O’Connor, says obese people are 78 per cent more likely to die in a car crash.
The reason, he explains, is weight distribution: People tend to gain the most weight in their mid-section, and it’s that spare tire that pushes the body out of position in a typical car seat.
An overweight person sits further forward in their car seat and they won’t be as protected during an accident because their seatbelt won’t grasp the pelvis as easily.
"The [new] dummy is a little taller because the population is now taller — but to be frank, it's all in the butt, thighs and midsection because that's where the weight gain has occurred," O'Connor told USA Today.
Humanetics will begin using the heftier dummies in 2015. The prototypes will help auto manufacturers design restraints and safer seats to protect a fatter demographic of drivers.
Each dummy costs an estimated $500,000, but they’ll last forever, according to Humanetics. The company is also releasing a line of dummies modelled on the elderly, to reflect an increase in older drivers on the road.
